The Woman from the Past (Grassi Framily)

And in he walked, looking freshly showered and changed and carrying armfuls bags.

“Might have went a little crazy. But I figured you have nothing now. This will get you through until you dig out your millions and can buy yourself fancy shit,” Nicky said, rambling because he was clearly nervous.

I felt a similar swirling in my stomach. Because of Lucas, sure, but also because we hadn’t been able to have a calm, worry-free interaction in years. We were always careful of what we said and did, how we might appear to someone else if they saw us.

“You really didn’t have to do that,” I told him, patting the bed in front of me.

“But you are dying to know what I got you anyway?” he asked, giving me a tired smile.

“You know me well,” I agreed.

So then he started pulling out items and explaining them and pretty soon, things felt a lot less awkward.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked, voice low.

His gaze shot up, looking up at me.

“Not yet,” he said, voice raw.

“Okay,” I agreed, nodding. “We have time. Did they tell you that they got you a room?” I asked.

“Yeah. I’m heading there now. I hear we are getting coffee delivered in the morning. I’ve been dying to try that place, but we were never allowed in.”

“You’re in for a treat,” I assured him.

“Then we’d better get some sleep, yeah?”

“Yeah,” I agreed, then we said our goodnights and he went off to his room.

Only then did Massimo come back from the dining table where he’d been pretending to look over notes and text people while my brother and I got some “alone” time.

“Do you want to slip into one of those pajama sets?” he asked as he stripped out of his shirt, then his pants, leaving him amazingly naked once again.

“No. No, I think I want as little clothing as possible between the two of us,” I told him as he climbed in the bed.

“In that case,” he said, grabbing the knot in my train and undoing it then spreading the robe open.

But he didn’t start touching me. Even though my body would have absolutely been ready, he seemed to sense that my overworked mind needed a break.

“You alright?” he asked, pulling me onto his chest, his hands toying with my much shorter hair.

“No. But I will be,” I said, snuggling into him, and burying my face in his neck.

I fell asleep believing to my core that those words were true. I just needed time and sleep and a little space from the whole situation.

In the morning, I barely had time to slip into one of the outfits my brother had picked out for me—a pair of sage green linen shorts and a white tee—before we were being invaded.

I guess we had the biggest room, so everyone figured our room was where we were going to have coffee when Traveler showed up.

I owed her a big thank you too, seeing as she was pretty much the only reason anyone had been able to find us in time.

“You’re late,” August greeted her when she showed up.

She walked into the room with her green hair in space buns and a black shorts and sleeveless jumpsuit with a little white skull pattern.

“You can’t be late when you are doing a nice thing,” Traveler informed him, shoving one of the trays of drinks at him. She handed the other one off to a less rude Nino, leaving her with several reusable bags.

“I brought breakfast,” she declared. “I know the hotel has it. But this is better.”