When Heroes Fall (Anti-Heroes in Love 1)

Bambi eyed Dante’s somewhat protective stance beside me, a small smile fluttering over her lips. “Likewise. I see you’ve met my daughter, Aurora.”

“Rora,” the little girl shouted, then proceeded to make a fierce little growl. “Because I roar like a lion.”

Bambi blinked at her, then looked up at Dante questioningly.

“I’m sorry, that was me,” I admitted. “She was expressing some dislike of her name because of the connection to Sleeping Beauty.” I shrugged, a little embarrassed.

“Rora,” she tested, then cupped her daughter’s plump cheek. “Beautiful and strong like my girl.”

My heart warmed even as it pulsed with hurt witnessing the genuine love and admiration between the mother and daughter. I yearned for such a connection so badly, even my teeth ached with it.

Dante’s thumb stroked over the bumps in my spine. I sucked in a small, shaky deep breath.

“I see you wanted to help zio Dante with dinner,” Bambi noted, eyes sweeping over the mess on the island.

Dante grinned, completely unabashed. “Every Italian should know how to make pasta.”

“This is why I don’t like you in my kitchen,” she grumbled good-naturedly as he took some of the grocery bags for her and cleared a spot on the counter for them. “I ran into Adriano in the entry. He said he wanted to speak to you in the office.”

Dante shot me a look, but Bambi shooed him and practically pushed him out of the kitchen. “Leave the cooking to the women. We do it so much better than you.”

He left with one last look at me, leaving me with a woman I wasn’t sure I could like.

Jealousy was a bitch, and I’d struggled with her my whole life.

“Honestly, I’m happy to have a moment alone with you,” Bambi surprised me by admitting as she began to put the groceries away. I moved to help her by route, remembering the years in Naples when I’d been Mama’s co-parent doing such things for the entire family.

“Oh?”

She nodded, eyeing Aurora who had rifled through her mum’s purse to find an iPad she was now playing some game on. “I wanted the chance to ask you for some…legal advice.”

I frowned at her. “I practice criminal law, but I’m sure I could offer some insight, whatever it is. Is everything okay?”

Bambi’s eyes really were the widest and bluest I’d ever seen, so perfectly round and opaque they seemed like marbles. “Everything will be, if you can help me. I think I need a lawyer.”

“Okay,” I said slowly, studying her agitated movements as she spun around the kitchen putting things in their place to fix a sauce for the pasta. “Why don’t you start with the why of it all?”

She bit her lip, eyeing me from the fridge for a second before moving over to where I leaned against the counter. I was shocked when she took my hands in her own, only Dante’s voice asking me to be kind to the women in his family keeping me from snatching them from her grip.

“Can I trust you?” she asked, desperation laced through her words. She squeezed my hands so hard the bones ground together beneath my skin. “I know Dante does, and usually that’s enough for me, but I need to know if I can trust you.”

“Yes,” I confirmed instantly, reading the panic in her eyes. The edge of her desperation reminded me of Mama in those moments when Seamus put our family in jeopardy, and she felt filled with impotency and fear. “As long as it doesn’t usurp my privilege with Dante, I can help you.”

She chewed her lip so hard the flesh broke, a bead of garnet blood leaking onto her chin. “I…I don’t know if it usurps that. It’s about Aurora’s father.”

“Does it have something to do with his case?” I pressed.

Those massive eyes blinked rapidly. “I-I don’t really know for sure. But I’m worried.”

Technically, I couldn’t take her into my confidence if it meant she might have information on the case. It might put me in the position to have to testify at court, which would mean I’d have to recuse myself from the legal team.

“Are you safe?” I asked because I still wasn’t sure where her fear was coming from.

She nodded on a heavy sigh. “For now.”

“Elena,” Adriano’s heavily accented voice carried from the mouth of the hallway. “Dante needs to see you in the office.”

“Can it wait a moment?” I asked, tugging Bambi even closer to me by our joined hands. “Bambi needs me.”

“No,” Adriano said flatly, crossing his hulk arms over his chest.

I rolled my eyes at him, then gave Bambi’s hands a squeeze. “I’m going to give you my card, okay? If you need to speak to me, you can call me at work or at home. If you can say for sure whether it involves Dante or not, I can help or get one of the other associates to.”