How did she know that?
Alessio.
“Cara,” Alessio said, smiling as he leaned in to kiss the pretty, red-headed woman with lines around her eyes that appeared whenever she grinned. “No phone calls from your boys yet, but they told me some phones ended up in the water on the way down the ladder.”
Cara frowned. “As long as they didn’t end up in the water.”
“Chris can swim.”
The statement came from the man who approached behind Cara, making Valeria’s eyes widen in familiarity when he smiled her way. “Been a minute since the two of us had the chance to speak, oui?”
“Gian,” Valeria said, taking the hand he offered when he came to stand beside his wife. “had I known that first day your intentions for being there were to help me—”
Gian shook his head. “No need to say anything or wish for different things. We’re here, now, all of us.”
“Most of us,” Alessio corrected.
Cara gave him a smile. “Still in that mood, hmm?”
“I didn’t like the plan.”
“He’s headstrong.”
Alessio made a noise under his breath but said nothing.
Cara’s gaze turned back on Valeria in an instant. “You must be exhausted.”
“Very. And ... still in shock.”
“I bet.”
“I want Chris, and the rest, to get back safely.”
At that statement, all eyes turned back on her. It was only them in the small sitting room at the Waldorf that connected to a larger bedroom, sure, but it still seemed like she suddenly had a huge audience that became enraptured with whatever she might say or do next.
Gian gave Alessio a glance. “Something we should be told ... on that?”
Alessio arched a brow. “I’d say so, but we’ll wait for him to say it.”
“What did I miss?” Valeria asked.
Cara reached out, taking her hands with a warm smile that reminded her of the mother she lost years ago. “Nothing—it means nothing. We’re so thrilled to meet you, Valeria. I would love to spend time with your daughter if that’s okay with you?”
Valeria was quick to nod. “Sure, she loves people. Always wants to make them smile.”
“I bet she’s an angel.”
“She’s certainly been mine.”
One of several, Valeria realized.
Her daughter was one of many angels in her life.
• • •
“Thank you.”
Haven smiled as Valeria took the mug of tea. “You really should try for more than an hour-long nap, Val. Being tired will not make him get here any fast—”
“There they are! There’s the cars! Mamá, look!”
Valeria peered around Haven’s side to see Maria standing on the edge of a chaise at the window, her hands gesturing at whatever was down below. “Maria, it could just be guests coming to the hotel.”
“No, it’s Chris. It is!”
Maria hopped down from the window, the dress Valeria packed for her daughter flying wide around her legs as she darted for the doorway.
At the window, Andino who entertained Maria, smirked back at them. “She’s not wrong—they’re coming in now.”
What?
Valeria no longer cared about her tea, or the fact she was exhausted. She didn’t bother to glance at the people milling between the rooms as she followed her shouting, excited daughter as the girl headed out of their room, and down the hall of the hotel. She caught up with Maria before she pressed the button on the elevator for it to open.
She grabbed Maria around her waist, pulling her back as she kneeled to say, “Just wait ... let them come up, okay?”
Sure, she said that.
Didn’t mean she meant it.
Valeria’s heart thundered as she watched the elevator, and the little sign above it that said the doors opened on the ground floor. The Marcellos closed down the corridor of the hotel, renting every single room for the night to make sure they had all the privacy they needed for whatever might happen.
Footsteps approached behind them.
Their voices.
Valeria continued watching the elevator.
“I saw him, I did,” Maria whispered.
“I bet,” she said, believing her daughter. “Just a minute, okay?”
Still, the girl practically vibrated in her mother’s arms. It was only in that moment that Valeria realized ... she was not the only person caught in Chris’s snare. His caring nature, sweet and yet still firm, caught her daughter’s heart, too.
Maria looked up at her mom by tilting her head. “We never have to go back, right?”
Valeria met her daughter’s stare, so the girl understood she was telling the truth. “Never. Ever.”
“Good.”
The elevator dinged as the two of them broke their staring contest. The first men out of the elevator weren’t faces that Valeria recognized, but she was still quick to stand, and keep her daughter out of the way so they were able to come through.
And then there Chris was.
At the back with his twin.
“Chris!”
Maria’s squeal, punctuated by her jumping in place, had him turning with a wide smile in their direction. Valeria let her girl go, and Maria wasted no time darting forward. Corrado slipped out of the elevator first, but her daughter didn’t seem to have an issue differentiating who was who between the identical twins. She gave him a smile, sure, but the man Maria wanted was the only one she reached for.
Chris came out of the elevator with arms open, already kneeling to hug Maria. The girl’s arms locked around his neck, and he stood, holding her tight all the while. He pressed a kiss to her temple, murmuring something to Maria.
“You still have it?” Maria asked.
Chris grinned and flashed his wrist with the woven leather bracelet. “Of course, bambina. Never take it off if I can help it.”
“Better not.”
“Be nice,” she told her smartass child.
At her quiet admonishment, Chris’s gaze came her way, and she swore the world stopped. Like her ability to breathe, and the beats of her heart.
It all just ... stopped.
For him.
“I love you,” she whispered.
Chris’s features softened. “Do you?”
She was very aware of the people behind her. Of the family that gathered, and the others saying hello to men who arrived back. None of that mattered to her though. Better people be aware now.
Was it crazy?
Yes.
Was it true?
More than anyone understood.
“I do,” Valeria said quickly, “I love you.”
Chris came forward, still holding Maria—although he shifted her to one arm instead of two—and reached for Valeria. Once his arm locked around her neck, he pulled her in close, his mouth finding hers for a soft, long kiss that made her heart restart all over again.
Damn.
She would have preferred he kept kissing her, but she didn’t mind when he pulled away just long enough to touch their noses together, his eyes locking onto hers. Softly, he said, “Ti amo—sempre. I love you always. As long as you want me.”
That was perfect.
Because she wanted him forever.
20.