Rake smiled down at her. “I remember. Now I just need five more of you.”
“Listen, why do you think we paired you and Lillith up as soon as the principals were in place? Who the hell would trust a kid with ten grand?”
Ellen’s hand shot up. “I know!”
“Former street kids,” Delaney said, ignoring Ellen’s hand waving. “Plus, look at her! Could she appear more disarming and cute?”
Lillith smirked.
“And who would view a notorious carefree playboy with suspicion?”
Rake snorted. “You Bruce Wayned me?”
“Oh, I like that,” Ellen said, nodding. “Yep. That’s exactly what happened. You’re pretty and careless and spend your money doing pretty, careless things. Hell, googling you brings up loads of pics of you with supermodels. And not a little public nudity.”
“I went to one Victoria’s Secret fashion show,” he mumbled.
“My point! Who’d ever think you were doing anything but being Rake Tarbell on vacation?”
“We made you guys as safe as we could by putting you together,” Delaney added. “But one thing I don’t get—Lillith?”
The girl broke off the “I’ve got no use for a pony, but I would like the latest MacBook Air, please” discussion with Mrs. Tarbell. “Yes?”
“Why didn’t you tell me you had the flash drive? Why wait until we were literally under the gun?”
“That’s exactly what I waited for. Mama told me it was my spade, and to hold it for six months or until our backs were to the wall, whichever came first.” At their uncomprehending looks, the little girl elaborated. “Remember, Mama didn’t actually act on the information she hacked. She figured if that awful Mr. Kovac didn’t intrude in our lives within six months, he never would. But if he did intrude, and things got bad, then I was supposed to give it to un adulto fidato.”
“Your spade?” Delaney glanced at Ellen, who shrugged.
Rake laughed. “Your ace.”
“Oh. Yes, my ace.” Lillith shrugged. “I don’t play cards.”
“But I’ve been with you the whole time. Ever since I found you at the neighbor’s after I got your mom’s letter.”
“Delaney, I barely knew you. And my mother had just died. I’m smart, but I don’t get it right every time.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong, darling,” the nuclear option said, glaring at literally everyone in the restaurant except Lillith.
“Abort,” Rake murmured to Delaney. “For the love of God, abort.”
Delaney surrendered. “Fine. Yes. Excellent point, Lillith. It’s not your fault that things got weird in a hurry.” She shook her head and laughed. “It wasn’t just Murphy’s law, it was Murphy’s ongoing disaster. First you gave me the slip in Lake Como—”
“I’m still vague on how I got to Venice.”
“—and then when I picked up your trail again, you jumped in the canal!”
“Fell, dammit! Do I have to write it on my forehead?”
“I mean—who could plan for that? Then once you were fished out, I clocked the new tail, so I had to leave Lillith and hope you guys would make it to the hotel while I played rodeo clown with the B team.”
“Nerve-racking?” Mrs. Tarbell guessed.
“Just a smidge. I was beyond relieved when you guys showed up at the Best Western.”
“You may well be the only person ever to be relieved to show up at a Best Western, dear.”
Delaney quirked an eyebrow at Mrs. Tarbell. “So when I think we’ve finally got stuff under control and I’m about to bring the hammer down on Kovac—”
“Under the guise of stuffing Easter baskets. Darling, you have had a week.”
“—Rake gets sick! Like, violently, flat-on-your-back, should-we-call-an-ambulance sick. Again: Who could plan for these variables? Frankly, I’m astonished that we’re all here to talk about it.”
“And don’t forget the Donna variable,” Ellen pointed out quietly. “She had everything ready to go: false IDs, paperwork, a reasonably good exit strategy, proof if Kovac got cute … only she died before she could do much more than send Delaney a letter. No one could have predicted that, either.”
“I’m terribly sorry about your friend. And your mother, Lillith. Perhaps the silver lining is that the accident set all of this in motion. And brought you to us,” Mrs. Tarbell added, hugging Lillith. “And … maybe accomplished something else.”
“Nonna, it’s a lot more subtle if you say something like that and don’t wink.”
“Oh, subtle.” Mrs. Tarbell waved it away. “Tosh.”
“This is the woman who clipped your wings and emptied your bank accounts,” Delaney teased. “And your brother’s. Overnight. After having you followed. Why were you expecting subtle, again?”
“Point. So you got Donna’s letter, found Lillith, and then found my grandmother?”
“Yes. And she agreed to help finance the Big Pipe Dream—conditionally, of course. But since there was a kid in play, she wanted to give you the monetary equivalent of a brisk shake first.”
“Blake, too, since Lillith’s presence would permanently impact his life as well.”
“That is an insane way of prepping me for fatherhood,” Rake announced. “Not just me. Anyone. It’s an insane way to get anyone ready for unexpected fatherhood.”
Or unclehood, Delaney thought. And I see we’re still not mentioning that possibility to Lillith. Perhaps the Tarbells think she’s had enough uncertainty in her short life. Either way, I guess it’s not my problem. Donna wanted her well looked after, but she was vague on specifics.…
Which was problematic. This dinner looked like the last scene in a sitcom where everyone talks about lessons learned and then leaves, only to reappear a week later for the next episode. For the first time in her life, Delaney didn’t want to disappear, never seen again by the mark(s) in question.
Maybe I’m catching gastroenteritis? It does seem pretty warm in here.…
“Insane!” Rake was still bitching, which she thought was kind of adorable. “Who does that? And how are you going to explain yourself to Blake when you see him in a couple of days? Don’t give me that look, Nonna. You had a ridiculous overreaction and treated your grown grandsons like adorable morons.”
“Se la scarpa si adatta…” Teresa murmured with a smirk.
“I’m going to ignore that snipe with dignity and grace,” he retorted. Then: “Oh, come on. Stop laughing. All of you!”
“Yes, don’t pick on Rake,” Delaney said, patting his arm. “He did the best he could with the tools at his disposal.”
“Thank you. Wait … no, hell with it, I’m taking your words at face value.”
Delaney laughed. “Oh my God, you’re still an adorably naïve doof, I love you.”
Pretty immediately, she felt the blood rush to her face. Whoa. Right out there in front of everyone.
Um.
What the hell do I do now?
Nothing, she decided. Because even if she’d blurted it out, it was true. She had no idea she could fall in love with Rake in just a week, but there it was. And the strangest/best thing was, no one at the table seemed to think she’d said anything strange, or that Rake was doing something odd by reaching out and taking her hand in his.