“No, probably not. I can’t rest until I figure this out.” His eyes pleaded with me to understand and I could see by the grinding of his teeth that he was anxious to be off on the hunt.
I cupped his tense cheek, leaning forward to kiss the muscle jumping in his jaw. “Bon chance, mon chasseur.”
He smiled tightly but pressed a firm kiss to my lips before he took off, his phone already to his ear as he barked orders to Margot.
I tried not to despair of our run of bad luck as I downed the rest of my now cold coffee and pushed away from the table to get ready for the day.
I decided to stop at Cosima’s apartment first. Hades was still there after all and the poor cat needed some food and affection. I felt the echo of my sister’s vibrant spirit the moment I opened the door. The lingering scent of her, rich honey and warm spices, made my eyes tear but in a good way. I knew she would recover from this, not only because I needed her to and she had never before let me down, but also because she was the best and strongest person I knew. She could pull through anything, even a coma.
Hades squawked at me, tripping me up as I retrieved his food from the cupboard and set some down for him in a clean bowl. While he ate, I sorted through the mail piled up on the kitchen counter, dividing them into urgent and non-pressing piles for both Cosima and myself.
I frowned when I came across an envelope with my name written in vaguely familiar script across the front with no return address, no postage stamp. With a sense of increasing premonition, I extracted the letter folded inside. Most of the page was blank but for a few words written in red pen.
I’ve found you again, mia cara.
Something gentle pressed against my shoulder and I screamed, the paper falling from my hand as I spun to face the intruder. It took my panicked brain a moment to realize that the person that I thought would be standing there, the same person I was almost sure had written the letter, was actually Dante.
It took me a second more to absorb the fact that he was standing in my sister’s kitchen wearing nothing but an indecently tight pair of white boxer briefs that fought valiantly to contain a morning erection.
I looked up at him with wide eyes and stuttered, “What, what are you doing here?”
He frowned at me. The left side of his thick head of dark hair was sticking up from sleeping on it funny, disturbing the overall effect of his intimidating stature. I focused on that instead of his absurdly defined body. Lord, the man must have worked out religiously.
“Hades.”
“Excuse me?” I blinked.
He gestured at the still feasting cat. “Cosima would have wanted someone to care for Hades. I figured that I would stay here until she was well.”
“Huh, you just figured that? And how did you get up here exactly?” There was a doorman, a key fob for the elevator and another key needed to enter the apartment.
He grinned rakishly. “I have my ways.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, absently noting that my primary fear had dissipated. Dante was a big, scary man, there was no hiding that, but after seeing his love for Cosima, it was impossible to think he would truly bring me harm.
He chuckled, rubbing at his bare stomach. I tried again not to notice that he had something like a twelve pack going on down there. “She gave me a key when she bought the place.”
“She trusts you.”
I’d had every reason to believe that before this revelation, but Cosima believed her home was sanctuary and she would never allow anyone less than family to harbor a key. My eyes skirted the long, cut man in front of me with new appreciation. What had this scary man done to make my sister love him?
“Si.”
I shook my head. “I want to apologize for my family yesterday and for my reaction now. Cosima is just usually so open with us about everything, it’s difficult to imagine that she would have kept something, someone, like you hidden.”
Dante stared at me intently, his eyes huge and entirely black. I wanted to shiver, to tear my gaze from his and flee the apartment but I stayed still, letting him take his measure. Before everything with Sinclair, I may have cowered but he had made me stronger and now I relished Dante’s scrutiny, even if he did see the immoral stain of my affair on my skin.
“Your sister has kept dark secrets from you all your life,” he finally said, his voice a beautiful mixture of British and Italian.
He sighed, gesturing for me to take a stool at the counter as if this was his home and not mine. Despite his arrogance, I did take a seat because I could tell he was about to open up to me.