Page 74 of Worth the Risk

“I don’t want you to jump to any conclusions, but I actually think there is a connection between the two. You say you saw him at your work weeks ago, then he made no effort to visit you again. Suddenly he shows up at your new apartment? How did he manage that? Did anyone know where you were living?”

“No. Just you and Aunt Caroline …” I trail off. Uncle Bennett’s expression darkens as his lips flatten in a thin line. While my relationship with my aunt has never been the best, his relationship with his sister has been a roller coaster. “She wouldn’t do this, would she?”

“I wouldn’t put it past her, pot pie,” Uncle Bennett says quietly.

“Pot pie? You still call her pot pie?” Luca teases, effectively diffusing the tense atmosphere.

“Technically my dad called her that, but I continued the tradition when she begged us to call her a pumpkin pie. What were you, around three?” Uncle Bennett says, a smile tugging at his mouth.

“I don’t know. Maybe. You can stop calling me pot pie whenever. I’m twenty-eight, Uncle Bennett.”

“Pretty sure I told you a good decade ago to stop with the Uncle bullshit, yet here we are.”

“Call it even?” I ask.

“Deal.”

Luca

Bringing Hannah back to the hotel is both a blessing and a curse. It’s great to keep her away from anyone that may have been an accomplice with her ex-boyfriend, but it also means my family is constantly flittering in and out to check on her.

It’s safe to say I’m not the only Santo family member in love with Hannah. I even saw my stoic father crack a smile when she joked about getting back to work quickly. My somewhat reclusive grandmother, Annamaria Santo, even came to meet her after Hannah was discharged from the hospital.

“Good hips,” she announced.

“Nonna!” Arianna shouted.

“What? It’s just an observation,” Nonna shrugged.

“You can’t comment on a person’s physical appearance like that, Nonna,” Arianna chastised.

“Eh. I’m almost eighty. I do what I want.”

Hannah watched the entire altercation with a smile on her face, and later told me she loved my grandmother immediately. And once my grandmother found out that Hannah enjoyed making jam from scratch, she promised to teach Hannah all about Palisade peaches and Rocky Ford melons, two well-known fruits from Colorado, and to share her personal jam recipes that only a select few family members know.

Hannah has officially been welcomed into the Santo family fold.

While all that was wonderful, I just really wanted some time with my girl.

Alone.

Coach Davenport might have gotten me one day off, but he couldn’t swing the next road trip. Knowing I was leaving for five days right after Hannah was assaulted had me sick to my stomach. When I suggested I would quit, Hannah demanded I stay on the team. The attorney was close to finalizing the report he’d be taking to the police, and if I quit, everyone feared the case would fall apart.

After I finally dragged a very content Hannah away from my family, I slammed the ‘do not disturb’ sign on the room door and shoved a chair under the handle.

“I don’t think that’s necessary,” Hannah says as she watches me from the bed. “He’s in jail.”

“I know that,” I huff. “This is about my family. I love them, but they don’t understand personal space. At least one of them has a universal key to open every door. I’m not taking any chances.”

“You really think they’d just barge in here?”

“Wouldn’t be the first time. I leave in the morning, Pixie. We just got back together, and they’ve monopolized your attention for the past twelve hours. I just want to hold you. I need to hold you, Han.”

“Okay, honey,” Hannah says quietly, holding up her good hand and beckoning me to her. I kneel on the ground in front of her, making her a few inches taller than me. Laying my head on her chest, I let out a relieved breath as her natural scent surrounds me.

“I don’t want to leave you,” I mutter.

“I know.”

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