Page 17 of Heart of a Villain

“Yes, but,” he bent, leaning close to her face, “if I was who you wanted, really wanted, you would have come back that night.”

Nothing probably would have happened, but she looked soft to hold. It would have been nice to have someone soft to hold after all this time.

“I couldn’t, though,” she said.

“Why not?”

“He tied…” She shook her head. “Never mind.”

He burst out laughing, brows raised. “As curious as I am, I won’t ask, but it is a shame. I like you, Wren Tapley, but should I have whispered that last part, you think?”

“No, we’re safe. Mo sent Thanasis on an errand to give me a chance to breathe without choking on his air.”

“Is being choked better than being tied up?”

She laughed and shoved him in the side. “Shut up.”

“Aww, minha gatinha. I don’t mean to embarrass you.” Chuckling, he brushed her forehead with a kiss before backing away. “Everyone here is different, but in your own way, you all make me feel like I belong. I’ve been searching for that for a long time, and I’m beginning to think I have found it.”

She sighed. “God, you’re so sweet.”

“If only I were Greek.”

She shoved him again. “You know what? That’s enough about me. How are you doing?”

“What do you mean?”

“Ayesha’s, what I mean.”

“I’m healing,” he said, and it felt like the truth more than it ever had before. “I will always love her, but the feelings are changing. I know I joke about Joel and me being best friends, but Ayesha might actually be my best friend.”

When she first confessed that she did, in fact, love him, after the feelings of euphoria had subsided, confusion had been left behind; he’d had a hard time understanding how she could love him when her feelings for Joel ran as deep as they did. As time passed, it became clearer—she cared whether he lived or died, but she didn’t see herself living without Joel.

“She reminds me of someone.”

“Your first love?” Wren asked.

“I think so. You see, I denied my feelings back then because I was twenty-four and thought more than I ever tried to feel. So, the moment I met Ayesha?—”

“It was like finally being able to express what you denied in the first place.”

“Exactly.” He exhaled, releasing any lingering tension from every muscle in his body. “Exactly.”

Chamas was the closest he’d ever come to home, but there was a level of comfort here that hadn’t existed there. In Chamas, he was a son and a nephew, but here, he felt like he could one day be a brother.

An uncle.

A father.

Wren’s contentment echoed his as they sat in silence, staring up at the stars. Then, she nudged his arm, and they returned to the house.

All the kids but one had fallen asleep on the patio. Finding Nemo played on the projection screen. None of their parents were around, so he double-checked that he’d locked the patio door before heading inside. This was Giorgio Pozza’s house, so only a fool would try to enter, but he’d met enough fools in his lifetime to know never to underestimate one.

He found everyone in the front room, crowded around two newcomers, and recalled Joel mentioning that the woman they believed was Ayesha’s sister would be visiting. Out of habit, he scanned the room for Ayesha, but she and Tiare were missing from the fray.

Again, out of habit, he started off in search of her, but a glimpse of one of the guests stopped him mid-stride. Had he been hooked up to an EKG, for less than a second, he would have coded before spontaneously springing back to life.

There was no way.

---