Page 10 of Heart of a Villain

He nodded.

She walked off, kissing the top of Tiare’s head. When he realized he was staring at her, he’d polished off another one of the risólis. He searched the backyard to see if anyone noticed, and one person did, but it wasn’t who he expected.

Joel appeared next to him. “Along with the ban on using the word ‘querida’ with my wife or daughter, you’re not allowed to watch Eesh walk away.”

“There was no illicit intent.” He glanced to find Pozza still watching him. “Also, do you happen to know why Pozza has locked on to me?”

“It’s because of what you said.”

“What did I say?”

“How cute you think Mo is.”

“I never said that.” At least, he’d never said it out loud, but they had uncommonly gorgeous spouses. It was as if peril attracted beauty. Still, outside of voicing what he thought about Wren, he never shared his thoughts otherwise.

Joel frowned. “You didn’t? Huh.”

“Merda, if it’s not Thanasis, it’s Pozza.”

“Oh, I heard about that.”

At this point, he was sure they’d all heard.

Adrían watched as Ayesha, who’d been smiling the entire time she spoke to Julien, went still. Whatever news Julien shared wiped the smile from her face, and if it unsettled him, he could only imagine how much more profoundly it affected Joel. That was probably the only part of love he didn’t mind losing: how unexpectedly painful another person’s hurt could be.

Joel grimaced. “Ah, shit. I hate it when my girl’s hurting.”

“Is everything all right?” he asked.

“We think we might have found Ayesha’s rumored half-sister, and it’s a secret we’ve been sitting on for years now. I didn’t want us to drop the bomb like this, but we couldn’t put it off any longer. She’ll be here later.”

“Later today?”

Joel snatched the last pastry from the plate. “Yeah. We fucked up, but this Central shit, man…”

“I understand.”

Theo dashed over, skidded to a stop using his heels in the grass, and bounced on his toes, his voice like he was trying to have a conversation next to a jet engine.

“Daddy! I have a nuh-mergency!”

“What’s the nuh-mergency, baby boy?” Joel calmly asked.

“I checked the foods, but there weren’t any more of the crustily, yummy, crunchy thingies I really, really like, and I know there are other food thingies, and those are yummy too, and I know Auntie Tayler and Unco Mike cook really goo?—”

Joel handed over the risóli.

Theo’s eyes lit up. “Yay! Thank you! You’re the bestest! I love you! Bye, Daddy! Hi, Adrían! Bye, Adrían!”

The ball of energy raced off.

Adrían smiled. “If I had a son, I’d want him to be just like Theo, I think. If I offer to take him, does he come with his mother?”

“Yep, and a bullet.” Joel faced him, arms folded. “So, when are you leaving?”

“I’m that obvious?”

“Have you told Eesh?”

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