Page 78 of Beautiful Dangerous

“Thank you, Celine.”

“You have waited too long. All these years, we could’ve had little ones filling this house with their laughter.” She smiles, and I laugh again, Celine has been like a second mother to me. The only mother I’ve known, in all honesty, after mine was shot and killed. By the Pino cartel… “But never mind.” She waves a cloth around her head before tucking it back into her apron pocket. “We’ll have children running around this place before too long. Yes?”

I return her smile, but I don’t respond.

“Why did you wait?” Celine asks, resuming the beating of the cake batter.

“It just never felt like the right time before. But everything’s different now. Things have changed, and I want this to be a whole new beginning for this family.”

“You and Olivia, any child you have will be beautiful and blessed and loved by so many people.”

“That means a lot to me, Celine. Thank you.” I push myself away from the counter, sliding my hands into my pockets. “Anyway, I should let you get back to work. I have a few things to finish up myself before dinner.”

I leave the kitchen and head into the living room. Lucca’s in there, standing by the window, staring out at the courtyard.

“Is Olivia home?”

He turns around at the sound of my voice, immediately stepping away from the window. “No, not yet. I left her at The Garden, she said she still had a few things left to do there. But she also said she wouldn’t be long.”

“I’d hoped she’d be home before now,” I sigh, I’m starting to feel a little restless, if I’m honest. But this evening has to be a surprise, or I’m not sure it’d have the impact I want it to have. Starting a family isn’t something you do on a whim, I’ve been thinking about this for a while – almost all the time I was away in Mexico – and it’s important I find out how Olivia feels about this. How she feels aboutme. “I’ve got something special planned for tonight, but it has to be a surprise. Maybe you could call her for me? Try and find a way to get her back here? If I do it she’ll get suspicious, but she’ll listen to you, Lucca.”

He frowns. “Something special?”

“I took your advice, asked Celine to cook us something special and set a table out on the terrace. But there’s not much point to it if I’m the only one there. I need Olivia there, too.”

“I’ll call her.”

“Thank you, Lucca.”

I give his shoulder a friendly pat as he passes me, and I pour myself a whiskey and head out into the courtyard, and I sit down and look around me and I imagine a child running around out here. The laughter and the smiles and the insane happiness children can bring to a marriage, I didn’t realize how much I wanted that, until now. I just need to make Olivia want that, too…

Olivia

There’s a slight breeze blowing as we sit down on the sand, clutching our beers and staring out at the ocean. The beach is busy but not overly so. It’s getting later now, there aren’t as many people about, which is why I wanted to come down here, before heading home. I’ve always loved the beach, always loved living by the sea, and I’m only just starting to realize how little time I’ve taken in the past to do something as simple as this – sit on the sand and drink beer and not think about anything else except the sun on the back of my neck and the sound of the waves.

“You and Lucca,” Angel starts, his eyes focused on the ocean, his knees drawn up to his chest, his arms resting on them. “What’s going on there?”

I look at him, but he keeps staring straight ahead. “I don’t think…”

“It’s any of my business?” He turns his head to face me. “You don’t have many friends, do you?”

His words sting, because they’re true. He’s right. I have very few friends. And I hadn’t actually realized that, or cared about it, until this very second, when he pointed it out.

“Do you miss having friends? You know, girlfriends you can talk to?”

“All women don’t live in a small town, Hallmark TV movie where a close-knit group of friends who all grew up together share their lives and their problems over weekly cocktails and cake.”

He raises an eyebrow and downs a draft of beer. “I’m guessing you’ve watched quite a few of those small town, Hallmark movies, huh?”

“I had a normal life before I chose to live this one.”

He laughs quietly and stares back out ahead of him. “You ever feel like you just need someone to talk to? About shit you really can’t talk to your husband about?”

He’s digging, of course he is, trying to raise a reaction.

“I keep telling you, you can trust me, Olivia. And I never stop meaning it.”

“Why, though? Why should I trustyouabove anyone else?”

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