Page 132 of Masked Hearts

“Fuck’s sake, Nino. Are you trying to give us both a heart attack?” Kaia asks, pressing pause on the show.

Theá remains silent with a teasing glint in her eyes. “They’re actually pretty funny. The drama makes the sport interesting,” she defends.

My eyes track back up to the screen where a shirtless Zachkary Lancaster is getting into an ice bath. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s what’s making the sport interesting.”

They both snicker. “You want some coffee?” Theá offers me her glass of iced coffee, and I eye it in disgust.

“That’s pure sugar, I’ll go make myself an espresso now.Grazie, tesoro.” I lean down and kiss the top of her head.

This is what I want. I want domestic Theá around me every day without ever having to worry that someone’s going to take her away from me.

As I step into the kitchen, I find Pierre leaning against the counter. I feel the tension skyrocket as he meets my eyes. We’ve never been on great terms from the start. Better terms than Kylian, but still not the best by any means. A part of me was surprised to find out he went along with this plan, knowing it would mean his sister might spend the rest of her life with me.

“Morning,” he says plainly as I head to the coffee machine.

I return the greeting, but remain silent for the most part until I turn to face him when my coffee is finished brewing.

“Pierre,” I start, and his eyes meet mine. “Thank you. I don’t think you’ll ever understand how much this means to me.”

He nods slowly. “I’ll admit, when Mattia came to me with the plan at the start, I was very apprehensive. Especially because I didn’t know you too well, and because I didn’t know how Theá felt about you.”

“What changed your mind?”

“The CFP dinner. Hearing about the lengths you went to defend her in front of Kylian and my father. I knew you cared about her, not to mention the look on her face whenever she spoke about you. I knew she loved you, even if she never told me herself. I knew it would hurt her more to be apart from you,” he says with tears in his eyes.

I stay silent because I’m a few fucking seconds away from crying myself. Those months without Theá felt like a part of my soul was missing, and I hate the thought that she was probably feeling the same way and there was nothing I could do about it.

“Just don’t fuck this up. I won’t hesitate to take her away from you again and make her disappear for real this time.”

“I wouldn’t even think about hurting her.”

“Good.”

“Have you heard anything new about your papá or Kylian?”

“I saw something on the news about him getting arrested, but Mattia says Kylian is still in the wind.” He looks down at his cup of coffee.

“Thank you again, Pierre, I know this wasn’t easy on you,” I say, and he just nods.

“What are the two of you whispering about in here? Do I have to worry about you killing my husband?” Theá walks up to me, wrapping her arms around my waist. And my God, it’s the first time in my life that I actually have to reach up and cover my face for the fear that I’m blushing right now.

“Where’s your concern for your older brother?” Pierre says, clutching his chest.

Theá rolls her eyes. “It left after you tried to drown me in the pool every summer since I turned six.”

Pierre shrugs. “Fair enough. What time is your flight out?”

“1:00 p.m.,” I say, rubbing circles into her back.

“Well, I hope you’ve gotten Noelle packed, or that flight is going to be delayed,” Pierre says.

Theá gazes up at me, eyes flooded with emotion at the mention of her sister coming with us.

I want to ask her what she’s thinking about, but the selfish asshole in me wants to reserve that conversation for when we’re alone.

“What about you?” Theá turns to her brother.

“I’m going to hang back here for a while, and then I’m heading to Spain.”

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