Page 133 of Masked Hearts

“Spain?” She furrows her brows.

“Yes, Spain. I’m going to spend the rest of my life on a golf course far away from any family drama. But don’t worry, I’ll pop around for a visit.”

“You better,” I say, and for the first time, I actually get a smile out of Pierre.

The flight was delayed by a few hours as Pierre predicted, all because Noelle couldn’t findherpair of Dr. Martens, but even I couldn’t be mad at that because it reminded me of Theá.

Ironically, that’s exactly what I find as Theá sits on my lap in that dress she wore on the day I met her with the yellow headband in her hair and Dr. Martens.

It feels surreal as she snuggles deeper into my chest while she reads on her phone.

“You doing okay?” I ask as I play with the end of one of her braids.

“Uh-huh,” she answers, clearly more focused on the story.

I look around the cabin, and everyone seems equally distracted. Mattia is snoring from his seat, and Noelle is mimicking Theá, knees deep in some book calledThe Serpent Lord.

“Psst,” I say and poke Theá’s side, drawing her attention away from the book and up to me. It works because almost immediately, her soft, brown eyes are gazing up at me. “Why did you look at me like that in the kitchen this morning when we spoke about your sister?”

See? Selfish.

Her eyes mimic the same look before she turns to look at Noelle. “I just can believe you would do this. That you would want her to be a part of our life like this without me even having to ask.”

“Why would you have to ask? I can tell how important she is to you. And if she’s important to you, she’s important to me, too. Even if she acts like Satan’s spawn.” I side eye Noelle.

“It’s a big responsibility,” she adds for the second time, as if that would scare me off and I’d kick Noelle off the plane.

“Theresa, you said it yourself, I’m loyal to a fault. I’m loyal to you, and that means I would do everything in my power to make you smile. Everything.” I push a braid that’s fallen into her face behind her ear.

She snuggles into my chest, wrapping her arms around me. “I love you,” she breathes out, and it sounds like a sigh of relief.

“I love you more,tesoro.” I kiss the top of her head.

“Have you ever been to Italy?” I find myself asking as I watch my beautiful home come into view.

“I think we went to Rome once when I was younger, but I’ve never been to Tevici.”

“Good, now I get to play tour guide.” I smile brightly. “I can’t wait to show you our home.”

She furrows her brows.

“You didn’t think we were all going to stay in my childhood home, did you?” I chuckle. “I bought a villa not too far away for us. I knew Noelle would need her own space, too.”

The words leaving my lips feel more and more foreign as I say them. Never in a million years did I think I would be married to someone other than Valerie, and never in a million years did I think I would be treating Theá’s sister as my own.

“What did I do to deserve you?” She stares up at me adoringly.

“I ask myself that question about you every second of every day.”

The plane lands not too long after that, and I can see the apprehension clear on both the girls’ faces as we step off the plane and head towards the G-Wagon on the tarmac.

“I figured the best way to show you my home is a family dinner.” I smile and look over at Mattia.

“I’ll see you in a bit,” I say to him. “We’re just going to head home to freshen up, then we’ll come down.” He nods and heads into a separate car. Noelle hops in first, and I hold open the door for Theá before getting in myself.

“Why do you look like you’re going to shit yourself?” Noelle asks.

“I don’t,” Theá defends, but I can feel her nerves exude off her in waves. I place my hand on her thigh and start rubbing circles into the skin.

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