Page 83 of Code Name: Grit

“Depends on what you think I’m saying,” I replied, unwilling to assume.

Her fingers traced the line of my jaw. “I think you’re saying you need me.”

I swallowed hard. “And if I am?”

“Then, I’d say we’ve finally reached an understanding.” She leaned down, her lips millimeters from mine. “Because I’ve needed you since the day we met.”

The kiss that followed was different from any we’d shared before—not desperate, not heated, but deep and certain.

When we parted, I saw in her eyes the same clarity I felt—whatever came next, whatever revelations awaited us about Cassio, Rafael, or Giovanni, she and I would face it together.

“You should rest,” she whispered, settling back beside me.

“Stay,” I said, tightening my good arm around her.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she promised, her head finding its place on my shoulder again.

Tomorrow would bring more questions, more complications, more decisions about how to proceed. But tonight, in this moment, everything that mattered was right here in my arms.

22

LUMI

Istared at my phone, thumb hovering over the call button. My mother needed to know what had happened, but I dreaded hearing the panic in her voice when I told her about the kidnapping, the hunting lodge, and Grit’s injury. For twenty-six years, she’d lived in fear of Vincent Castellano Sr., Cassio Belcastro, or anyone else who might want to use us for leverage finding us. Now, he had. Just not in the way any of us had imagined.

“You don’t have to call her,” Grit said from the doorway, his left arm still immobilized against his chest. Three days after the surgery, pain etched lines around his eyes despite his attempts to hide it.

“Yes, I do,” I replied, glancing up at him. When we’d talked about it last night, Grit convinced me to wait until this morning, but any longer wouldn’t feel right. “She’ll find out sooner or later, then be hurt that I wasn’t the one to tell her.” With a deep breath, I pressed the call button and waited. She answered on the second ring.

“Chiara?” My mother’s voice, thick with emotion, came through the line. “Are you all right? Dante just called me.”

I closed my eyes. A few minutes too late. “I’m okay, Mom.”

“He told me what happened. All of it.” The slight tremor in her voice revealed how shaken she truly was. “The kidnapping, the shooting, that Giovanni nearly—” She couldn’t finish the sentence.

“I’m fine. I promise.”

“I’m booking a flight back. Today.”

“Mom, you don’t need to?—”

“Yes, I do.” Her voice broke. “I need to see you. To hold my baby and know you’re really safe.”

The raw emotion brought unexpected tears to my eyes. Despite our complicated relationship, despite the secrets and the lies she’d told to protect me, she was still my mother, and she loved me.

“Okay,” I whispered. “When will you arrive?”

“Tomorrow, if I can get a flight. I’ll let you know the details.”

After hanging up, I immediately dialed Summer, who was staying with her mother in Gloversville. Her reaction mirrored my mom’s—panic followed by relief, then insistence that she needed to see me immediately.

“I’ll drive up today,” she said.

“No, wait until Mom gets back,” I replied. “She’s flying in tomorrow.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. It can be a reunion.” Not that it had been that long since the three of us were last together. I glanced at Grit, who had settled beside me on the couch. His smile, coupled with a kiss on my forehead, warmed me all over.

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