Page 65 of Cold

“Arms up, boy.”

He did so automatically, his eyes watching my every move. As soon as he was dressed, I plopped Mr. Whiskers beside him. He picked it up and wrapped his arms around his stuffie, hugging it to his chest as if he would drown without it. I heard the knock on the door and tugged on my boxers before answering it and coming back over to him.

“Can you eat?” I asked.

“No,” he whispered.

“That’s alright. Let’s get some water in you then.” I unscrewed the top of his bottle and poured some water inside. “Lay down and watch your cartoon,” I said as I passed him his bottle.

“Can you sit with me?”

“Of course,” I answered. “I’m not going anywhere.”

I rounded the bed and gazed at my pack of cigarettes. The need to soothe my nerves was strong, but Romare was more important. I didn’t want to blow smoke in his face while he was trying to calm down. I could wait.

“Scoot over so I can hold you in my lap.”

Romare moved out of the way and let me sit down before he scrambled into my lap. I rooted through the bag and pulled out a soft, orange blanket that I draped over Romare. He curled up and I held his bottle as he gazed up at me.

His big eyes were so tired looking. I could see the exhaustion on his face and the dark circles that were starting to form.

“You need a nice, long rest and as many cuddles as you want.”

Romare pushed the bottle away. “But I want to stay up until we hear about the others,” he said. “I wish you would have let me go.”

“No,” I sighed. “It’s selfish, but I couldn’t stand the thought of you being in any more danger today. Besides, you were out of it. You wouldn’t have been able to function properly like that. I put the right people on the job. You need to wind down.”

Romare laid a hand on my chest softly. “I love you so much,” he whispered. “I still can’t believe you want to be my Daddy. Or that you would keep me after all the awful things S-”

I pressed a finger against his plump lips. “We’re not talking about him ever again, do you understand me? Let the memories die with him.” I brushed my hand over his cheek. “Your past is your past and I don’t give a damn about any of that stuff. All I need to know is that I love you and you love me.”

Romare pressed his face against my chest. “Thank you.”

I tilted Romare’s head up and kissed him. He didn’t hesitate. His lips moved against mine, his fingers tightening on my arm where he held onto me. Romare had changed so much about me and I didn’t give a damn. He’d changed my life for the better.

My phone buzzed and I growled as I was ripped away from Romare’s sweet lips and thrust back into the real world. I snatched it up and my heart picked up. Please be good news.

“Gabriele, how was it?”

“We’ve got them,” he said as he yelled in Italian at someone. “There were six of them there and they told us about others. Some of them even know some of the Ivanovs’ other addresses. We’re moving tonight and hitting as many places as we can. It’s about time we get on the offensive.”

They were going to kill and burn everything in sight. Hitting it meant there would be a massacre, but it was warranted after everything the Ivanovs had done to my family. My hand tightened around the phone. Romare grabbed my arm and tugged, his eyes asking questions that he didn’t speak out loud.

“Where should I meet you?”

Romare shook his head. “No!” he whispered. “You’re hurt!”

“Stop it,” I said, giving him a warning look. He let go and tugged on his lip until I pulled his fingers away and smoothed my thumb over it.

“You can meet us at-”

Romare snatched the phone. “He’s hurt! Vito got shot and he shouldn’t be going anywhere.”

I growled. “Give me that phone, boy.”

He pulled it away from his ear but hesitated in giving it back. I raised a brow and he shoved it toward me, a pout on his lips.

“Hello?”

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