Page 33 of Ardently Yours

“Reese, I love you like a brother, but I don’t have time for one of your therapy sessions right now.”

He scrubs blunt fingertips across his forehead. “It wasn’t bad press that broke Ariana.”

“It was being married to me.”

“Arden—”

“Drop it.” I nod at the doorway. “Let’s go.”

His lips tighten, but he doesn’t move.

“Do you expect her to swim with the sharks?” I scoff.

We both know it would be cruel to bring her into my world. The social politics alone are vicious, and she’s a woman who craves privacy and peace.

I’m pretty sure Charlotte thinks Steve worked for me as alaw clerk.If he’d trusted her not to be upset, he’d have told her he joined my security team. How much worse would it be to subject Charlotte and Bronnie to the protocols Steve was protecting her from?

“I’ve changed,” I say.

He nods. “We all have.”

I was never soft, but the Vinucci family pushed me to a place I’d never thought possible. I came close to abandoning legal means of dealing with them. What we did was a muddy line, setting them up to believe they’d betrayed each other, then watching them destroy themselves.

If I’d had fewer principles and gone in guns blazing, more of my people would be alive today. “Their deaths were noble. They knew the risks.” It’s something I tell myself over and over.

It doesn’t lessen the guilt, despite knowing I did the right thing.

“Hollow comfort,” Reese says.

“It’s all we have.” The danger to my boys, my parents, and my people turned the key in a lock I hadn’t known I had. None of my peers has anything like the army I employ. Not even MarcusHarcourt goes as far as I do. But I can’t unsee the reality of potential enemies around us.

Charlotte once asked me what it’s like to have a job that shows me the worst of humanity. Some people burn out. Some go numb. Then there are those who lose their fucking minds. I have no illusions about which category I fit into.

Charlotte reminded me I have a heart. Now I feel everything. The good, but also every ounce of pain, rage, and regret.

I enter the inpatient family lounge, then move into position across the room at a ninety-degree angle from Charlotte, where she sits with her legs crossed and one ankle bobbing nervously. With the dividing wall partially hiding me from view, she’d have to look closely to notice me.

Seated, I unzip my black ski jacket, lean forward to make myself look smaller, choose a magazine at random from the nearby table, and lift it high enough to cover my lower face. Reese, wearing casual clothing of his own, sits next to me and affects a similar posture. The sunglasses aren’t working in here. They’ll attract more attention, not less. I slide them into my pocket, then lower the brim of my hat to shield my eyes.

We look goddamn ridiculous, sneaking around a small, rural hospital trying to be stealthy. This is entering full-on Scooby Doo territory.

On the outpatient side, Charlotte uncrosses her jean-covered legs and leans forward, her hands clasped between her knees. Her mother rubs her shoulder. Charlotte nods and chews her bottom lip. When a volunteer in a candy-striped uniform enters, gift bag and bouquet in hand, and calls her name, Charlotte’s eyes widen before she lifts her hand in acknowledgment.

A smile spreads across her face as she accepts the gifts. Mrs. Miller peeks inside the bag and sniffs the flowers. She says something to Charlotte that I can’t hear. Charlotte nods, then leans back in her chair and reads the card I addressed to her.

“What did you write? She looks ready to blow,” Reese mutters.

I keep my gaze on Charlotte. “I said I’m here for her if she needs me and that Bronnie’s surgery would go well,” I whisper.

“Then why is shecrying?”

I frown and rise from my chair. “She could have gotten bad news before we got here. We weren’t late, but they could have started early. If Bronnie needs—”

Reese tugs on my arm in an attempt to drag me back into my seat, but I don’t budge. Charlotte is smiling now, but she’s still crying.

“Women are strange,” Reese says.

Mrs. Miller gives Charlotte a grin and a shoulder shimmy.

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