Page 106 of Keep Him Like Secrets

“Come here,” I said, reaching for her hand and pulling her with me across the apartment to that giant chair of hers. I kicked out of my shoes. Saff, brows pinched, followed my lead. Then let me pull her onto the chair, situating her on my chest. “Today was a lot.”

“Yeah,” she agreed, letting herself snuggle in.

“I can see how much Renzo’s opinion matters to you.”

“He gave me a chance.”

“Did he give you achance, or did you prove to him your worth?” I asked, fingers drifting through her silky blue strands.

“Oh,” she said.

“I know I don’t know you as well as he does—”

“That’s not true,” she said, voice soft. “You know me better than him. Better than anyone.”

I ignored the way her words made my heart feel like it had grown too large to stay within the confines of my ribcage. “He’s known you longer. Has been around you more.”

“That’s true.”

“But I feel like I know you well enough to say that no one has ever handed anything to you in this life. You’ve worked for it. Fought tooth and nail for it. He didn’tgiveyou anything. He rewarded your hard work. Wording matters.”

“I guess that’s true.”

“If you stop looking at his respect like a gift you have to earn and instead see it as something that is owed to you, it might make it sting less that he’s upset about this.” My hand rubbed down her arm, then my fingers laced between hers.

“Renzo genuinely sees us all as family. But in the way that he’s the father and we’re all his pain-in-the -ass kids. Who sometimes break the rules and need to be punished.”

“What kind of punishment?” I asked, trying to keep my tone casual. But if that man had any thoughts about hurting Saff, he’d have to go through me first.

“Well, when Cinna and Dav fucked up, they got a dock in pay for a while. And they couldn’t run any new jobs during that period either.”

“If you have any issues paying bills during that time, I got you.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Darlin’, I’m half at fault here. More, really.”

“I’ll be fine if my pay is docked. I live a smaller life here because it’s all I need. But I have more than enough money to set myself up for a while. It’s not the money…”

“It’s that he’s… family.”

“Yes.”

“As someone who doesn’t have anyone, believe me, I get that.”

“You have Teresa,” she reminded me. “And I still can’t get over her having mob connections.”

“That woman never ceases to surprise me with her connections. She has a niece who is a famous children’s book writer. And an aunt who invented the pillow that you love.”

“The AirNest?” she asked, tone lighter.

“Yep.”

“Wow. I’m impressed.”

“It was a Christmas gift one year. I’ve never slept better. I have to get an extra one so we aren’t fighting over it.”

“If by ‘fighting over it’ you mean giving it to me every night, then sure.” She was quiet for a moment, her fingers tracing across my chest in a pattern I couldn’t quite make out. “Hey, Soren?”

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