Page 110 of Manhattan Secret

Noah Fierro

“That was cruel, kitten.”

“I don’t know what you mean…”

I come up behind her once I know my wife’s guest has left. I curl a hand around her waist and linger a kiss on her forehead. “Yes, you do. You made that girl think you didn’t already know about her and Lachie, all so you could test her out.”

Sena turns and gives me a scathing look which only lasts a few seconds before she grins like the sly kitten I know and adore. “You were listening?”

“I arrived just after she did and stayed in the garage while you talked. You didn’t want her to know Lachie already told us about her?”

“I wanted to see what she had to say. And I was shocked at first to see her, I didn’t expect it to be the same girl I met. Small world. I liked her that day in the café.”

“You like her.” I don’t pose it as a question.

I know my wife. Had she been displeased in anyway about what the woman said, Sena would have made it known.

“I didn’tnotlike her. She was steadfast in what she was saying.” Had the woman my son loved, come to our door a month or two ago, Sena might not have been so calm. The day we took him to Boston for his first day at MIT, he confessed, after much cajoling from Sena, why he was so unhappy.

My Sena was fit to kill at the time.

“Are you going to call and let him know she was here?”

“And get in involved in my children’s lives? What kind of a woman do you think I am, lion?” I laugh as she huffs her indignation for the big fat lie we both know she’s just told.

We’ve given all our kids room to breathe and make their own mistakes, but it never means we aren’t ready to swing in if they need help and I know it’s hurt my kitten a lot seeing Lachlan unhappy for months.

“He gets this from you.” She accuses, climbing onto my lap once I pull out a kitchen chair. Her head, as always, tucks perfectly under my chin and the sense of peace is ever present between us. The house is quiet now, with two kids off at college, though the younger two make up for the silence. I never take these moments with her for granted. “Why is it always my fault? You get all the accolades for when they bring home scholarships and awards.”

I pinch her thigh and she chuckles.

“Think about it. You fell for a woman, lion.”

This is true. Gay my whole life until Sena. “I fell foryou.”

“Exactly. And now Lachie has fallen for a forbidden woman.”

“I don’t see how it’s my fault.”

“The DNA, lion. It comes from you.”

“Mmhm.” I indulge with a smirk.

My children are smart, excelling in Lachie’s case, but Sena is smarter.

“Will he be okay, Noah? I’m worried about him.” Skimming my lips over her temple, I soothe her as best as I can, under the circumstances, even though I don’t have the answers. “Fierro’s are always okay, baby.”

“Hmm…we are, aren’t we? I suppose I have to like her if she becomes my daughter in law one day.”

This is true, though I suspect my kitten will hold out letting the poor girl knows she’s liked for a very long time. Mama lions hold grudges when it concerns their cubs.

“Ronan said they looked happy together, right?”

“Yes, kitten.” I confirm. Our friend had relayed several times of seeing Lachlan in his bar with a dark haired woman. My suspicions had come to pass after all.

Love never comes easy for a Fierro.

We find it in the most unexpected places.

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