Page 160 of Lourdes & the Mafia
“I saw it in a vision.” I try to keep my smirk at bay. “Trust me, Kane’s is bigger.”
Box cackles right before someone steps forward. Naomi’s second daddy.
Daddy Kraken.
“Why the fuck are the three of you in my compound?” He’s not staring at me. He’s staring at my men. His gruff demeanor isn’t fooling me for a bit, though. Underneath all that gruff, he’s a teddy bear.
Behind me, Ramiel chuckles. “Your compound is shit. Easy to break into. Easier to walk through the fucking front door.”
“Told you.” Julio snorts.
Before an argument can ensue, I shake Lorenzo off. “Where’sNaomi?”
“In my office. The door’s unlocked.”
I nod and turn, narrowing my eyes on Ramiel, Kane, and Lorenzo, ordering them to behave. Then I make my way towards Rock’s office.
As I pass, the Kraken president places his hand on my shoulder. “Glad you’re okay,” he says, and I swear I catch emotion in his voice.
Big old softy, te estoy diciendo.
With a smile on my face, I go over to his office, opening the door and entering. Naomi’s back is to me. I know her well enough, but I’ve never seen her look… defeated.
“I told you I wanted to be alone,” she snaps, and there are tears in her voice.
“Naomi.”
Her body snaps up and she whips around, her mouth dropping open in a perfect picture of surprise.
I’veneverseen Naomi cry. So seeing the tear marks tracked on her cheeks makes me reel back…
“Lourdes…”
“So, I’m not dead.” She’s quiet, so I push on. “So, the Underworld is full of demonic relics and cursed things. I wore a bracelet. It only made me look dead. But don’t tell anyone about it, not even your guys ormyguys will—”
I don’t get the rest of my sentence out because Naomi rushes at me, her body colliding against mine as she pulls me in for a hug.
A breath of relief leaves me and tears sting my eyes until they begin to fall. I wrap her in my arms. We stay like this for a long moment, Naomi’s body wracking up and down with sobs.
When we finally pull away, she silently grabs my hand and guides me to a plush chair. I take a seat, waiting until she takes one across from me.
But now that I have her in front of me, I have no idea what to say. And after everything I’ve been through, after living and dying and experiencing my own magic to the extent that I have, I feel different now that I’m facing her.
I don’t feel the need to explain myself to her. I don’t feel that same fear I always do when I face her regarding my actions. I’m not afraid to be berated for the things I’ve done because it’smylife. Not hers. I’ve lived my experiences. I’ve made mistakes. I’ve learned. And at the end of the day, I’ve come out stronger because of it.
“Do you know how worried I’ve been about you?” she begins. “Weeks with no contact. Blood at the house—”
“I told you I was safe.”
She throws her hands up with exasperation. “You were a fucking spectrum! And you had that weirdo with you! How was I supposed to trust anything?”
“Okay, I can understand how that would have been confusing.” My brows pull together. “Also, he’s not a weirdo.”
“Well whatever the fuck he is, theykidnappedyou.”
Irritation flares with Naomi in a way it never has before. I tamp it down because I know seeing mediewasn’t easy for anyone, but I won’t have her sending false accusations their way.
“Look,” I say, my voice hard. “Please take a breath. First of all, they didn’t kidnap me. I went to them. I sought them out for protection.”
