Page 26 of Saint
“Love requires patience, Luca. And gentleness.” Nico’s voice softens. “You can’t force Lily to love you the way you force the rest of the world to bend to your will. The harder you push, the farther she’ll run.”
I close my eyes again, picturing Lily’s face the last time I saw her—the mixture of desire and fear in those blue eyes. I’d scared her. The realization sits like lead in my stomach.
“Then what do I do?” I ask, the question unfamiliar on my tongue. I don’t ask for advice. Ever. But for Lily...
“Woo her,” Nico says simply. “Show her the man beneath the power. The one who cares for his community, who looks after his people. The Luca who stayed up all night with me when my mother was dying.”
I look away, uncomfortable with his assessment of my character. “That Luca is buried pretty deep these days.”
“Not as deep as you think.” Nico stands, moving to a cabinet where he keeps his liquor. He pours two fingers of scotch into crystal tumblers and hands one to me. “She’s the governor’sdaughter, Luca. She has been surrounded by power and politics her whole life. Show her something real instead.”
I swirl the amber liquid, considering his words. The thought of being vulnerable, of showing Lily the parts of myself I’ve kept locked away for decades, makes my skin crawl. But the alternative—losing her—is worse.
“I’ve already told her I’m coming for her on Friday,” I admit.
Nico raises an eyebrow. “Told her or threatened her?”
I don’t answer, which is answer enough.
“Text her,” he suggests. “Tell her you’d like to see her, but you understand if she needs more time. Put the ball in her court.”
“And if she says no?”
“Then you respect that,” Nico says firmly. “And try again. Gently.”
I down the scotch in one burning swallow, the heat spreading through my chest. “That isn’t my style.”
“Maybe your style needs an update,” Nico counters with a small smile.
The image of sharing a meal with Governor Moore makes me snort. “Somehow, I doubt Jackson Moore will be welcoming me with open arms anytime soon. He barely wants to endorse me for mayor. I’ll have to count on losing his support.”
“One bridge at a time,” Nico advises. “First, win the girl. The rest will follow.”
“I’ll try. But I make no promises. This girl makes me too crazy to think straight.”
I stay for another hour, listening to Nico’s counsel, letting his calm certainty soothe my restlessness. By the time I leave, the sun is setting over Brooklyn, casting long shadows across the brownstone-lined streets.
In my car, I pull out my phone and stare at Lily’s name in my contacts. My thumbs hover over the screen as I consider what to say. Finally, I type:
Me: I miss you, baby girl. I’ll try to be patient.
I hit send before I can second-guess myself, then toss the phone onto the passenger seat. It’s the most uncertain I’ve felt in years, this waiting, this not knowing.
Because Nico’s right—what I feel for her is more than possession. It’s something I haven’t allowed myself to feel since I was a boy, something I’ve convinced myself was a weakness.
It’s love. And it terrifies me more than any enemy I’ve ever faced.
Chapter 18
Lily
“What about the Winslow boy?He’s at Columbia Law now, you know,” Aunt Olive says, delicately cutting into her salmon as if dissecting my love life requires the same precision.
I push my salad around, wondering how many more eligible bachelors they’ll try to persuade me to date before this lunch mercifully ends. We’re seated at my mother’s favorite restaurant in Albany, an upscale place where the waitstaff hover just out of earshot, appearing the moment a water glass needs refilling.
“Or Timothy Bradford,” my mother adds, her perfect manicure tapping against her wine glass. “His family just donated that new wing to the children’s hospital. Very generous people.”
“I’m not interested in Timothy Bradford,” I say, trying to keep the edge from my voice. “Or the Winslow boy. Or any of the other sons of Dad’s golf buddies.”
