I still wasn’t used to the change in our relationship. Before I saw her at the hospital, she’d been unforgiving toward me. But now, she was a whole new person. “I’m not used to the humidity and the smaller space, but I like it. Wherever Vanessa is, that’s home to me.” My woman was my home, my everything. Whether I was buried deep inside her or watching her eat her cereal in the morning, it was where I was meant to be. I would rather be in Lake Garda or Milan, but I’d been living in both places alone, and with Vanessa gone, they never felt home again.
“Good,” she said. “I’m glad you’re liking it. Crow and I are so happy that you both are so close.”
I noticed the way she chose her words, always including me in everything she said. Before, she would have no problem excluding me, indirectly telling me she wished I weren’t around. I didn’t know what else to say to her, so I just nodded. I’d never been good with words. I barely talked to Vanessa as it was.
Pearl turned to Vanessa next and hugged her for a long time. Her hand cupped the back of Vanessa’s head, and she held her close, treasuring her daughter like they’d been apart for months rather than weeks. Pearl closed her eyes, the pained look of motherly affection written all over her face.
I watched her, thinking of my own mother. I didn’t remember her that well, but I always remembered the way she made me feel. She loved me with her whole heart, would have made any sacrifice to take care of me. Sometimes it was hard to believe she’d been gone for over twenty years.
Crow walked up to me, wearing the same stern expression he usually wore. Unless he was emotionally moved or particularly angry, he always looked the same, displaying a constant expression of indifference. “Griffin.” He extended his hand to shake mine.
I paused for a moment before I took it. I shook hands with my biggest enemy, a man I’d vowed to kill just a year ago. Now I stood in his house, welcomed into his family. I held his gaze as I squeezed his hand.
He did the same. “Can I get you a drink?”
“Scotch.”
He nodded before he turned to the dining room. “Come with me.”
I followed behind him then glanced at Vanessa over my shoulder, where she was whispering words with her mother. It wasn’t until I stepped into the dining room with Crow that I noticed he hadn’t even greeted his own daughter, giving me all of his attention.
He poured two glasses then handed me the drink.
I brought it to my lips and let the alcohol coat my throat.
He did the same before he set it down. “How was the drive?”
“Fine.” It took twenty minutes to get there. It wasn’t like it was a long trip.
Crow stared at me, looking confident but obviously pressed to have a conversation with me. “What have you been doing to keep busy? While Vanessa paints?”
“Work out. When I’m not doing that, I watch her work.”
He leaned against the table while he held the drink in his hand.
Even after the two-hour conversation we’d had the other day, it was still awkward between us. Though we were a lot alike, we had nothing in common except the brutal past we both shared, along with the one woman keeping us bound to each other.
“I’m glad you’re here,” he said to break the silence. “Lars is making a nice dinner. You like steak?”
I kept the smile off my face, hiding my amusement at his struggle. He was desperate to make me feel welcome, and he clearly didn’t know how to do that, not like his wife. He never went out of his way to talk to anyone, not even his brother, but he was bending over backward to engage with me. “I eat anything—except Vanessa’s cooking.”
He chuckled, a true smile coming over his face. “She’s a smart girl…but she never caught on to that.”
“It’s fine. I usually do the cooking.”
“You cook?” he asked in surprise.
“Yeah. Chicken, fish, stuff like that. I was pretty much forced to when Vanessa and I got together. It was either that or eat pizza every night…and a man like me can’t eat pizza very often.” Vanessa pigged out and ate whatever she wanted, but she still had curves I loved to grab on to. For me, I couldn’t be this muscular without eating a lot of protein, and I couldn’t be this cut if I ate too much shit. It took a lot of discipline. The only reason we had cereal in the house was because Vanessa bought it.
He chuckled again. “My wife learned throughout our marriage, but when we met, she wasn’t the greatest either.”
You mean, when you kept her as a prisoner. Since Vanessa was around, I kept that insult to myself. There were a lot of things I wanted to blurt out, but since I wanted to make her happy, I was on my best behavior. But there would never be a time when I looked at Crow without feeling a twinge of pain in my shoulder. “How’s Conway?”