“You okay?” he asks, his large hand landing on my shoulder.
“Y-yeah. I’m just…”
“Scared?” I wince at the word, but when I look up into his eyes, I don’t find any mocking, only concern and understanding.
I nod, unable to do anything else.
“She’s going to love you. Now I know, I see a lot of her in you.”
“Yeah?” I ask with a smile.
I’ve lived my entire life thinking that I’d never get to meet my mother. But she’s been here all along and that despite not knowing her, that we’re alike in any way fills me with a kind of comfort I’ve never experienced before.
“We going or having a fucking reunion?” Theo barks from the driver’s side of his black Ferrari.
“Keep your hair on, Cirillo,” I snap back. “See you in a bit,” I say to Toby.
“He’s going to get through this. Seb’s stronger than he looks.”
“I know. We won’t let him do anything else.”
Toby gives me a soft smile before stepping aside so I can drop into Theo’s fancy pants car.
He remains silent as he watches the others climb into Nico’s car that’s parked outside the garage before the beast beneath me rumbles to life and sends a shot of adrenaline through me.
“What will it take for you to let me drive this one day?”
He glances over at me, his dumbfounded expression giving me my answer.
“I’d need to kill you first. Good to know.”
“No offence, Princess, but no pussy is even close to being good enough to let a girl behind the wheel of this car.”
I scoff. “Sexist pig.”
“What? I wouldn’t let a guy sit here either.”
“So you wouldn’t let Seb take me out in it?”
“Hell no. You’ve got him wrapped around your little finger so tight it’s not even funny. He’d let you suck him dry, blow his few remaining brain cells, and then hand the keys over willingly, like he did his balls.”
“And to think I was worried you didn’t like me,” I mutter, folding my arms over my chest.
Theo chuckles.
“I’m sorry about last night. I—”
“I’m sorry, what was that?”
“I-I… I said I was sorry.”
“Shit, I should have recorded that.”
He blows out a frustrated breath, pushing his hair back from his brow, and takes a moment to gather his words.
“I do like you, Stella. And, despite what I said last night, I trust you not to hurt Seb. I know how you feel about him. I always have. I just… You shouldn’t have seen me like that.”
“I can handle this life, Theo. I can handle the dark and the ugly as well as you can.”