Something shifted inside of her, getting rid of her inhibitions, forcing her to be open to this. Paranoia about Michael had made her hesitant. She looked up at Nico now and felt…safe. And happy, despite the throbbing in her ankle.
“So?” He prompted, his eyes roaming her face inquisitively. “What’s it to be, cara.”
Cara. Dear. Sweet. Her chest flooded with emotions and a warning light flashed in her brain. She couldn’t let herself become used to this. But the part of her that was capable of analytical thought registered that he was waiting for her to speak, giving her all the power in this situation. He might have wanted to force her to come inside and rest on his sofa, but he’d laid out an alternative, and was leaving the choice to her.
It was an easy choice then.
“Inside.” Her eyes held his for a second too long, but she found it hard to look away.
His expression shifted, showing true pleasure for a moment. “My cousin is only here for lunch. They won’t stay long.”
“Don’t rush them out on my account.”
“I won’t.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead and she swept her eyes shut, trapping that moment far inside her memories.
“Nico?” A male voice, deep and rumbly, emerged from the house. A moment later, a figure arrived with it – unmistakably male, unmistakably Nico’s cousin. She looked from Nico to the other man, cataloguing all the ways in which they were similar. From their physicality – tall, broad, strong – to their symmetrical features, dark eyes rimmed with thick, black lashes, angular faces. There was no shortage of ‘handsome’ between the pair.
Fiero took one look at Maddie and stood back. “I called Dottore Verdi. She’s on her way.”
Maddie compressed his lips. “Really, that wasn’t necessary.”
Fiero’s smile was disarming. “My cousin is exercising an abundance of caution and given that my son is responsible for injuring you, I’m afraid you won’t hear any argument from me.”
“It wasn’t his fault,” she was quick to add.
“He says he ran into your legs and made you fall down?” Fiero lifted a brow enquiringly. Nico strode into the house – now so familiar to Maddie that she barely noticed the beautiful furnishings any longer.
“Well, perhaps he did,” she felt a smile tugging at her lips. “But I wasn’t looking where I was going, either. Really, it was a dip in the grass. My foot got caught.”
“So we’ll blame that mutt,” Fiero murmured, nodding towards Dante, who assumed a similarly shame-faced expression to Jack’s, a moment ago.
“Nonsense,” she shook her head. “Dante was very protective.”
A woman approached then, holding the hand of a rather serious little Jack. She had dark glossy hair, clear brown eyes and a look that was both warm and frazzled at the same time.
“I’m sorry about Jack,” she said with obvious perturbation. “He was supposed to be asleep –,”
“But he wasn’t tired,” Maddie supplied with a conspiratorial wink and smile at Jack.
He returned it before remembering he was cross and smoothing his features back into a scowl.
“Apparently.” The other woman shook her head. “I’m Elodie.”
“Maddie,” she responded, then looked up at Nico. “You can put me down.”
In response, he moved across the lounge room and eased Maddie onto the sofa. She winced as fresh pain radiated along her leg. It was an involuntary, instant reaction, the work of a moment, but Nico stiffened in response.
“I’ll get you an ice pack. Stay here.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him she couldn’t exactly move anywhere, but he was gone again straight away.
“How old is Jack?” She asked Elodie, curiously.
“Four, going on fourteen.” She lifted him up, hugging him to her chest. “But he’s still my baby.”
“I’m not a baby.” Except the words were muffled, and Maddie noticed that he didn’t pull away from his mother’s embrace.
“Why don’t I take Jack to play football,” Fiero offered. “He clearly doesn’t want to sleep.”