He blew out a long huff of breath and looked down at our joined hands.
“I’m going to be completely fucking honest right now, and you might hate me for it, but I didn’t want you to join the band, because I knew if you did, there was no way Diego could ever come back. And I was right. You’re too good, you fit in too well with our sound, and the fans adore you. But I kept Diego in the back of my mind, wondering how I could possibly tell my kid brother he was out for good. Murray and I nearly came to blows over it.”
My lips tipped up. “We’re in a gang. He has to defend me, no matter what.”
“He had some things to say about Diego that weren’t too nice, but they also weren’t untrue. It was hard for me to hear.”
“I get that. I understand what you’re saying, but here’s where I draw my line. If I sign the contract to stay with Unrequited, all decisions going forward have to involve me. I’m not going to be the stray y’all brought in that you tuck away when company comes over.”
Santiago gave a sharp nod and took out his phone. Again, I had no idea what was going on, until Mo’s face popped up on the screen.
“What’s up?” he answered.
“Hey, I’m with Maeve,” Santiago said, swinging the screen toward me.
I covered my face, cringing away from the camera. “Hey, Mo, I’m lookin’ like death warmed over, so it might be best if you didn’t see me.”
He chuckled. “I saw my sister’s pictures. Looked like fun.”
I groaned. “Noooo...there are pictures?” I’d be wringing Yael’s neck just as soon as I figured out which way was up.
“You looked pretty in them.” Santiago gave me a look so full of longing, my heart tumbled. “Mo, the reason I called was for Maeve to tell you her conditions for staying with Unrequited.”
The smile slipped from Mo’s face, replaced by the expression he got when he talked band business. “Anything, Maeve. We want you with us. Right, Santiago?”
He met my eyes, holding them for a long, drawn out beat. “Right. Always with us.”
It took me a moment to gather my words. I took a sip of my coffee, then set the cup down on the table beside the couch. An hour ago, I’d been lying in bed between Yael and Haven, making plans for my future without this man and this band. Now, it seemed maybe I could have both.
“I don’t have a whole lot of demands. I’m not like that. I just want to feel like the fourth member of Unrequited, not a long-term sub. If you have band meetings, I want to be there. And I need to know, no matter what happens between Santiago and me, I’ll have a job.”
Mo nodded with each point I made, while Santiago stiffened.
“Right, you got it. I’ll call Clark and have him make a change in the contract if he needs to. That’s all reasonable to me.” He rubbed his eye with the heel of his hand. “You need me for anything else?”
“I think that’s it. Thank you, Moses. I miss you already,” I said.
He smiled his Young Mo smile, all crooked and dimpled. “Miss you too, girl. Give it a couple days and I’ll miss Santiago too.”
Santiago, frowning, mumbled a goodbye, then tossed the phone aside. “No matter what happens with us?” he all but growled. “You don’t seem to understand. When you were talking about joining another band, I was calculating how I could arrange Unrequited’s tour dates around your tour dates, so I could travel with you. Yeah, I let you down, but I love you like—” He squeezed his eyes shut, his jaw ticking. “I’ve never felt like this for anyone, Maeve. We’re not temporary. At least not to me.”
He brought the hand he held to his mouth, rubbing his lips back and forth over my knuckles. His touch was so tender and sweet, it unfurled the resistance I’d been holding onto since he’d started talking about Diego.
I raised my free hand up to the taut muscles in his jaw. He was being incredibly vulnerable with me, and it affected me in a way that was unfamiliar. No man had ever loved me in this way. I didn’t think anyone had. Certainly not my parents, and definitely not Drew Rossi.
“I’m sorry I ran from you. I have a bad habit of doing that, but I should have stayed, if for no other reason than to tell you to fuck off in person if everything I’d thought I heard had turned out to be what you said.” His eyes snapped open, instantly focused on mine. “The way you love your brother makes me loveyoueven more than I knew I could. I don’t blame you for your reticence, I only wish you’d told me all this before.”
“I wish I had too. I should’ve.”
I slid my hand to the side of his neck and shifted my body closer to his. “I’m sorry, Santiago. I know you. You would never hurt me the way others have, and I know that, but I let myself forget it. I let myself lump you in with my other baggage, and you’re not that man. You are the best man.”
He released a shuddering breath. “I can’t believe you’re apologizing to me. I came prepared to crawl over glass for you.”
“You don’t need to do that. I’d never want you to.” I moved even closer, letting my chest brush his arm. “I’m stubborn as hell, and I may not admit I’m wrong right away, but I will eventually. We both screwed up, that’s a fact, but runnin’ away wasn’t the choice I should have made.”
His hand came up, gripping the nape of my neck, and my eyes nearly rolled back in my head. When he did that, I felt completely owned and taken care of. If I could’ve bathed in that feeling, coating my skin with it, I would have.
“I fucking love you, Maeve. You know that, right?”