When I wake again, it’s broad daylight. I bolt upright in bed, filled with terror. “Sophie?”

“She’s all right. She’s asleep.” Dante wraps an arm around me and pulls me back down with him, bringing the covers up over me.

I burrow into his heat. Even though my body has recovered, in my mind I’m still trapped in that cold, hopeless place. “Are you sure she’s okay?”

“Yeah. My mom’s here, and Izzy’s been, and Anjelica.” I remember her; we met at Carlotta’s house. Was it only two days ago? “They all helped look after Sophie so I could stay with you.”

“I was so scared,” I whisper to his chest. “But I knew you’d come.” I just didn’t know if you’d be in time.

“Heather, we gotta talk.”

I shake my head. “I can’t.”

“Something happened. Before that asshole grabbed you. Baby, you gotta tell me what was in your mind.”

“Can’t we talk about it later?” Like maybe never.

“We gotta talk about it now. Before it festers any deeper into you.” He doesn’t try to make me look at him, just holds me tight. “Whatever it is, we can deal with it. But you have to talk to me.”

I don’t want to tell him, but the words spill out. “I figured it out.” My voice is broken, ragged.

“Figured what out?”

“Why you want me.”

The hand he’s curled around the back of my neck tenses for an instant. “And why’s that?”

“I met Mickey.”

“And?”

“I know, Dante.”

He brings his face close to mine. His voice is very gentle when he says, “You’re gonna have to spell it out for me.”

Finally I whisper it, the secret, corrosive shame that’s been eating at me since I realized. “You wanted what Rico had.”

There’s a silence before he says, incredulously, “You think I’m in love with Mickey?”

“No! But you want the same thing.”

Another, longer pause. “So let me see if I’ve got this straight. My twin brother married a younger woman and now she’s carrying his baby, so I hooked up with the first young, single mom I could get my hands on so I wouldn’t be left behind? Is that about the size of it?”

He makes it sound ridiculous, but I know better. “He’s your twin brother.”

“Baby, you have got some whacked-out shit in your head.”

I jerk away from him, but he pulls me back. When I keep struggling, he rolls us so he’s on top of me, pinning me to the bed. His hands frame my face. “Heather, listen. Listen to me.”

He keeps saying it, quietly but insistently, until I stop trying to get away from him. “Good. You listening now?” Reluctantly, I nod.

“Okay. We haven’t known each other that long, so there are some things you don’t know about me. A lot of things, actually. And one of those things is — and, babe, I don’t say this to brag, or to make you jealous, but it’s important, really important that you get this — I do not lack for female attention.”

Of course he doesn’t. He’s a gorgeous, sexy beast. I don’t know how I ever thought he wasn’t my type.

When I don’t respond, he goes on. “How old are you?”

“Twenty. Twenty-one next month.”

“I’m forty-two. And since I was younger than you, I’ve never had any problem getting women interested in me. Another thing you don’t know about me is that I’m in a motorcycle club. Now, not every woman goes for that but a lot of them do. Are you getting me here?”

“Women like you,” I say sullenly.

His mouth twitches. “Yeah, babe. They do. And a lot of them over the years have gone out of their way to show it. Plenty of women would be happy for me to put a ring on their finger and a baby in their belly.”

“Then why?” It bursts out. “Why did you pick me? I want to know the real reason.”

The humor fades from his face. “The real reason? You really want to know?” I nod. “Okay. I’ll tell you.”

Dante puts his mouth by my ear. “Because you’re a good mom. Because you have never once been scared of me. Because you like the way I fuck, and you fuck the way I like. Because you’re brave. Because you’re strong, so strong taking care of your girl, but you’re soft, like a flower, with delicate fuckin’ petals that bloom at my touch.

“Because you like to cook. Because you have a great ass. Because you’re funny. Because you work hard. Because I love the taste of your pussy. Because you’re so honest, you tell the truth even when you don’t want to. Because you’re beautiful.”

He kisses away the tears trickling down my face. “If all I wanted was a young woman, or a fertile one, I could have had my pick at any time in the last couple of decades. I picked you. If the world were gonna end tomorrow, and I had to choose who to spend my final hours with, I’d choose you.”

“Shut up,” I croak. “Stop talking now.”

Dante keeps using his mouth, but not for words. The kiss is long, and deep, and earth-shattering. When he lifts his head, I whisper, “I don’t deserve you.”

“If you let me, I’ll spend the rest of my life proving you wrong.” I bite my lip to keep from bursting into sobs. “Is that a yes?”

“Yes.” I cover his face with tiny kisses. “Yes.”

He claims my mouth again, and the kiss is turning hot and heavy when there’s a tap on the door. “Sorry to interrupt,” Carlotta says through the wood, “but Sophie’s asking for you.”

We look at each other. “For me?” I call.

“For both of you.”

And that just makes it perfect.