CHAPTER THIRTEEN – ROSE

“The snow’s letting up,” I said.

“It is.”

“Would you like to follow me to my place?” I asked.

I studied the way his face fell back into its stern expression. His strong jawline was present, even underneath the thick, trimmed beard. The way the flannel on his body pulled against his taut muscles called to me and, for a split second, I wasn’t looking at a man with a shadowy past. I wasn’t looking at the man who had taken my virginity without one ounce of regret. I wasn’t even looking at the man that had just made me come inside my own work establishment.

Instead, I saw a shocked man, chomping at the bit to claim the only piece of family he seemed to have left. A man like him, with the life he led, must’ve seen many people he loved dearly die, and there was a part of me that didn’t want to keep him from her. Or keep him from the family he unknowingly created.

I slid from the truck and walked around to my car. The taillights of his car were on my body, and I unlocked my car as I went to turn it on. I kicked up the warmth, trying to get the ice off my windshield, and I grabbed my scraper.

But when I looked up, he was already out of his truck, scraping the ice off my windshield while I sat in the warmth of my car.

“Camillo,” he said.

“What?” I asked.

“I suppose we should introduce ourselves,” he said, grinning.

His eyes connected with mine from behind the windshield he was clearing, and I couldn’t help but let out a laugh. I felt a bit of the tension release between us and, for the first time since he’d walked into the diner, I watched his shoulders release.

“I suppose we should,” I said as I stepped out of the car. “Rose Brugman.”

“Camillo Moretti.”

I held my hand out and he took it, shaking it with a firm grip. His hand held onto mine tightly and, even from beneath the gloves, I could feel a spark between our bodies. The flames roaring in my toes shot up my spine, prickling my arms as I let go of his grasp.

Had I not known any better, I could’ve sworn he was smirking at me.

“Get back in the car,” he said. “It’s too cold for you to be out.”

Grateful for his words, I slipped back in and shut the door. My car was warming up, and I sighed with relief, listening as he continued to scrape the ice off it. His demeanor came off as bossy, even though his actions were kind, but deep down, I kind of liked it. I had to make so many decisions for Ana and Kevin throughout the day that it was nice for someone else to take charge for a change. It was nice to not have to do anything but listen.

In a way, it showed he cared about me. He cared enough to want to get me out of the cold. He cared enough to scrape off my windshield so I didn’t have to do it. It wasn’t much, but it was something and I held onto that something as I thought back to our moment in the diner.

The way he glared at me. The way his hands felt around my wrists. The way my body came for him in an instant, just because he wanted it.

When I opened my eyes, he was no longer there, and I panicked. Where had he gone? Then his truck lights flickered at me, commanding me to pull out so he could follow me.

I watched him in my rearview mirror all the way back to the house. As I got closer and closer, I realized just how rundown our house truly was. It was two stories and, at one point in time, it shined with the glory of familial love but, over the years, it had withered away. I couldn’t keep it up the way my father had, nor did I have the money to pay someone to do it.

I was suddenly embarrassed. Would he think it wasn’t suitable for his daughter? Would he try to take her when he saw what she was living in? It was the best I could do under the circumstances, and I felt tears rise to my eyes as I pulled into the driveway.

Camillo was rich and, if the rumors were true, living in a shitty house wouldn’t be agreeable to him. I jumped out of my car and rushed inside, panicked with the decision I’d just made as I walked into the madhouse. Kevin was blaring music and Cassie was burning dinner. Ana was tearing out pages in a dictionary I didn’t even know we had and scattering the bits all across the carpet. The smoke from dinner was filling the kitchen and I cut the stove off, glaring at Cassie and telling her to back away.

Then, I went to the bottom of the stairs and began yelling.

“Kevin! Turn that shit off!”

“But it’s the best part!”

“Then turn it down,” I yelled. “Now!”

I scooped Ana up into my arms and she giggled with delight. I handed her to Cassie and threw her disgusting, burnt soup down the drain.

“I’ve made a decision I’m still not sure about, so I need you to trust me,” I said.

“What’s going on?” she asked. “Is something wrong? Are you okay?”

“I don’t have time to explain. Get upstairs with Kevin and keep him entertained. Please keep the noise down and shut the kitchen door. I’ll explain once he’s gone.”

“He?” she asked, her eyebrows raising in surprise. “Who’s ‘he’?”

“Cassie, just do it. Please.”

I washed the remnants of the soup down the drain and piled the dishes in the sink. I sprayed some perfume around the room, hoping to disguise the stench, and I turned on the oven fan. Cassie was looking at me wildly as she stepped out of the kitchen, shutting the door and closing off the ripped-up paper in the living room before she ventured upstairs. I cooed lightly in Ana’s ear, bouncing her in my arms while she giggled and clung to me.

I turned around from the mess in the sink and saw Camillo standing there, his eyes bright as he looked fondly upon the child in my arms.

“Ana, there’s someone I’d like you to meet,” I said lightly in her ear. “His name is Camillo. He’s a friend of Mommy’s.”

I nodded my head for him to come in but he stayed just at the door. He closed it behind him, not wanting to let the little bit of heat we had out into the nighttime sky. I could tell by the way he was staring at her that it was love at first sight. The hard expression he usually wore faded away, softening his intense jawline and sparkling his eyes.

In that very moment, the warmth that spread throughout my chest was unmistakable. The way he was looking at his daughter melted my insides and I knew that I’d made the right decision.

“Hello, Ana. I must say, you are very beautiful.”

The way he spoke to her melted my heart, and I had to keep blinking in order to keep my tears at bay. Ana waved at him, making him smile, and the beauty of his bright smile lit up his entire face. His features came to life and his body arched toward her, his hand reaching out for her while she reached for his finger.

I watched as she wrapped her little fingers around his massive one, smiling even bigger as his eyes sparkled in her direction. It was the first time I’d ever seen this expression on his face and I felt my stomach do a somersault. He was so handsome—like a fallen angel. Not a dark prince.

“Your eyes are beautiful,” he said.

“Blue!” Ana exclaimed.

“Yes, you have blue eyes,” he said. “Wonderful, sky-blue eyes.”

“Just like her father,” I said.

He looked up at me and I could see a world of possibility swimming behind them. I started to wonder if the family he’d been going on about was something that could really happen. I figured he was just talking about a fantasy he once had—longing for a family that maybe he’d already lost.

But as I stood in my rundown kitchen and watched him talk lovingly with our daughter, I wondered if it could be possible.