CHAPTER XXIX

T he instant our eyes connected, an electric shock shot through me. Her golden-brown eyes sparkled in the light.

She looked sexy as hell in the clothes I’d picked out for her. It took everything in me to keep my hands to myself. My gaze dropped to Winter’s side, where my dog stood, alert and on edge, his posture rigid. He was sizing me up, an unusual protectiveness radiating from him.

Interesting.

“I’m taking Winter home,” Mya announced, her tone deceptively light, but the words landed like a blow. Taking Winter home? My stomach twisted at the thought of her leaving.

“What?” I snapped, my voice sharper than I intended. “No, you’re not.”

Mya raised an eyebrow as if to argue, but she didn’t.

Smart girl.

“Nico, it’s probably best to let her go since we have work to do,” Matteo said, reminding me of the cluster fuck we had to deal with.

He was right, but having Winter nearby grounded me. She calmed the storm inside, providing a peace I desperately clung to, and I badly needed that with everything going on. I didn’t want her to slip away from me right now.

“Mya will keep you company while I handle some business. You’ll stay for dinner,” I said to Winter, my tone leaving no room for argument.

Winter’s cute little nostrils flared, her fingers twitching at her sides, her lips pressing into a thin line.

Ohhh . My little angel was furious.

“No, Nico. What I’m going to do is go home,” she shot back.

I clenched my jaw, irritation flaring. She was testing me, and by the way she was looking at me, she wasn’t backing down.

I gritted my teeth. “I said no.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes. I. am,” she retorted, then turned to Mya. “Please take me home or I’ll call an Uber.”

“Winter,” I warned.

She glanced at me, a smirk playing on her lips, challenging me with her eyes as if to say, “Bring it on.”

“Goodbye,” she said defiantly, starting toward the door. I stalked around the counter, closing the distance with purposeful strides, grabbing her arm to spin her around. “I said no. You’re staying here.”

“Stop it!” she snapped in a whisper, struggling against my grip. I only tightened it in response, despite her wince. “You can’t keep me prisoner!” She looked at me as if I were insane, which, in that moment, I might just have been.

“Enough.” I seethed, yanking her against my chest, inhaling the familiar scent of her shampoo. “It’s not the day to fuck with me, Winter.”

“I don’t understand any of this,” she whispered. “You ignored me all week, and then you act like you need me all the time. It doesn’t make sense. So confusing.”

“What?” I shot back. The thought of her leaving felt like a piece of my soul was being ripped away from my body. “Is that what this is about?”

“Nico, I’m tired. So tired.” She ignored my question, her voice softening, laced with defeat, and it twisted something within me. I didn’t understand these emotions that had begun swirling inside me since Winter had invaded my life. Protectiveness battled with an unwillingness to let her go, even for a second. It was infuriating, like an itch I couldn’t scratch.

“Nico,” Mya warned.

Mya had always had a knack for swooping in at the most inconvenient times, like a hawk ready to pick at the bones of my frustration. “Mind your business, Mya,” I warned as I kept my gaze locked on Winter’s.

“Nico. Just let her go home?—”

“Mya, stay out of it,” Matteo cut in. I could hear the shuffle of his footsteps as he dragged his sister away, a subtle reminder that my temper was about as short as my patience right now, especially with this little spitfire in my arms.

Winter looked up at me, her long black lashes framing those eyes that seemed to pierce right through my anger. Her features became more delicate, like she transformed into something ethereal.

“Please, Nico,” she pleaded, her voice a quiet whisper.

“Winter, I swear—” I hesitated, my resolve faltering as I instinctively tucked a stray strand of hair behind Winter’s ear. My fingers brushed against her cheek. “I wasn’t ignoring you,” I murmured, my voice dropping to a hushed tone, the anger dissipating like smoke in the wind. “I thought of you every night and wanted to be with you, but I had an emergency with my job that needed all my attention. I never meant to make you feel like I didn’t want you or I didn’t think about the way your lips felt around my cock.”

She blushed and smiled.

In a moment that felt both reckless and right, I leaned down, pressing my lips to hers. The world around us blurred into insignificance, and for that brief instant, nothing else mattered. To my surprise, Winter responded instantly, her warmth kindling something new and raw within me.

“Really?” she breathed, a half sigh escaped her lips as I pulled away, still close enough to feel the heat radiating from her.

“Yeah, really.” I kissed her nose, and I realized that my anger had given way to something far more powerful. “Will you please stay for dinner?”

She paused, her expression unreadable. My stomach twisted in knots as I braced myself for her response. But then, after what felt like an eternity, her lips slowly turned into a smile. “Yeah, I’ll stay.”

The knot in my stomach began to ease. “Thank you.”

I took her hand and led her back to the kitchen, where she joined Mom and Mya. A surge of emotions coursed through me as I watched Winter blend in seamlessly with my family, almost as if she was always meant to be here.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Matteo approaching me. “You can still protect her without her living at the house, you know,” he stated, standing beside me. “If you want her to trust you, you have to let her keep her independence. Let her be the one to come to you on her terms . Don’t push her, Nico.”

I clenched my jaw, irritation flaring up inside me. “I know.”

But what Matteo didn’t understand was that finding a balance wasn’t so easy when there was a possibility that Winter could be taken away from me. And that scared the shit out of me.