And the next few minutes, they were kept busy oohing and aahing over the gifts that both children pronounced as just perfect.
“Could I talk to you for a minute, Nicole? In my office. You and Rafe.”
The women looked up.
Dominic was standing in the doorway to the conservatory, smiling, like everything was nice and friendly. Like the sun wasn’t shining through floor-to-ceiling bulletproof glass, like he and Rafe were buds, like he was inviting Nicole into his office for milk and cookies.
Nicole hesitated.
“If there’s a problem, let me know,” Kate said, patting Nicole’s arm. “I’ll talk to Dominic for you. Now go.”
As soon as Nicole walked into the office, Rafe came to his feet, went to her, and took her hand. “You okay?” he whispered.
“What’s going on?”
“I think we’re good.”
Despite a truckload of misgivings, there was something about Nicole in unicorn pajamas and Rafe buttoned up tight that almost made Dominic smile. They looked so young and dreamy-eyed when they smiled at each other, even Contini, who had so many miles under his belt he should be jaded as hell. Something almost naïve burning there. Something beautiful.
Understanding the heart of it, the light and glow of it, Dominic said quietly, “Come, sit down,” and motioned to a sofa. “I think Rafe and I have arrived at a workable compromise.”
“I don’t have to compromise,” Nicole protested, but Rafe squeezed her hand and stopped her.
“Dominic and I agreed on this,” he said, drawing her to the sofa. “There’s more trouble on the way and I want you safe. So listen.”
“Here’s what Rafe and I were thinking we’d do,” Dominic said a moment later, sitting on the corner of his desk, swinging one bare foot. “I’ll tell your mother I saw you in Paris and you were enjoying your holiday. You okay with that so far?”
“Thanks, Nicky,” Nicole breathed, shooting a quick glance at Rafe, who was smiling before looking at her uncle again. “Thanks a lot.”
“Hey, what’s a summer break for, right?” Dominic gave her a little sideways smile. “And Rafe’s going to take good care of you till you go back to school.”
Nicole turned and grinned at Rafe.
“Make sure you call your mother and be nice, make her feel good,” Dominic said. “Tell her you’re going to Split for a few days with some friends, to see the sights, swim, sail, all that holiday shit. I’ll be sending Leo along with you. Your personal bodyguard.” He stopped her protest with a raised hand. “No negotiation. Rafe and I have agreed on this. He knows the situation better than either of us.”
She looked at Rafe, who nodded.
“Okay,” she said.
Dominic smiled. “Good. That’s settled. Now give me a hug and we’ll go see the children.”
A moment later, Dominic took Nicole in his arms and, holding Rafe’s gaze over her head for a second, said to her, “Now, listen to Rafe when it comes to security. Don’t give him any trouble, okay?”
“Yup.” She smiled up at her uncle. “Thanks for understanding.”
“Your boyfriend’s a good talker. Thank him.”
After joining Kate and the children, Nicole and Rafe got down on the floor and began helping Rosie and James with their video games. “My brother, Titus, is six now and getting pretty good at these games,” Rafe said. “Here, try this… see how it works?”
“Me dood too!” Jimmy exclaimed, grabbing the game device from Rafe.
“You are. Look, you hit that bouncing squirrel in the corner. Perfect. You got ten points. Push the squirrel icon again.”
Nicole reached up and opened the top button of Rafe’s shirt.
He smiled and shifted his shoulders. “Thanks. I was being strangled.”
“I noticed.”
Then Rafe turned back to the kids. “Shall we see if we can climb all the way to the top of this mountain? That’s the way, Rosie. Perfect. Here, Jimmy, put your finger right there. There you go.”
“You’ve done this a few times before,” Kate said, smiling at Rafe.
He grinned. “A few thousand times, Mrs. Knight.”
“Call me Kate, please.”
He dipped his head. “Then Rafe, okay? Nicole just started using my given name.” He winked at Nicole. “I think that means she’s getting serious.”
“You better believe it,” Nicole said with a grin.
A half hour later, after Nicole had changed and she and Rafe had said their good-byes and left, while Rosie and James were still engrossed in their new toys, Kate turned to Dominic lounging beside her on the sofa. “All is well now?”