is the perfect time to use your infamous movie-star charm to convince a nurse to let you check on Sophie so that you can see for yourself that everything is going to be fine."
Her calm broke through the fog clogging his brain like the beam from a lighthouse. It was another reason why they were a perfect match: If he ever started to go off the rails - which was pretty damn easy to do in his line of work - he could count on Valentina to lovingly, but firmly, bring him back to the center of the tracks. He'd seen her do the very same thing at least a dozen times with her sister during filming, so in tune with Tatiana that she always honed in on just when her sister needed her most.
How could he let her go? Even if it was the right thing to do for her? Even if she'd have a better life without him?
The flash of a camera came through the waiting room's glass door. A split second later, Valentina was saying, in a voice laced with fury, "You all need to stay here for Sophie. I'll handle this."
* * *
"This isn't okay."
Valentina walked right up to the men and women holding the cameras. They had obviously been tipped off as to where she and Smith were going when they left the set. Or maybe, she thought, they'd gotten here first but had been lying in wait for the perfect chance to take pictures of the whole family when they finally emerged into the more public area of the hospital. The hows didn't really matter, though, not when the only thing that mattered was that they leave.
"I know he's a star, that his picture sells papers and advertisements, but can't you at least give him this? Just a few hours to be alone with his family?"
The cameras kept clicking as she spoke and she knew she was feeling just what Smith had that morning on her doorstep. Like she'd do anything she had to if only she could get them to leave.
"Please." She hadn't had the words earlier when Smith had needed them from her, wasn't sure she had it in her to sacrifice her privacy, or to sign up for the circus that would likely always be his life. Now, even though it was too little, too late, nothing could stop her from saying, "Tell me what you want so that you'll leave the Sullivan family alone today. Tell me and I'll do whatever I can to make sure you have it."
She didn't even have time to take her next breath before the first question came. "Is it true that Smith has been dating both you and your sister secretly?"
"No."
"Then who is he really with?"
"Me. Just me."
"How long have you been with Smith?"
"Four weeks."
"Were you dating in secret?"
"Yes."
"Did your sister know?"
"No."
"Does he love you?"
She shook her head, knowing tears were going to start falling soon. "I don't know."
"Are you in love with him?"
Tears began to fall down her cheeks, one after the other. "Yes, I love him."
And with that, she knew she'd given them exactly what they wanted. A clear shot of the endless depth of her love for Smith...and the fear and uncertainty that came right alongside it.
"Now, please," she asked them, "go."
Amazingly, they did, but she still stood right where she was to make sure they didn't change their minds at the last second. When she finally turned around, she walked right into a hard chest.
"Smith?"
"I don't deserve you."
He cupped her face in his hands and looked down at her, his eyes blazing with dark, intense heat, and she realized he must have seen and heard everything.
"I know you deserve more than this," he told her. "You deserve better than to be thrust into my crazy life, but I'm too much of a selfish son of a bitch to let you go."
His mouth came down on hers, crushing her lips in a kiss that held nothing back. And just like every one of their kisses that had come before, she couldn't hold anything back from him, either.
"I love you, Valentina. I love that you're here with my family. And I can't wait to remind you how stunned you looked that day I told you I loved you, too, while we were standing in a hospital waiting room, surrounded by bright fluorescent lights and cheap blue plastic chairs."
"Smith Sullivan?" a middle-aged nurse called. "I'm ready to take you back to see your