“We’re still so fragile.” Like the finely blown glass out of Murano a single crack could destroy everything. “And our people need to see me here, in the thick of things.” He shook his head at her, this sister of his who’d back him in any decision. “You always smile when you talk about her.” He could feel her examining his face with those big gray eyes that had been so bleak and stunned when his parents first brought her home. The land the HQ stands on belongs to the Alliance and because we’ve been here so long, we have intricate security measures in place that it would take years to re-create in another location.” “Do you think it’d be difficult to shift Alliance HQ?” Today, however, he strained to glimpse the ocean that was Kaia’s home. The glorious hues of the buildings dusted with snow, the winding canals, the gondolas, the buskers, it was all so familiar and it had always before soothed his soul. His lungs tight, he drew Lily to the edge of the roof so he could look out over a Venice gilded by the gold of the setting sun. He’d left part of himself in the deep, and how the fuck was he supposed to function without his heart?

The other man returned the gesture before taking off to make the journey back to his base at the airport.īo almost flagged him back down. Turning, Bo sent the pilot a thank-you salute. “Maybe a little.” She hooked her arm through his, her smile huge, and led him away from the chopper. “Looks like you missed me,” he said, putting her down on her feet. Heart wrenching at seeing Lily alive and well after the horror of their last moments together-though she was far too thin-he lifted her up and spun her around. The Alliance craft had been waiting for him when he disembarked the plane. Lily Knight to Bowen Knight and Cassius DrakeīO’S SISTER RAN into his arms the instant he got off a jet-chopper that had landed on top of a Venetian building. If he keeps to his current route, Trey is heading back into Italy.

Ocean Light by Nalini Singh