Come A Little Bit Closer (The Sullivans #7)(73)

Somehow she managed to think clearly enough to ask him, “Tell me about Sophie and her husband. How did they meet?”

Smith paused for a long moment before answering. “Jake is a family friend. As far back as I can remember, he was always in the house. Sophie fell in love with him when she was just a little girl.”

When he said the word love, for a moment, Valentina felt like she was going to shatter.

Especially when he said, “They were so different, Valentina. Too different, it seemed,” and his smile fell away. “She’s a librarian. He owns pubs. She’s quiet, calm. He’s loud, came from a rough background, is covered in tattoos.”

Valentina’s throat was so tight she could hardly get words out. “But they made it work.”

Smith pulled into the hospital parking lot and turned his dark gaze to her. “He loves her just as much as she loves him. So, yeah, they make it work.”

* * *

Stepping into the waiting room was like walking into a Sullivan family party. All of Smith’s brothers and sisters were there, ready and excited to meet two new additions, hopefully tonight.

The only thing that could possibly dim their happiness was the concern he could see etched on all their faces. Everyone was worried about him. Because he’d never even come close to punching out a photographer before.

Marcus and Nicola greeted them first with hugs. Smith hadn’t been too sure about them as a couple the first time he saw them together. In fact, he’d warned his brother away from getting too close to a pop star because he hadn’t thought her lifestyle would suit the most low-key and serious of all his brothers. But he’d been wrong. They were perfect together. Just like Sophie and Jake were, despite his reservations when he’d heard that Jake had gotten Sophie pregnant after a one-night stand.

Smith knew he and Valentina had been perfect together, too. Until his glittering world had come crashing down onto them and blown their new, too-fragile connection to pieces.

When Nicola moved to hug Valentina, Marcus shot Smith a look that was easy to read.

What the hell is happening to you?

Smith shook his head. He didn’t want to talk about it now, didn’t want to let all the crap that came with his fame overshadow one of the biggest, most important moments in their family. He knew his brothers would have happily hunted down the paparazzi and kicked their asses to protect him, that they hated not being able to protect and defend one of their own. But he also knew they would continue to respect his wishes that they not engage, or get themselves into trouble on his behalf. He was the one who had chosen this career, not them.

Damn it, it was just the reason why he needed to let Valentina go. He was trying so hard to do what was right for her…even if nothing had ever felt so wrong.

Ryan’s fiancée, Vicki, and his sister Lori greeted Valentina as if she was an old friend, and he loved them all so much for making her laugh, especially after the way her voice had broken in the car that morning when she’d said his name.

But then, another woman in labor was pushed past them in a wheelchair, moaning in pain as she gripped her stomach, and suddenly, all Smith could think of was Sophie.

He tried to be an honest man, with others and himself, but until this moment he hadn’t really wanted to think too hard about the reality—and the risks—of Sophie giving birth to twins. And even though she’d insisted to him a hundred times over as he’d checked in with her at least twice a day that she was the healthiest pregnant woman on the planet, he found himself spinning off into worries he could no longer control.

Damn it, why hadn’t he seen Jake making his move on his sister? Maybe then he could have stopped all of this from happening and she wouldn’t now be in the hospital where anything could go—

“Smith.”

He hadn’t seen Valentina move in front of him, was surprised to hear her say, “I think this 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?”