Page 40 of Light It Up Red

My mom sits in the empty chair beside me. “I hate seeing you like this,” she says.

“Like what?” I ask as I continue to stare out the window. The vastness of the night sky seems never-ending.

“Like you’re miserable.”

“I’m not miserable,” I reply, finally turning my attention to her. “A month is just a really long time.”

“I know it is.” She nods. “You really like him, huh?”

“I love him.” I keep my voice low. The last thing I need is for the rest of the family to hear me.

“I can tell,” Mom says. “I’m sorry, Lil. I know it seems like a long time, but the month is going to fly by and you’ll be back in New York before you know it.”

“I doubt it’s going to fly by, Mom,” I mutter before looking out the window again.

“You could invite him to come for a weekend or something,” she suggests.

My head snaps back around, and I raise my brows at her like she’s lost her mind. “I don’t think Dad would be on board with that idea.”

“I can handle your father.” She smirks, and I shake my head.

“I think Travis has had enough threats to his life from my family.”

“And yet he’s still with you, which says a lot.”

“It does. But dating me shouldn’t come with so much baggage.”

“Your father loves you, Lil. He doesn’t know how to handle you being an adult.”

I suck in another huge breath as I look my mother in the face. “Travis asked me to move to Vancouver with him.”

I watch her eyes widen before they flick around the jet’s interior, and she quickly lowers her voice to a whisper. “Vancouver, as in Canada?”

I nod.

“What do you want to do?”

“I want to be with him. If he gets traded, I’m going to go with him,” I tell her.

“Okay.” She sighs. “We’re going to have to plan this right, and we might have to pull Nonna in to break the news to your father.”

“For someone who’s supposed to be next in line to manage the empire, he sure is a big mama’s boy.” I laugh.

“They all are.”

“Thanks, Mom. I love you,” I say, while wrapping my arms around her.

“I love you more than anything in this world, Lil. If this is what you want, then I will find a way to make sure you get it.”

I can see the tears forming in my mother’s eyes. And I realize this probably hits a little too close to home for her. She lost both of her parents because their families, our families, didn’t want them together. And something about the determination in her voice tells me she refuses to let history repeat itself.

Chapter Eighteen

I’ve been telling Lili that a month apart is nothing. That she’ll be back in my arms before we know it. We’re only halfway through that month and I’m desperate to see her. We call, Facetime, and text all day every day but it’s not the same as having her here.

Fuck, my cock gets hard at just the thought of being able to touch her again.

The next two weeks cannot come fast enough. The time difference means I’m staying awake later, just so I don’t miss her calls. The lack of sleep, the ache I feel in every fiber of my body from being apart from her is messing with me.