We turn and walk toward the burnt entrance of the half-collapsed building.
“I’ll build the concert hall over the burned section while leaving its scars untouched.”
I look around. “I don’t know how it’ll look. Right now, it’s haunting.”
“It’ll look hauntingly beautiful.”
We exit the building and walk toward our respective cars.
“Okay, sweetie, see you tomorrow.” She presses a kiss to my cheek.
I do the same. “See you tomorrow.”
Remi opens the back door for me, and I settle inside. He gets in, and we drive away from the burnt, abandoned building. This is the biggest building in the area, it must have been a mall or something similar before half of it collapsed in the fire. The whole layout of the area is complete now, with restaurants, hotels, and malls planned for the space.
When I asked Luciana to build a piano concert hall, she decided to transform this building into the grandest one imaginable.
When the city is fully developed, people will say how thoughtfully planned it is. None of them will know that more than half of the amazing things in it were never planned, they were the result of Luciana’s random neurons firing.
We reach home after a half-hour drive. It’s already four in the evening. My whole day went to Luciana, and I must add, it didn’t feel like more than a few hours. Only after arriving home do I feel the exhaustion. Bruno and Rosie recharge some of myenergy as soon as I step inside, and to get the rest back, I make my way upstairs.
The study is now my husband’s home office. Almost two months have passed since this man became my husband, two months that went by in the blink of an eye. I can now understand why people say a lifetime feels too short when you’re with the right person.
I open the door. A man’s voice is coming from the thin screen on his desk. His eyes are no longer on the screen, they’re fixed on me, watching me like he’s seeing me after years, not just a few hours.
The man stops talking, and another begins. I gather he’s in a meeting. He’s officially taken his position as director and owner of Texan. Logan is working alone on their startup, actually, he’s working to finish it, since it’s Chris’s startup that he handed to them.
I walk slowly to him. He pushes his chair back and makes space for me to climb onto his lap. He wraps his arms around me as soon as I settle. The men on the screen are still speaking. I know they can’t see us, Salvario never showed his face in public, and he's doing the same with his Hunter Blackwood identity. The board members call him Salvario, though, since they don’t know about any of the drama.
He holds the back of my neck and crashes his mouth to mine in a kiss that blanks my mind instantly. The men’s voices sound like they’re coming from another room entirely. I loop my arms around his neck, my fingers threading through the hair at the nape of his neck.
He starts gathering my skirt with his other hand. This is one of the reasons I’ve been loving skirts lately. He grabs my ass in a claiming grip, and a rush of heat soaks my panties.
I freaking love this caveman.My panties, on the other hand, hate him, for ruining them, then tearing them.
His phone rings, separating us. He gives my ass a final squeeze, brushes his tongue over my lips one last time, and pulls away. I climb down from his lap, but the phone has gone silent. He speaks in a completely unaffected, serious voice to hold the meeting for a moment, then mutes himself just as his phone rings again.
He picks it up and presses it to his ear, gesturing for me to come back and sit. I shake my head, biting my lower lip.
His face changes, the heat vanishes in an instant. At the same time, a knock comes at the study door.
I walk to the door and open it. May is outside.
“Someone is at the entry gate and wants to see you.” Only then does it occur to me that I left my bag downstairs; the call on Hunter’s phone must be from the guard.
“Who?”
“No one.” Hunter’s voice comes from inside. “Close the door and come back,” he snaps, getting up from the chair.
I frown at him. “What’s wrong?”
“Um—I think he said his name is Salvario De Fa—” Hunter slams the door shut before May can finish, but what I hear is enough to stop my world.
“I think I heard wrong,” I chuckle, but there’s no humor on his face. It’s become a mask of stone. Apart from the muscle ticking in his jaw, nothing moves.
I blink rapidly, trying to chase away the dark spots at the edges of my vision. I lick my dry lips, trying to find my voice, but all I manage is to open and close my mouth soundlessly. My gut twists violently. My chest feels like it’s about to burst from the pressure within, yet at the same time, it’s growing hollow.
Finally, three words force their way out of my clamped throat. “I heard right.”
