He glances at me from under his brows, his eyes piercing through me. “Shall we, my darling?”
CHAPTER 16
NERO
The plan is simple.
Blake will approach Maksim when he goes to look at an early edition of Pushkin that’s up for bidding in the silent auction. According to Vita, he’s got a fucking hard-on for that book. Vita’s got a friend on the gala’s organizing committee who told her Maksim tried to get them to sell the tome to him outright, but it didn’t work out, so he’ll be salivating over it tonight.
Just like I’m afraid he’ll be salivating over my wife.
One glance at Blake in that fucking dress is enough to turn my brain to mush, and the same is obviously true for every other bastard that’s dared to look at her. I’ve lost count of how many jaws dropped when she walked into the room. I can’t blame them, but at the same time, I still want to kill them all.
All I want to do is find an empty hallway and have my way with her against a wall. I’d feel better if she had my cum dripping down her thighs while these fuckers stared at her.
We’re at the cocktail reception right before dinner, standing by a high-top table where we have a good view of the whole room.
Blake shifts her weight from one foot to the other, a glass of champagne in her hand. Her gaze darts around the room, looking at anyone but me. She’s avoided eye contact ever since I slipped that sparkling new wedding band onto her finger.
I can tell that she likes it, because she keeps glancing at it.
But I want her to be glancing atme, damn it.
“Have I already told you that you’re stunning?”
The object of my obsession blushes a pretty pink. “Yes. At the penthouse and on the ride over.”
“Ah. Well, a lot could have changed since.”
“Did it?”
“Indeed. Somehow, you look even more stunning now than you did ten minutes ago.”
I swear, there’s a smile tugging on those perfect lips.
Fuck, I’ve missed her. These last two weeks have been hell. Vita Ferraro all but moved into my penthouse, leaving me barely any time alone with Blake. In the mornings, I’d leave before Blake woke up, and when I got back, Vita was there. We sat through hours of planning and strategy meetings, dialing Gino in for some of them.
Given the sensitive nature of our mission, practically no one in the Ferraro clan knows what we’re doing. Not even Cosimo, which is a fucking delight. He’s going to be so fucking pissed when he discovers he’s been kept in the dark. I can’t wait to rub it in his face for the next few years.
Out of the three brothers, only Alessio has been brought into the loop. He knows his parents are keeping me busy, and yet he still puts me through the wringer at work. It’s all part of building my story, but I think the sadistic bastard enjoys it a bit too much.
Put all that together, and I can count on one hand the number of times Blake and I have been awake and alone in the house. And she’s done everything she can to cut even those brief interactions short.
I can guess what’s going on inside her pretty head. She doesn’t like what that one hot kiss in the kitchen revealed—that the attraction between us is alive and well.
I lift my hand and allow my knuckles to graze the underside of her jaw. Her skin is soft and warm. “I can’t stop looking at you.”
“Is there something on my face?”
“Definitely. Eyes I could spend the rest of my life gazing into. Lips I’d really like to kiss. And a mouth I’d love to taste and fu—”
She spins away from me and snatches another champagne glass from a passing tray.
I wipe my hand over my smile.
She’s remembering how fucking good it was between us. She just needs to realize it can be like that again.
If only I can convince her to give our marriage a real chance.
