Page 60 of The Arrangement

And then there was the matter of what she had been learning about her future husband during her travels through the home. Anton liked baseball, and she’d come to find out he played his first three years in high school. He had a propensity to collect knickknacks, take candid photos, and there were at least three stashes of candy she’d found so far. The basement was fully furnished, equipped with an at home gym in one area, and what Viviana would consider a man cave in another. Several entertainment systems, a flat screen TV, and a massive DVD collection told her it was likely one of his favorite spots in the house.

“Hey, the house?” Anton asked again, taking a step forward as his mouth curved with a gentle smile. Viviana turned back to look out the window again. “You’ve got me nervous over here, baby. I’m not used to feeling that way.”

“Well …”

“Well?”

“What did you mean when you said you wanted to buy it, but then Nicoli gave it to you?”

“I was starting to look for a house … was just made a brigadier. Looked for months because I wanted it to be perfect, you know?”

“Yeah, and it kind of seems like it is.”

“It is. But, when I finally found a house—this one—the owners refused to sell to me.”

“What?”

Viviana turned on her heel, staring at the man leaning in the small entranceway of the master bedroom that had her all worked up into an emotional mess. The tiny cubby that looked like it may have once been a second walk-in closet had drawn her attention immediately when she entered the room, considering there was nothing in it but sheer curtains covering the window and two white leather chairs.

That certainly wasn’t what that room should have been used for with its miniature vaulted ceilings, natural light, and quiet setting compared to the rest of the house. While the room had its own attached bath and a decent sized walk-in closet, Viviana knew exactly what the small, comfortable, intimate cubby inside the master bedroom was meant for.

“They wouldn’t sell to you, specifically? Why?”

“Nope. Told the realtor there was no way they would sell their house to a gangster.” Anton scoffed, rolling his eyes upwards. “Didn’t matter when I offered two hundred thousand above their asking price and then doubled that again. Just no—real fucking simple. I was outright devastated about it. You were just turning eighteen, your father was getting ready to make the arrangement between our two families public, and I wanted you with me so badly by then.”

“How did Nicoli get it, then?”

“The bastard planned it,” Anton said, laughing. “Made me find the house I wanted, paid off the realtor and the owners to keep their mouths shut, and then bought it for me as a birthday gift. I was pissed off like nothing else, but he just sat there and smiled as he handed the keys over. Made his year.”

“I really like this house.”

The smile that lit up his face had her heart skipping beats. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she admitted, shrugging a single shoulder. “I don’t know. I guess it feels like home. Ours, really, even if I haven’t been living in it. I didn’t expect that and it scared me for a second.”

Anton’s teeth bit into his lower lip as his fists hid in pockets. It was an action she now recognized as him being nervous. “Why? Shouldn’t that be a good thing?”

Viviana didn’t know how to respond, instead avoiding his gaze and fingering the sheer curtain’s fabric between her forefinger and thumb. There were so many things about the house that reminded her of the home she grew up in, and a million and one other things that screamed it was entirely different. Soft blankets on a California king sized bed that brought back heady, hot memories of similar bedding in a Barbados beach house.

Ready, that’s what it was. Ready and waiting for her to simply make herself at home, and Viviana didn’t even have to do a thing. She couldn’t bring herself to understand how it could feel that way; how Anton knew her so well. Knew that she wouldn’t want something so massive it needed maids to clean it; knew that windows needed to be opposite to the beds so morning light would touch the sheets; knew …

Knew that she would want a tiny cubby in her bedroom just waiting for a baby’s crib to be placed inside.

He couldn’t possibly have known those things, but instead wanted them, too.

So, maybe it had scared her for a moment. Because how else could someone react when their life, wants, and thoughts were being reflected in someone who could only know what they’d learned in one short week nine long years before? Finding her soul mate had been a scary thing when she was only sixteen, but finding him all over again when she was almost twenty-five and not expecting it was heart-stopping.

Viviana breathed through her nose, blinking at the hardwood floor. Speak, her mind ordered. Say something.

“I like this … cubby, too.”

Anton hummed a sound, staking a step forward into the room. “It was a second walk-in closet, but the room had more than enough storage space. It’s nice to just relax or whatever, especially in the morning.”

Something stuck in her throat. Words, likely, and overwhelming feelings.

“You didn’t put it in for that, though, did you?”

“No, I didn’t,” he admitted, staring straight at her and seeming wholly unashamed. “And I hope it doesn’t have you frightened.”