Page 165 of Made in Love and Blood

“You’re still thinking about the brother thing?”

“Does that make us—”

“No,” Frankie rushed to say. “Stop being weird.”

Nico laughed, then. So did she.

He admired the bangle, and Frankie took it off for mere seconds so he could see the inscription inside after he’d pulled on boxer shorts and the black sweats he wore on the flight.

“It’s a cool idea,” he said of the bangle, dropping a kiss to her forehead.

“I’m glad you think so,” came a voice inside the room now. Carina spoke through a crack she opened up, adding, “Because Salvatore ordered a ring for you.”

“Please get out,” Frankie practically cried.

“Get up. You are going to the doctor today.”

“I support that, so,” Nico murmured, leaving Frankie to her fight.

“Nico!”

“Hey, I’m going nowhere today. I don’t gotta see the boss for a couple of days, and my father doesn’t even know I’m back in town yet. I’ll be here when you get back.”

The bedroom door clicked shut again.

“And then we’ll get back to that,” he said, nodding toward her and the bed.

She sighed. “We better.”

“And you know, you can wake me up like I did you anytime you want, baby.”

At the flippant comment he had only meant to be a tease, Frankie hesitated.

“Uh, I...don’t—”

He closed the space between them in a second, grabbing her by the face so he could make her look up at him. A twinkle of insecurity glinted in her eyes. But it dimmed when he dropped a fast kiss to her lips.

“First, that was a joke. A poor one, at that. My bad.”

Frankie scrunched up her nose. “It’s okay.”

“No, it isn’t. Just because we’re here doing all this together on the regular doesn’t mean shit, Frankie. I don’t take what you don’t give. You don’t have to ever do anything you don’t want to do, including that or otherwise. And, because this is what matters the most to me that you understand, if we are ever doing something that you just decide isn’t for you, that’s fine, tell me so. It’s done. You might be mine, but you decide how I get it. Every time.”

Frankie’s teeth played with her lip as her gaze slid toward the door while she whispered, “I just haven’t done that before.”

“Oh, baby girl,” Nico chuckled huskily, turned on already. He kissed her chin, sucking the same way he’d done earlier. He watched her lashes flutter closed at the sensation. Letting her go, he told her, “Just that would make me lose it, Frankie. It’s you. I have no fucking control. I can barely stand it just thinking about it.”

“Okay,” she sing-songed airily.

“Are we getting dressed?” Carina demanded from outside the room.

That woman was relentless.

•••

Six weeks later...

Nico toyed with the new pinky ring that he still hadn’t gotten used to. The large blue sapphire sat nestled in a basic white gold setting. The ring wasn’t fancy, but it didn’t have to be to feel like the weight of the world on his hand, either.