Page 176 of Made in Love and Blood

Carina cleared her throat, whispering back, “I asked you to go with me.”

“If you thought I could ever watch another man fuck you, especially like that,” he replied, forcing himself to keep his voice steady. “I am not that kind of man.”

“Yeah, I know,” she eventually said. “So, what are the plans?”

“Nursery.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Oh. Okay?” he mocked.

She swatted him again. “Hush, they’re almost back.”

Salvatore watched the scene playing out on the dimly lit cobblestone between patches of pink roses that had started to wilt at the edges of the petals with autumn’s arrival. For the third time in a row, Frankie and Nico had walked the property going in opposite ways. They kept coming back together at different points, usually closer to the house where the lights illuminated their fight to anyone who watched.

He was sure the whole property currently did.

“This is what, hour two?” Carina asked.

“And a half.”

Down below, the shouting started. Nico said something, Frankie bit back, and he walked away. Last time, he’d been the one who shouted, and she jammed her fingers into his chest before storming off.

“I mean, I feel like this is a healthier way than we did it,” Carina noted.

It was. Better.

Yeah, the two still had things to say to one another. Sal didn’t even know what the entire argument between them consisted of. He stayed off the cameras, so he didn’t intrude that way.

He was grateful these kids trusted him enough to feel safe to stay at his home and have a civil disagreement. Mostly. They were working on it. That’s why they kept walking away.

“Is he mad about what she said, or that she hid it?” he asked Carina.

“Oh, no. They got over that part like an hour ago. Sissy heard most of that. And I guess Larkin is hard on the cams tonight because she’s getting running commentary. Did you seriously think I didn’t come find you already because I was mad, or something?”

“A little,” he admitted, unashamed.

“Well, that’s fair,” Carina returned, “But no, they are way past all of that. We’re at a whole different level of hell right now.”

Salvatore couldn’t imagine how. “Why?”

“He wants her to marry him.”

Oh. Sal’s dealbreaker. Apparently, it would be Frankie’s, too.

A buzz in his pocket brought Salvatore from his thoughts. He checked the device to find a text from Larkin.

Congrats, Sal.

No boss man, but that didn’t matter. Larkin knew the difference.

“Fine!” came a shout so loud from the outside that Salvatore and Carina heard it despite the windows being closed. “Fine, I’ll fucking marry you!”

Both had to crane their necks to find where the two stood farther to the right of the house near stone benches and a small goldfish pond. They couldn’t hear Nico, but the wide gesture of his arms and the way his mouth moved looked a lot like thank you.

The two walked away, on opposite paths, again.

Larkin sent another text.