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I rubbed my nose against hers. “I have one stipulation.”
“Alright…”
“You have to sleep in my bed every night. Not his.”
Twenty-One
Bones
The gate was left open for us, so we followed the dirt path around the manicured gardens until we reached the two-story Tuscan home with the two large pillars in front. With a lush front yard and an even bigger backyard, it was a piece of property slightly bigger than my place near Lake Garda.
Vanessa eyed the house as it came into view, speaking quietly under her breath. “Whoa…”
I parked near the front of the house then hopped out. The place caught my eye because of the large stone wall that wrapped around the property. Walls had restrictions in the region, and they couldn’t exceed seven feet in height, but since this property was considered to be a historic landmark, the walls were double that height. Since the walls were covered with beautiful green ivy, it didn’t seem like the place was surrounded by concrete. The extensive landscaping along the wall, the thick trees and lush plants, made the wall even more invisible.
Vanessa walked up to the front of the house, studying the historical building with her arms across her chest. The paint on the walls was weathered and beaten, standing the test of centuries.
I watched her figure as I came up behind her, eyeing that dark hair as it reached down to the center of her back. “It was built in seventeen hundred.”
“Really?” she asked in surprise. “It looks old, but wow…”
I wasn’t sure if Vanessa would like it or not. The only reason I picked this place was because it seemed to be the safest. The walls were thick and tall, and it was impossible to see the house from the street because of the extensive landscaping. If someone wanted to target us, it would be very difficult even to figure out if we were home. After what happened, safety was all I cared about. There was no way in hell I was letting anyone take Vanessa away from me again.
We headed inside, seeing the downstairs parlor with the small tile and wallpaper. The place was charming, filled with timeless architecture that didn’t exist in other residences. Her family’s estate was about a hundred years old, making it far newer than this place.
Vanessa explored the house, looking at the kitchen, the dining room, and then taking the stairs to the second floor. There were five bedrooms there, the master bedroom having the most space, along with an enormous closet. There was also a small room that must have been an office, which overlooked the backyard. It would be a perfect place for her to paint.
I hovered behind her, waiting for her opinion on the piece of property. I wanted to buy it, but she had the final say in the matter. If she didn’t like it, I would have to find a new place that was just as safe. If nothing like that existed, I might have to build something.
She went into every room, touching the old paint on the walls and inspecting the dirty windows. It hadn’t been inhabited for a long time, and now it was on the market to cover debts to the government.
Vanessa was usually vocal about her opinions, so her silence told me she didn’t like the place. Her thoughts were always transparent to me, but now she was closed tighter than a clam. She headed down the stairs again and looked into the backyard, where the lush backyard stretched for another acre before it hit the wall. With her arms crossed over her chest, she examined the bright flowers against the greenery of the grass and trees.
I came up behind her, my chest reaching her back and my hands moving to her arms. I rested my lips against the back of her head, the smell of her shampoo heavy on my nose. My fingers gently grazed against her soft skin. “Baby.” She still hadn’t said a single word to me.
“I love it…”
My fingers froze in place. “You do?”
“Yes.” She moved into the dining room. “We can have our family dinners here. The kitchen is big enough to make holiday meals once in a while. The backyard has lots of room to play. We might have to put a pool in, but I guess we can go to my parents if the kids want to swim.” She moved to the bottom of the staircase. “There are five bedrooms, so that’s enough room for three kids and an office. It’s a little bigger than I wanted, but I think it’s what we need. It’s also very private…”
Within forty-five seconds, she painted my whole life in that house. She showed me the three kids I would have, the afternoons I would spend with her parents by the poolside, and the dinners I would be cooking since she couldn’t work a pan. It was a family life I’d never wanted, but now that it was here, I could see it so easily, so vividly. Seeing the excitement on her face chased away all my fear. I’d never intended to love a woman, but when I met her, that was all I wanted—to love her fiercely. Now my purpose in life was protecting her and making her smile. It was a big responsibility, but I loved every moment of it.
