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Laughing, “Is there any place you want to go?”
“Not really. I was lucky enough growing up my Nonna was adamant my education go beyond the schoolroom, so we visited several different countries. We took two weeklong vacations every year, and by the time I left Italy I had gone through two passports.”
“Okay, everyone. Come and g
et it,” Cesare calls out.
Alicia sits up, and when she does, we’re both shocked when Sophia throws herself at me. Oh, so little, so soft, so sweet. Her arms wrap tightly around my neck as she speaks a gibberish only she understands in my ear. Heaven; I remember Enzo’s face as he talked about Sophia and I agree completely. Looking up, I find Enzo staring at me. He crosses the room, and I’m caught off guard when Sophia squeals in happiness and launches herself at him. My heart catches in relief when, laughing, he holds her tight.
“Alicia should have warned you she does this a lot.”
“Any warning would have been good. She really is adorable.”
“Yeah, and she knows it too.”
It’s almost the end of the night when I finally get to hold Nicky. I understand why Bethany had a hard time giving him up. He’s a sweet, calm baby who cuddles into you the moment he’s in your arms. I can’t get over the scent of him as I lean close to smell his head again. I swear I can feel my uterus contract in longing.
Bethany leans against me; our eyes meet and she smiles. “I know, right?”
19
Enzo
Chloe is quiet all the way home. Her mood isn’t readable the way she usually is, and unease builds within me. Closing the door to our bedroom against the cats looking for attention, I lean against the door to watch her. She undresses in the walk-in closet the way she normally does. I love the way she has grown comfortable with her body, as she walks naked into the bathroom to brush her teeth. There’s no anger, no annoyance I can pick up on, yet still she says nothing. It isn’t even until she’s climbed into bed that she looks over at me.
“Are you coming to bed?”
“Am I welcome?”
Rolling her eyes, she sighs. “Of course you are. I don’t want to argue before we go to bed.”
“We’re going to argue?”
As she leans back on her hands I try to focus on what she’s saying, not the way her nipples are hardening under my eyes. “I’m not sure yet. How come you didn’t tell me you called Nonna?”
I straighten, surprised. “How come you have only spoken with her today?”
Huffing, she folds her arms across her breasts. “Don’t answer my question with a question. It’s rude.”
It’s wrong to have missed fighting with her, the way she makes me so damn hard when she argues back at me. I’m positive it’s because no one else but my family dares to. “I didn’t tell you because our introduction, while it was because of you, it had nothing to do with you. I wanted to allay any concerns she might have, and I was under the impression you’d already informed her of our engagement. When I realized you had not, I didn’t think there was a need to. It was a brief conversation; she wasn’t as opposed as I first believed she would be.”
A little wrinkle appears between her eyes. I cross the room to her, intent on brushing it away. As I step in front of her it disappears, and her whole face lights up the way it does whenever she first sees me. Seeing it, my chest becomes tight, air is harder to take in. My hands go down on her legs, pulling her body against mine. Her breathy moan of my name soothes the savage hunger building inside me. Then she’s shaking her head as she presses a hand against my chest. “Enzo, I mean it. You said it yourself—we need to communicate. This was important. You should have asked first or at the very least told me so I knew when I called her.”
“Communicate? Like you telling me we’re having dinner with your best friend and his boyfriend tomorrow?”
Those gray eyes go wide. I can’t fight my smile. “Oh my god. I forgot, not even kind of, I completely fucking forgot. I’m so sorry, Enzo.” Her head goes down on my chest. “I wrote it down when we talked then didn’t even put it in any of my calendars.”
Running my hands through her hair, I tug her face up to look at me. “I tell you what, I’ll forgive you this one time if you promise to take next Friday off and we’ll take a long weekend and spend it on the boat. No dinners, no wedding plans, no house errands, no phones, nothing, not even clothes, just the two of us.”
“You without your phone and not working?” Her wide-eyed, exaggerated astonishment causes the laughter she wanted. I only nod. “Hmm...I don’t know how I could possibly say no to such an attractive offer. Unless I know what’s behind door number two. What happens if I say no?”
God, I love the way she loves to push my buttons. My hands go down to her soft, round cheeks, squeezing just short of pain. Damn, she’s soaking wet. Without the usual lust that overtakes me the moment I get my hands on her, I can focus enough to know it’s not wishful thinking: she likes when I get rough. A few times I let my control slip, becoming rougher, harder than I intended. Instead of the moan of pain I expected, Chloe’s reaction had seemed to invite more. Yet I was already backing off, fearful of hurting her—she is so damn small compared to me.
“Well, it was a bad thing you did not telling me,” I mutter. “Last time I checked, bad girls get spanked.” Her breath hitches; ah, she likes that idea. Fuck, my cock jumps. Another tight squeeze has her rubbing her tits with her nipples hard and tight against my chest.
“I don’t know. It was wrong of me. Better I learn my lesson now than later.” She moans into my chest.
There can be no miscommunication; I wrap her hair around my hand and yank back for her eyes to meet mine. She moans. Damn good start. “Are you sure?”
