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I hearthe alarm on Amelia’s phone chime after what feels like five minutes of sleep but in actuality is more like a few hours.
Once she’s reached over to her nightstand and turned it off, she rolls back over, dropping her head on my chest. “I’ve got to get in the shower and go to work. Stay as long as you want, but Sam...” She lifts her head and looks at me. “We’ve got to talk tonight.”
The tips of my fingers run through her soft hair, then wrap around the back of her neck. Pulling her face to mine, I brush my lips over hers, forcing myself not to deepen the kiss. “I’m meeting Pop and Bash for lunch, but the rest of my day is wide open. Want to have dinner with me tonight? Come to my place. Let me cook for you for a change.”
“Sam...” She pulls back and climbs out of bed. I’m expecting her to say no. But this woman always surprises me. “Can you even cook? Or are you going to have Nonna cook it for you?” She bends over, her thick hair tickling my chest, and places a chaste kiss on my cheek. “I’ll see you tonight. But plan to spend the dinner talking.”
“What are we going to spend our time doing after dinner?” I may have a few ideas, but this ball needs to be left in her court.
“That depends.” A beautiful smile graces her face before she walks away, and I’m left watching her delicious ass encased in tiny little panties vanish behind the bathroom door, before the shower turns on.
I close my eyes, knowing without a doubt, that woman is mine.
* * *
When I finally wake up, after sleeping in later than I have in years, I run my hand over cold sheets and breathe in the scent lingering on Snow’s pillow.
Sugar and spice.
I need to find out if that’s what her skin tastes like.
Once I’m dressed, I grab my coat and move into the kitchen where I stop when I see a white paper folded in half, sitting next to a stainless-steel mint green Sweet Temptations tumbler and a blueberry muffin. I pick up the paper, my hand brushing the hot tumbler.
Sam,
I’m not sure what happened last night to make you call, but I’m glad you did.
I missed you. I heard everything you said. Thank you for respecting me enough to not push harder. We’ll talk tonight.
XO - Snow
* * *
Back at my place, I have just enough time to shower, shave, and throw on clothes before I have to be at Pop’s restaurant Saprorito. He owns a few different places in the city. But this is his favorite. It also doesn’t open to the public until four o’clock, so when I walk through the door, it’s just Pop, his driver, and a few members of the staff getting ready for the shift.
He rises from his favorite booth in the back corner and reaches his arms out to me. One thick arm wraps around my shoulder as he squeezes. “You did well, Samuel. Today we speak of only good things with your brother.”
“You’re gonna have to tell him at some point, Pop.” I leave off the part that Bash deserves to know the truth. We’ve kept him in the dark enough these past few years. He’s gonna be pissed today when Pop tells him what’s actually been going on this whole time.
Happy that it’s over but mad as hell we kept him out of the loop.
That was a business decision.
He doesn’t deserve to be left out of this.
This isn’t Family business. This is just family.
Pop pours us wine from the family’s vineyard in Calabria, and we start going over what happens after lunch today. Pop’s meeting with Sabatini this afternoon. He wants Uncle Nick and me with him for the meeting. We go over how it will be handled one more time before Bash drags his ass through the door with a strange expression on his face.
Pensive.
He pulls a chair over to sit at the end of the booth.
As Pop fills him in on what was going on behind the scenes while he was under the impression he was being forced to marry Emma Sabatini, I watch Bash for his reaction.
It’s not a good one.
He struggles to speak before finally settling on one question. “You used me?” His face morphs from relief to anger as that fact sets in. “Are you fucking kidding me?” Bash stands, towering over us and pushing back from the table, his chair tipping back as he stumbles to face me. “And you knew? You knew it was a sham?”
