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CHAPTER 31
LORENZO
The next evening, I arrived home late from work. It had been another long day, and I was tired.
I saw a light on in the dining room and went in to find Anni asleep over her textbooks again. Now that I’d said she could continue with her studies, she was obviously not wasting any time in getting back to her assignments.
Looking down at her, I could see how exhausted she was. She’d spent all day looking after the kids, and once she’d put them to bed, she’d obviously got straight down to her studies. Appreciating how much effort she’d been putting into family life and taking care of the kids, I realized how lucky I was to have a woman like her in my life.
Gently taking a book from her hands and laying it on the table, I scooped her up in my arms.
“Lorenzo?” The movement had made her stir.
“Shh, kitten. Go back to sleep.”
And carrying her soft body against mine, I slowly climbed the stairs and put her to bed.
I went in to check on the kids and both were fast asleep.
Clara was snuggled up with the stuffed white cat Anni had got for her. She had her arms tightly wrapped around it and looked at peace as she slept. Her cheeks were flushed pink, and her dark curls tumbled around her face. Bending down, I gave her a goodnight kiss.
I hadn’t been too keen on the toy cat—in my opinion, it looked too much like Wilbur. Clara had wanted to take therealWilbur to bed with her, but I’d put my foot down over that, explaining that cats slept in kitchens. He might have Anni and my daughter fooled with his ‘I’m-just-a-cute-little-cat-act’, but I wasn’t a man who was easily deceived—and that animal was trouble with a capital T.
After my refusal to allow the creature to sleep in Clara’s bed, Anni persuaded Clara to take the toy cat to bed with her instead. Anni had told her that the stuffed cat would look after her at night, and now Clara fell asleep every night stroking the toy. And, to my surprise, she was waking in the night much less, and she even managed to sleep through the entire night three or four times a week now. That was a huge improvement in her sleep pattern, and I knew I had Anni to thank for that.
Returning to the master bedroom, I stripped off my clothes, laid down beside Anni, and held her close.
And, as sleep overcame me, I thought to myself that having her in my arms just felt so right.
ANNUNCIATA
On my last trip to the mall, I had bought myself a new dress…a tennis dress.
I knew Lorenzo didn’t want me having one, but I wasn’t able to resist going to the sportswear store.
I loved playing tennis, and Lorenzo even had a tennis court at his mansion, so I didn’t see why I should have to give up my hobby. I had already given up so many things when I married, and this wasn’t going to be one of them.
At home, I hid the dress on the top shelf in the closet. After what Lorenzo had said about my keeping secrets from him when he found out about my college course, I was going to have to be careful about how I broached the subject with him.
A couple of days later, the kids were at Cosima’s, and I knew that Lorenzo was working in his study.
Taking down the tennis dress, I quickly got changed. It was similar to my last one: white, sleeveless, and most definitely short.
Next, I found my racket which was still packed in one of my boxes sitting on the floor of the closet. I pulled my hair into a short ponytail, just like I always did when I played tennis. After checking my reflection in the mirror, I made my way downstairs and knocked on the study door.
“Come,” he drawled in his deep voice.
Even though he could tell it was me by the way I knocked, he still refused to drop his formal tone as he called for me to enter.
Taking a deep breath, I pushed the door open and sauntered into his office.
“What do you need?” He flicked his deep brown eyes briefly up from the documents he was working on, but his pen didn’t stop writing until he clocked what I was dressed in. He stilled and then sat up straight. “What the fuck are you wearing?” he growled.
“Hello to you too,” I murmured.
I walked toward him and watched as he threw down his pen and leaned back in his chair, his eyes traveling down the tightly fitted dress and coming to rest on my bare thighs.
Making my way slowly around his desk, my racket swinging at my side, I perched my ass on the edge and faced him. “I need someone to play tennis with me.”
