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“Okay, Daddy.”
I snuggled into the bed and took stock of my body. My ass was still hot and swollen and it hurt to be sitting on it. My foot throbbed but only mildly, and neither were bad things but would serve as reminders of the choice I made and the consequences that followed.
Daddy had come home and, in that time, had managed to bring me back to myself, making me feel like his dirty whore and his little princess all in one fell swoop. I truly had the best of both worlds but in the back of my mind, I wondered how long it would last this time. We’d been here before, when a project of his took over our lives but not as long as this one had lasted. The feelings of hopelessness were uncalled for, I knew this, but without his regular presence and guidance in my life, it was like sand cascading between my fingers. No matter how much I wanted to keep it in my hands, inevitably the sand would trickle through.
The morning light caught Alex in a glowing halo as he entered carrying a tray laden with coffee and food. My heart caught at how ruggedly sexy my man was and my stomach growled in response to the wonderful smells. “Did I ever ask you how you learned to cook?”
“Italy.” He answered my question with a smirk.
He had to be kidding. “What do you mean when you sayItaly?”
Alex placed the tray in the center of the bed and climbed back to his spot.
“I mean I spent a month in Italy learning to cook while I brokered a deal to purchase a vineyard. Didn’t I tell you that?”
I was so shocked I didn’t know what to say, at first. My brain was warring between owning a vineyard in Italy, my dream destination, and the fact he hadn’t told me before.
He handed me a hot cup of steaming local coffee that had quickly become my favorite since moving to Tahiti.“You’ve got some ‘splanin’ to do, Ricky,”I said with my best Lucille Ball scolding her husband, Ricky Ricardo, impersonation.
Alex broke out in loud peals of laughter. I was immediately entranced. He wasn’t usually so carefree and happy. Could he be feeling as back in balance with our world as I was? I hoped so because I liked seeing my usually stern fiancé laughing and lighthearted. Laughing, he appeared so young. I wanted more of carefree Alex making regular appearances.
“Okay, Lucy, I will explain. You already know I love wine, and the finer the better. I already sat on the board of many wineries before being approached by King Connelly to join him in purchasing wineries in Napa Valley.
It was on our trip to Napa to spend time with King and Amara, Johnathan and Simone, and meet Dorian and Ocean for the first time that plans to develop Napa and increase export for King and Amara’s vineyards were struck. Alex’s lawyer,Harvey, and Cecil, King’s lawyer, put the plan into play for the small group of investors.”
“Do they know you have a winery in Italy?”
“Wineries, little one.”
“Are you shitting me right now?”
“Antonia,” he growled in warning.
“Sorry, Daddy. Do they know you have wineries in Italy?”
“They do. Now enough about Italy for the moment. I want to hear all those things you tried to tell me before I left. You wanted to make Christmas plans, and I would like to know what you would like your first Christmas to look like.”
In retrospect, my tantrum and what I wanted seemed juvenile when compared with how different things were now in the present. Why couldn’t I have just behaved myself while he was busy and wait for him like he’d asked? A pang of doubt hit me in the center of my chest.
“Don’t you dare go down that road, Antonia, we are done with this. Do you hear me? If you question the validity of our relationship again, you will not get the answer you want, unless what you want includes being tied and whipped for a week.”
If his tone hadn’t been so serious, I would’ve surmised he was being sarcastic, but his stern tone cut through the anxiety fog that hit me. The feelings morphed into gratefulness to whoever was up there watching out for me and delivering me the best man in the world.
“Alex. I-I’m really thankful for you. I hope you know that.”
His visage softened. “I am too, my little stowaway. And I’m sorry it took you injuring yourself for us to get here. I can become very imbalanced when it comes to work, as you’ve seen. Johnathan reminded me on the flight home that I had been ignoring you and whatever the fallout, I was solely responsible.”
“He did?” Yay, Johnathan, I silently cheered.
“In not so many words, but yes, he did. He also reminded me that I need you.”
“He did?” My eyes rounded in surprise.
Alex chuckled. “Yes,hedid. So, tell me all about what you want for Christmas, my love. I am here and present with my ears wide open to hear you.”
“You sound like the big bad wolf.”
“Oh, honey, I am the biggest, baddest wolf of them all and fully plan on eating you when this discussion is done.”
