AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Not going to give her a say in her own wedding?”
“She’ll have a say. She’ll say ‘I do.’”
“That’s a—”
“I’ll make a deal with you. This wedding is mine. In five years, she can plan her wedding. The one without caveats and limitations. By then, you and I know she’ll regret making the demands she has and will jump at the chance.”
“You’ve thought of everything, then?”
Valentino smiles. “I’m sure our principessa will prove me wrong with a few surprises along the way.”
“Do I get a say in this wedding?” Although I won’t be the man she shares her name with, I will be just as much of a husband to her as Valentino.
The title doesn’t mean as much to me, but I want my stamp on the event that will start our lives together.
Valentino comes around his desk and rests a hand on my shoulder. “Without you, there wouldn’t be a wedding. Of course you get to make your mark wherever you need.”
I pull a folded sheet of paper from my pocket and hand it to him. He opens it and stares for immeasurable seconds.
“I’ll make it happen,” he says, then presses the intercom button on his phone. “Please send Trevor in here.”
Valentino hands Trevor the paper when his chief of staff enters. “Find someone who can make these in time for the wedding.”
Trevor looks down at the paper with a frown. “Are you sure? There are three r—”
“I said what I said. Can you make it happen?”
“It should work with the stone you chose… I’ll make sure we get it in time. Just another impossible task I can create out of thin air,” his chief of staff mumbles as he leaves.
“You already picked out a stone?” I shake my head. “Of course you did. How long have you had it?”
“Long enough.”
“Fine, keep your secrets.” I check my watch and smile. “Seems like I’ll start my date with Sloane early. If you ever relent and decide to be open with her, I’ll have your back.”
“You’re one of the few who always have,” Valentino whispers as I turn to leave.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Sloane
Light from the television creates a path of blue light to where Tácito and I lay in bed. After spending most of the day together, I don’t want to separate from him. Not after my vow yesterday to experience everything I can with him and Valentino.
I snuggle further in his embrace, not paying any attention to the thriller I’d been dying to watch. How could I waste time on something as banal as a show when I’m in Tácito’s arms? I no longer have to hide that I want him to hold me. No longer have to pretend that to touch him is a platonic act that has never reached my heart.
I breathe his scent deep into my lungs, wishing I could carry him with me no matter where I go. With Valentino acquiescing to my demands, I will soon take my investigation from the virtual world into the real world. Tácito and Valentino will object, the two will gang up on me again, but they can’t stop me if they don’t know what I’m doing.
Tácito brushes his hand along my arm, causing me to shiver with awareness. “What are you thinking?” He presses a kiss to my forehead.
Does he know how that simple gesture turns my insides weak? Or how he could extract just about any concession from me with the sweetness from pressing his lips to my head? But this is Tácito. He wouldn’t exploit my weakness. Not the way Valentino would if by doing so garnered him what he wants. I wonder, not for the first time, how I could be in love with two men who are so completely different from each other.
I shrug in response, not willing to part from Tácito in order to answer him fully. An idea sparks inside me and I take his hand and press a kiss into his palm. At his sharp gasp, I smile and let the devil inside me loose. I swipe my tongue across his palm before engulfing a finger in my mouth.
“Que dulce infierno! What are you trying to do to me?” He pushes me away and rakes his hand in his hair.
His spectral silver eyes reflect my need. I reach for him when the device on my wrist pulses. We look at our devices to see Valentino demanding to know our whereabouts.
In seconds, he storms into the room, causing alarm to race down my spine.
