Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 89(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 89(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
With that, he hung up his cell phone as Elsie came around the corner.
“Why will Isabella be waiting?” Elsie asked, folding her arms across her chest.
Massimo had a feeling he’d heard her sneak up to him.
“There’s something I need to tell you, and no, I’m not about to admit to cheating on you with that fucking bitch, so don’t even think about it.” He pointed at the chair beside him.
Elsie paused. “Am I going to need a hot chocolate for this?”
Massimo smiled. That was her way of getting a stiff drink.
“Yeah, you might want to make it two.”
He watched as she walked into the kitchen. The cabin was open-plan, and today he saw Elsie had snuck into her pajamas, but he didn’t mind. She loved to open her presents in her pajamas. Again, one of the many cute things he loved about her.
She heated the milk, grabbed a couple of the chocolate bombs from the kitchen cupboard, and added them to the mugs along with the hot milk. He took his from her offered hand, and placed it on the coaster on the table.
“I can’t believe we’re going to spend Christmas morning talking about Isabella. She’s kind of the reason we’re here.”
“This is not what you think. First, let me get you your present,” he said. He reached down for the envelope he had placed there yesterday.
Elsie put her hot chocolate down and took the envelope from him.
She opened it, and then frowned. “Deeds. What are these?”
“This cabin … it’s yours.”
“Massimo, you love this cabin.”
“I know, and now you will get to love it as well.”
“There is no way I can take this. This is yours.”
“I know you can take it and you will. What is mine is now yours. You always wanted a place to call your own, and I know you wouldn’t want the big house as that is just too big.” He smiled. “But this place is home, it’s our home, and now, it’s your home.” He saw the tears filling her eyes. “Please don’t cry. I wanted to give you something you never had before.”
“Massimo, this is … it’s so perfect, and you’ve given me so many things.” She threw her arms around him, and he caught her within his grasp.
He loved his woman more than anything else in the world. Pressing his face against her neck, he breathed her in. She’d given him everything and more.
“Before we ruin this with Isabella…” She leaned past him. Grabbing a box from underneath the tree, she handed it to him. “I don’t know if you’re going to love it, but it’s something we made together.”
Massimo frowned, and then he opened the box. Inside was a single pregnancy test, but there was a small card.
“We’re pregnant,” Massimo said.
“Yeah, I found a kit in the bathroom, and I took the test just to see if it would work, and it was in date and everything, and now, yes, we’re pregnant. You and me. We’re going to have a baby. The next generation of Santorini has begun.”
With that, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her.
“I didn’t know what else to get you,” she said, nibbling her lip.
“You got me what mattered, and this is perfect.”
He loved that soft smile on her lips.
“So, before we celebrate and I get cooking our Christmas dinner, tell me, what has Isabella done, or why does she need organizing, or whatever it was you said?”
Massimo didn’t want to spoil their morning, but he wasn’t going to hide the truth from her.
He told her everything. The money missing from D’Angelo with no trace. Massimo finding the account and discovering it had been placed in her name.
“I didn’t steal anything.”
“I know. The date the account was set up was our honeymoon. You were nowhere available and in no position to set up an account.” He couldn’t keep his hands off her, and he was the only person with a cell phone, and Elsie didn’t know where he kept it. “She also got your birthday wrong. She used one of the days we celebrated your birthday, but not the actual day. It was how I knew she had done this.”
Elsie got up from the couch and growled. “How dare she do this! I can’t believe it. Why would she do this?”
“It’s a setup,” Massimo said. “I have a feeling she is going to try and pin the stolen money on you and if that doesn’t work, she’s making arrangements to have you killed.”
“Wow,” Elsie said. “And I thought you said it was only hinted that you and she would be a good couple.”
Massimo laughed. “Babe, I’m not going to let this happen. You’re safe.”
“So, what’s the plan?” she asked. “Clearly you have a plan.”
“I do, but you’re not going to like it.”
Chapter Ten
Arriving back home, Elsie looked up at the house and wasn’t surprised there was no staff waiting. Massimo was nowhere to be seen. This was part of his plan, and he’d also warned her that he’d removed the staff as well. It was going to appear that she had come back from running away. Elsie didn’t like this, but it needed to happen.