Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 118965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 595(@200wpm)___ 476(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 595(@200wpm)___ 476(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
A wicked smile curves his lips as he holds my gaze. “That’s better.”
My cheeks heat, knowing that Doris bore witness, but Angelo’s possessiveness knows no manners. On the contrary, he always kisses me as if no one is watching, no matter where we are. No, not as if no one is watching. As if he doesn’t care. Because he doesn’t. He’s only too eager to show the world that I’m taken. And to be honest, I like that he’s not shy to show his affection.
At the sight of Angelo, Tess’s little face lights up.
He holds out his arms to take her from Doris. “Hello, princess.” He tickles her side, making her squirm and giggle. “What did you do with yourself this morning?”
I leave my bag on the entrance table and face the mirror to fit my earrings. “You better prepare yourself for another reptile fanatic. She seems to have developed an affinity for the garden snake.”
“She lifted the lid off the cage,” Doris says with a scowl. “The snake got out and crawled into Johan’s bed. One of the guards had to catch it.”
Angelo chuckles. “One pet snake in the house is enough.” He makes a mock-serious face at Tess. “So don’t even think about asking for one.” To Doris he says, “I’ll talk to Johan about locking the lid. He must’ve forgotten to secure the clips after feeding the snake.”
Doris shudders. “If the snake can escape so easily, I’m not vacuuming that room.”
Angelo laughs. “At least the kids are making their own beds.”
She turns her nose in the air. “If you call pulling the covers straight making a bed, then I suppose they do.”
I straighten, giving myself a last once-over in the mirror. “I swear I only turned my back on her for a second to get the laundry from the bathroom.”
“That’s my girl,” Angelo says, tapping her nose. “You’re going to be a brave little thing just like your mother.”
“Well,” Doris says with a sigh, spinning on her heel and stomping back to the kitchen. “The dinner isn’t going to cook itself.”
When she’s out of earshot, Angelo says, “I think she needs a pay rise.”
“If that snake gets anywhere near her, not even a pay rise will make her stay.”
He lowers his head and buries his nose in my hair. Inhaling deeply, he says, “I like this smell on you.”
I laugh. “It’s my shampoo.”
“I know.” Holding Tess in one arm, he offers me the other. “Ready?”
He escorts us to his car. Shortly after Tess arrived, he bought an armored SUV with bulletproof windows. Angelo is a stickler for security, especially when he’s driving the kids and me.
After securing Tess in her car seat, he helps me into the passenger side and fits my safety belt. A car with armed men leaves before us while another one follows. Sandwiched in the middle, we cross over the mountain pass and arrive at the southern border of Bastia just before noon.
Close to the peninsula, he takes a turn to the right and parks in front of the marine research center.
I squint at the handsome, modern building through the windscreen. “What are we doing here?”
“Come,” he says, getting out but leaving the heater running so that Tess won’t be cold.
“We’re visiting?” I ask with surprise when he opens my door.
I’ve been here before on university tours. It’s an advanced facility that also houses an aquarium. They recently put out a request for funds to expand and upgrade the aquarium. They’re on Letitia and my list of fundraiser beneficiaries, and my husband donates handsomely to their cause on a monthly basis.
“Look,” Angelo says, intertwining our fingers and lifting our hands to point at the sign face on the front of the building.
As I lift my gaze, my mouth drops open. The name of the facility is spelled across the front in brand-new aluminum letters with blue backlights.
Sabella Edwards-Russo Marine Research Center and Aquarium.
“What?” I ask in a shocked whisper. “You named the place after me?”
Wrapping a hand around my nape, he turns me to face him. His dark gaze pierces mine as he leans closer and brushes his lips over mine. “Happy birthday, cara. It’s yours.”
“Mine?” The word comes out breathless. “What do you mean it’s mine?”
His sexy lips curve into a smile. “I bought it for you.”
“You did what?”
“They needed the investment, and—as you’ll soon be qualified—you need a job.”
“So you bought the whole workplace?” I exclaim. “To give me a job?”
“To do with it whatever you please. Manage it. Develop it. Or just leave it up to the team currently running it. They seem to be doing an adequate job.”
Tears well up in my eyes. “Angelo.”
He presses a kiss on the corner of my mouth. “I already gave you two rings and two cats. As you donated the car I gave you for your birthday to charity, I thought I’d better give you something you’d like.”