Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 144832 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 724(@200wpm)___ 579(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144832 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 724(@200wpm)___ 579(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
He burst out laughing. “Use your words, tesoro. I usually can interpret, but this time, I’m failing.”
Nicoletta sat back on the edge of the bed and laughed with him. “I think I’m so tired there aren’t any words. You took off your shirt. It’s kind of distracting.”
“Since I’m your husband, I’ll take that as a compliment. Slide into bed and stop being afraid. I told you, you’re very safe with me. You’ve always been safe with me.”
An expression slipped across her face and was gone before he could fully capture it, although he had a photographic memory and knew he would be able to pull it back up later and study it in detail. She’d looked almost sad instead of reassured.
“Just don’t use the word husband anymore. Let’s go to sleep and we’ll call it good until tomorrow. Too much happened, and we can leave it all until we both get a good night’s sleep.”
He waited until she slid under the covers, and then he slipped under them as well. Thankfully, she’d turned to face the long bank of glass that showed the woods just outside, extending branches with leaves and vines twisting and waving in the slight breeze. He fit his body around hers, one arm around her waist, locking her close to him. She had curled up, drawing up her legs, making herself small the way she did. He was used to her doing that; she had for as long as he’d known her.
Taviano was much taller than Nicoletta was, and he pressed his hips tight against her bottom, expecting her to protest. She must have felt the tremor that ran through his body, because for once she didn’t object to his very close proximity. She didn’t turn, nor did she stiffen. She stayed very still. He kept his head above hers, staring out at the trees as they swayed slightly, dancing just that little.
“Young riders are traditionally sent out to other countries to train around the age of fourteen. There is a family in France, the Archambault family, you know Elie, and it’s a big deal to get an invitation to train with them if you’re under twenty. Stefano was invited numerous times but he had turned them down because he watched over us. When I was nine, he was invited again, and that time, he decided to go. My other brothers were all out of the country and Emmanuelle was with our aunt in New York. I was the only one left here, so Stefano thought it was okay to leave. I told him I would be fine. I knew how to cook for myself. Eloisa and Phillip were never around anyway, and I’d be all right.”
Taviano paused for a moment, rubbing his chin on top of her head, the shadow along his jaw catching in her silky hair, tying them together just as their shadows did.
“This family in Italy that we knew said they would train me, and Eloisa and Phillip wanted me to go. That way all of us would be gone at the same time. Stefano didn’t want me to be sent out so young, but they insisted. Stefano knew the family in Italy. He had trained there as well, so he agreed and he went to France. I spent three months in Italy with them and then I was supposed to come home, that was the deal Eloisa and Phillip had with Stefano, but apparently when the time was up, my parents didn’t want me back, and Stefano wasn’t home.”
He couldn’t help the rage building in him from transferring to the grip he had on her, and he had to make an effort to relax his hold. Adrenaline gave him the shakes, and he needed to jump up and pace almost as much as he needed to hold on to her, afraid she would desert him the moment she knew the truth.
“Eloisa and Phillip made some deal with another family of riders, two cousins, not very well known, the only two left from that particular family. They were older, two men in their forties. All the other families had students. No one investigated them. I was sent directly from the Italian family to them, and I know they weren’t investigated because the family was reluctant to send me and asked Eloisa and Phillip twice if they were certain. They said no one ever used that family anymore.”
Nicoletta started to turn her head, but he couldn’t look at her, so he pushed his face into her shoulder, forcing her to stay still. She pushed her body back against his, almost as if she knew what he was going to say.
“I was with them for three months. It was the longest three months of my life.” He rubbed his face against the back of her head, her hair once again tangling in the rough stubble along his jaw. “It wasn’t as long as you were with those assholes that you were given to by the state, Nicoletta, but it seemed forever to me. I don’t know how you did it. I had my tenth birthday while I was there, and it was a nightmare. I’ve hated birthday celebrations ever since.”