Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 86883 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86883 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
I also needed to keep busy or my obsession for her would start to kill me from the inside.
It made me focused.
It made me determined.
And it made me realize how much she meant to me.
Now I know with emphatic truth that Bianca is the only woman for me.
My little monster.
And I’m never letting her go again.
48
BIANCA
I wake up alone in the bed and see the golden shades of dusk splashed across the wall. The bed is still warm where Massimo has been, and when I slide my palm across the empty space, I know without doubt that I am where I belong.
I climb out and find him on the terrace, looking out at the cityscape. Stepping into the crisp afternoon, there’s a freshness in the air that reminds me the hot summer is behind us and the cool days of fall are well and truly here.
Massimo turns around. He’s wearing sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt, but he’s got bare feet. His hair is mussed up from me running my hands through it when he was driving hard and deep into me, and there is a softness about him, like he’s just woken up and is sleepy and content.
He smiles, and like it always does when he looks at me with that smile, my stomach flutters with a million butterflies.
“Hey, you,” I say, and he opens his arms and pulls me into his chest. He’s all kinds of warm, and I melt into him.
“You looked too peaceful to disturb, so I let you sleep,” he says.
“I needed it. I haven’t slept well these past few weeks.”
In response, he presses a kiss into my hair and secures his strong arms tighter around me.
The sun is gone, and its dying rays have painted the sky in red and gold. Below, the city hums, but up here it is peaceful and quiet, and in Massimo’s arms, I feel safe and content.
“I missed you,” he says, his gaze looking out at the bleeding sky. “There were a lot of times I dialed your number but stopped myself hitting the call button because I wanted to give you the space you wanted. But it killed me. Every day without you was a new death.”
“There were a lot of times I wanted to say to hell with it and call you too. I missed you so much.” I take a deep breath, feeling secure in his arms. I turn in them and look into his handsome face. I brush my lips against his jaw and feel his heart skip.
“I was worried about you and how you felt after everything Jules did. I knew it would hurt you, and I felt so powerless because I knew I couldn’t do anything to ease that pain.”
He’s right. The weeks following Jules’s death were crushing. I’ve seen dead bodies before, but looking into her unseeing eyes had gutted me. Even after everything she did. Even knowing how much she resented me and how she wanted to take my life and live it as her own, I was still gutted by the loss of my friend.
And I can’t lie, my pain was only compounded by Massimo’s absence.
“I’ve never felt so alone in my life,” I say softly, pushing the memory away because it hurts.
But it’s too late, a lone tear escapes and slides down my cheek, but he swipes it away with the gentle brush of his thumb. “You’re not alone. You’re a part of the De Kysa now.”
Another tear falls, followed by another, and then another. But they’re grateful tears, because right now, I feel more loved than I’ve ever felt in my life. All because of the way Massimo is looking at me.
His big hands slide around my jaw to cup my face. He brushes his lips against mine and kisses away my salty tears. “You belong with me. And my heart belongs to you if you want it.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying, be my wife.”
“What?” I stare up at him with genuine surprise. “You said you never wanted to get married.”
“Apparently, I was wrong because I want to marry you.” His thumb brushes over my damp cheek. “And if these past weeks without you have taught me something, it’s that I want to marry you more than I want anything else.”
I stare at him dumbly. “You said you’d never intentionally set fire to your life by getting married.”
Amusement twitches on his perfect lips as he cocks an eyebrow at me. “Are you overthinking this?”
“Of course I am. Because it’s a big deal and I don’t want you to regret your decision.”
An unmistakable seriousness sweeps through his expression.
“You know I don’t do anything I’m not completely committed to doing.” His thumb slides to my lips. “And I am completely committed to this.”
He kisses me, and it’s deep and loving and powerful, and I feel it from the top of my head right down to my toes.