Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 73663 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73663 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
“You are always going to be my wife,” he says, his voice thick with emotion. It surprises me when he steps closer and pulls me against him, one big hand on the small of my back. I press my palm to his muscular chest. “I love you too, Maddie. I’ve been in love with you since I brought you into my life. I couldn’t tell you because I was afraid it would scare you off, but now I can see how stupid I’ve been.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“Yes, I do. I don’t want some fucking deal. I want you as my wife. I want you right here with me. I want to raise this baby with you. I want to love you the way you want to be loved, bella topo. You are everything to me now, and it breaks my heart knowing you didn’t see that before.”
“Tell me you mean it,” I whisper, heart racing, confusion and excitement and a thousand other emotions rushing into my chest. “Tell me you love me.”
“I love you, Maddie.”
He stoops down and kisses me.
The sensation sends a thousand jolts into my lips, down into my fingertips, down into my toes. I’m numb and tingling, and I kiss him back because this is what I’ve been dreaming about for weeks now. His tongue, delicious and strong, his lips, soft and incredible, and even the stubble on his cheeks, it all drives me crazy with need. His big arms hold me tight as I lose myself in him, dropping down deeper, sparks glowing in every inch of my body.
“I should’ve told you right away,” I say, laughing, feeling so dumb and so happy.
“I should have too. But now we’ve said it.”
“You really don’t want to take the baby away? You really want to raise it with me?”
“It isn’t fake for me anymore. You’re the mother of my child. I need you, Maddie.”
“I need you too. I didn’t think I could, but I need you.”
He holds me tight, our foreheads pressed together. I pull back to marvel at my gorgeous husband.
Behind him, butterflies swarm around a butterfly bush, haloing him in wings.
My breath hitches. He smothers my mouth with his own, kissing me with that deep, slow, languid tongue of his, driving me wild. I’ve never felt this comfortable, this connected to another person before in my life but here I am with my husband, with the father of my child, and it’s all right.
I want to take a risk. I want to try all the things I’ve hidden from all these years. As long as Renzo’s here to catch me, I won’t fall, and I won’t let anyone else fall either.
A voice calls from the porch. “Ren. Renzo!” Dante comes running into the garden, his face a hard mask.
“What’s wrong?” Renzo turns to his best friend, still holding my hand.
“It’s Carlo.” Dante’s face is stricken. Rage and sorrow fight for space on his broad face. “There’s been an attack.”
Chapter 35
Renzo
Carlo looks too big for the hospital bed. The machines beep and the smell of soap and antiseptic cleaner fills the air. “They won’t let me go home,” he complains. “I told the doctor, look, doc, it’s just a bullet wound, okay? I got shot in the fucking leg, not in the goddamn heart. Let me go home!”
“You’re lucky it wasn’t worse.” I stand at the foot of Carlo’s bed with Saul. Gian’s on the way home. He got on the family jet the second we got off the phone earlier.
Maddie’s near the window with her legs pulled up to her knees. She looks shaken but relieved—which is about how I’m feeling.
When Dante told me about the attack, I didn’t know if my brother was dead or alive. I got here as fast as I could, expecting the worst, only to find Carlo sitting up and flirting with the nurses. The bastard is practically invincible.
“Tell us what happened.” Saul glances over at Maddie. “Or maybe we should wait.”
“She’s fine,” I say, intent on Carlo. “Start talking before one of the hospital staff comes back.”
“Went down quick.” Carlo’s expression darkens and he fusses with his IV line. “I stepped out of the Horse and Pony—”
Saul groans. “You were at a strip club in the middle of the day?”
“Man’s gotta eat and they have a fantastic buffet.” Carlo flips him off and keeps talking. “Anyway, I was heading out after getting my fill, if you know what I mean—”
“We don’t need to hear details about your strip club conquests,” I tell him.
“That shit’s more fun than the shooting.” He sighs and keeps going with the story. “Anyway, I look around, trying to figure if I’m gonna call for a family driver or if I’m gonna walk it, and that’s when I hear tires screaming. You know the sound, like a car’s going from totally still and waiting to flooring it.”