Maximus stares at me, and I blink up at him. “What is it?” I ask.
“You.” He grins at me. “You are nothing like I thought you’d be.”
I don’t tell him he was everything I feared him to be at first but now he’s beginning to remind me of the guardian angel he proclaimed to be several years ago.
I hope he can protect me once again by stopping me from giving him my heart.
Maximus
I’ve been to France, Paris specifically, on many occasions, and its glamour has dulled for me, making it nothing but another city in which to conduct business.
But to Emilia? Paris is heaven on earth.
She fairly bursts with the excitement she’s trying to keep hidden. My mouth pulls to the side in a frown. Why is Emilia attempting to dampen her enthusiasm? I know right away I’m the reason. She must fear I’ll somehow use it against her, and she would have been right.
If not for the moment she smiled at me.
For the first time.
It was like a bullet to the chest. I couldn’t breathe from the impact it had on me. All at once I saw her, truly and completely, and fully grasped the stunning creature in my arms was, and is, my bride.
Mine and no other’s.
I’ve never been one to concern myself with religious practices more than attending the occasional mass and confession, but right then, I wanted to be honor bound to her until death. The Silvestri family motto now applied to Emilia. Not because she was my tool for revenge or my property.
It’s because she’s my wife. Mrs. Silvestri and nothing less.
That train of thought led to many things, starting with her first kiss. Now there are other firsts she wants to experience. And by watching her, I’m going through it all, viewing it in a different light. Or maybe just light in general, since my norm is a world of darkness.
When my father hid my brothers and me, after our mother’s disappearance, he never left the underworld. It was where I was born and raised and where I will die. But Emilia, despite being brought up in the same environment, still shines as though reflecting the sun’s light.
Or maybe sheisthe sun.
Her small gasp of surprise has me gripping my weapon and swinging my gaze from side to side in the hotel room, my entire body tense from anticipating danger until I find the source of her disquiet. She’s pressed against the balcony door like a child trying to gain a vantage point at an aquarium. And beyond her is the Eiffel Tower in the distance, the dark of night lit by the structure covered in thousands of light bulbs.
Their glow pales in comparison to the joy on her face.
“What are you looking at?” I ask, letting my hand fall away from my weapon.
Her spine goes erect, and I clench my teeth at her reaction to me. I prefer her soft and pliant or wet and panting for me, not scared and skittish. Although I can’t blame her, my irritation is there nonetheless.
She drops her gaze, a telltale sign she doesn’t wish to share her thoughts. “The city, sir.”
“What about it?” I walk over to her, watching how her eyes widen at my approach. When I’m by her side, the shine that made the green all but sparkle is nearly gone. Was it always there and I’ve missed it this entire time? And if not, what has caused it to return?
Emilia twists her fingers in the fabric of her clothing. “It’s beautiful.”
“Do you wish to see it?”
I’m just as stunned at my invitation as she is. What in the fuck am I thinking? We are not tourists, and the only reason we have a day before the meeting with Charles Fontaine is because I never do business while jet-lagged. I can’t have my judgment impaired in any way when making decisions, most importantly the ones that could cause me or my brothers to end up dead.
Apparently my judgment is impaired when it comes to my wife.
“Is…is that okay?” She bites her bottom lip, another tell of hers. Upon seeing that, I have half a mind to say no so I can fuck her until we both can’t walk. Emilia does that shit with her lip all the time, and I like it as much as it drives me insane. “It’s late at night…,” she says, letting her voice disappear.
I wave a hand in dismissal. “It’s fine.”
She glances at the glass door, looking beyond to the city with a longing so potent I can almost touch it. When she brings her gaze to mine, there’s a vulnerability there. It’s fragile and must be handled with care or I may not ever witness it again. “Are you sure?”
