I stormed back to the main room, ignoring Millie as she watched me on her knees on the bed, a worried expression marring her face. Sheshouldbe worried—for him—once I got my hands around his wimpy little neck.
I did a clean sweep of the room, flinging back the curtains, checking under the bed in case he was a scrawny little thing who could somehow squeeze himself into four inches of space. The last thing to check was the flimsy wardrobe. Empty.
I faced my wife, my eyes dropping to her pink nipples that were like beacons through the material of her lingerie. One glance down told me that her teddy was crotchless. I couldn't see past the red-hot rage that was starting to seep into the edges of my vision.
With a growl, I yanked my tie all the way off, my imagination running wild about who that teddy was for, and why they would need easy access. Despite my anger and jealousy, I could feel my body responding to the seductive sight of my sexy wife in sheer lingerie. I'd be damned if he got a taste of what was mine.
"He can't have you," I warned, eyes wild as they devoured her. "No man can have you."
I shrugged out of my jacket, discarding it carelessly on the floor. "So you can plan these little clandestine rendezvous however many times you like," I growled, "but it won't matter.I'll find out, and I'll be there. I'll tail you for the rest of my life if I have to. I'll be your shadow. You won't be able to turn around without bumping into me. Wherever you are, so will I be."
Her beautiful eyes were wide and luminous as she watched me shed my clothes.
"It will be that way until it becomes clear to you."
Her little tongue snaked out to lick her lips. "What becomes clear to me?" she breathlessly asked.
I paused my movements, and I met her gaze with eyes strained in vulnerability. For the first time in my life, my heart was on my sleeve. "That you're mine." I licked my own dry lips and said the words I'd never given to another human before. "And that I love you."
She sucked her breath in, her bountiful breasts heaving at my confession. A confession that had been ripped out of my soul, where I had kept it sealed tightly beneath the surface. Where I could pretend it didn't exist.
But every day that I spent married to Millie, those threads of love that had been sewn so tightly within me began to loosen and unravel slowly.
Today, when I got that call from Gordon, the remaining pieces of that closely guarded emotion burst at the seams, and now that it was free, I couldn't quite believe that I hadn't figured it out any earlier. Christ, we probably wouldn't be in this mess if I’d wised up sooner. There was no going back now. No denying what I felt…what I suspected I'd felt all along.
Dio mio, I'd been a fool. An arrogant, stupid fool.
"I'm kicking myself that I didn't tell you sooner. That I didn't put my pride aside and lay my heart at your feet when we were in Sicily. I regret hurting you with every fibre of my being,amore mio. Because the vision of you with another man makes me want to burn the world down. When I spotted you walking out of that hotel in Wimbledon, knowing you had been with another man…it hurt. It still hurts. It physically hurts. So much so that at times it feels like I can hardly breathe."
Her eyes turned glassy and her perfect lips rolled in. She pitied me, but I didn't even care. I would happily use her soft heart to keep her by my side.
"So if this is how you felt, I'm sorry." My voice cracked but I pushed on. "I am so fucking sorry for Annabelle, for Marguerite…for putting you through all that unnecessary pain."
I raked an agitated hand through my hair. "I know it's hypocritical of me, but I don't care." I reached out and cupped her soft cheek. "Please.Pleasedo not be with anybody else. I cannot bear it. I don't care if you do not love me, because I love you enough for the both of us. If you give our marriage a chance—arealchance this time, I promise to be the best husband in the world to you. I'll be faithful, loving, I'll put you first above everything—business, money, my family."
"Alessio—"
"I'll give you your family hotels back," I interjected, fear of her rejection causing me to stumble over my words. I didn't know what I was promising, but it didn't matter. She was worth it.
"We'll move to the countryside, and I'll work half from home and commute the other. I'll take you on holiday every month, just the two of us. No." I shook my head. "You cannot do that because of your studies. Well, I'll support you in that too. I'll buy you your own vet clinic when you graduate. You'll be the most sought-after vet surgeon in all of the UK."
Her eyes softened, and her hand reached up to cover mine. I knew I was rambling, and Millie most likely had no idea what I was saying or that I was even giving her time to process each new promise, but I was desperate. And so fucking scared.
Scared that if I let her speak, she'd gently shut me down. She'd ask me to leave, and thenhewould show up, and she'd carry on as if she hadn't ripped my heart out. Not that I would let thathappen. The police would have to be called first before I let any man near her.
"I'll do anything you ask. Tell me what you want and it's yours," I begged. "Just please don't leave me. Please do not divorce me. I can be better,dobetter."
Her eyes were dewy, and a slice of renewed fear slithered down me. I was making her cry. She was going to tell me that she didn't want to be with me, but her tender heart would do it in the nicest way possible.
Well, fuck that. I knew one sure-fire way to get her on my page. It was something that came easily to us, that we had no problem falling into; even in the midst of an argument—or on the cusp of my wife leaving me for another man.
My hand reached down and cupped her pussy. Her bare pussy.Dio mio, I did not want to think about my wife lying here in wait for another man wearing a crotchless teddy.
With great effort, I pushed aside my jealousy and stroked her wet heat. I could feel her juices saturating my fingers, and my eyes flashed in triumph.
Millie's gaze changed from wet eyes to hooded lids. She licked those ruby-red lips of hers, pink slashing her cheeks as her breathing picked up.
"Alessio…" she whimpered as I rubbed at her slippery clit.
