I’m afraid to look at his face.“Then…what?Where does that leave us?”
Before Seth can answer, Damiano returns with three tumblers of whiskey.“Am I interrupting something?”
“No.”Seth steps back from me and takes a glass from Damiano.He retreats to one of the chairs near the couch.
Damiano kisses my cheek and leads me to the couch, wrapping his uninjured arm around me.His other arm bears a bandage, his torn sleeve rolled up to reveal it.He brushed aside the EMTs’ offers to bring him to the hospital for stitches.Because the cut wasn’t very deep, they didn’t insist.
“I didn’t know you were coming to Nove today,” Damiano says.“Were you here to see me?”
I nod, suddenly feeling shy.Earlier, I’d been full of confidence and flush with warm feelings after reading about Irina and Vivienne.Now, I keep seeing Alessia with the gun in her hand and Francesco falling backward against the dresser.
I push away the thoughts.That horrible memory doesn’t belong here.I’m safe here, with Damiano and Seth, two men who have demonstrated again and again that no matter where I am, if I’m in danger, they’ll show up to save me.
“Is there a reason you wanted to see me?”Damiano asks.
“I wanted to talk to you.”I snap my mouth closed, not wanting to reveal more.Seth is sittingright there, and this has to do with him, too.
Damiano seems to understand, but does he take pity on me and drop the subject?Heck no.That isn’t how he operates.
His dark brown eyes stare intently into mine.“What did you want to talk to me about, Madison?”
“It’s…just some stuff I was thinking about.”I can see where this conversation is going—he’s going to push and pull until I spill everything.I could get up, excuse myself, and walk out of this apartment.Nobody is holding me here against my will.
But after what Seth said,distance is too painful, maybe it’s better to say it all now, together with the three of us.
That doesn’t make it any easier to blurt out my feelings.
Damiano lightly moves his hand over my waist, stroking my side.It’s both soothing and arousing at the same time.“Bella, did it have anything to do with what we talked about the other night at Low Vice?Is it about having a relationship with not just me, but with Seth as well?”
Seth looks up, his hazel eyes sharp.Before, I had a sense he was listening intently to Damiano and me, but now there’s no doubt.
“Well?”Damiano prompts.
“Yes.”The word comes out as a whisper, but it might as well be a shout.
He continues stroking my side, except he lifts my shirt slightly so that his fingers are on my skin.On every downstroke, they dip into the waistband of my jeans.
“And what are your thoughts on the matter?”he asks.
“My thoughts are…” My voice stops working because the slow, light touch of his fingertips just beneath my waistband is driving me insane.
Seth leans forward.“Yeah?What are your thoughts, Madison?”
“My thoughts are I’m willing to try,” I blurt out before I can lose my words again.
“I’m pleased to hear that,” Damiano says.“And Seth?What do you think?”
“Staying away from Madison is torture.I can’t do it anymore.I don’t want to.”Seth laughs and points at Damiano.“Don’t look so smug, asshole.I came to this realization without your so-called help.”
Wait…Seth is willing?He’s on board with this whole crazy arrangement?I thought he’d storm out, upset that we’re even discussing it.Butdistance is too painful.
He wants to be with me.
Fucking in that private booth at the baseball game.Watching me in the hot tub in Mirarosa, watching me with Damiano in Low Vice.He might have done all of that reluctantly, but he still wanted it.
He still wants it.He wantsme.
My heart gives a happy extra beat in my chest.
