“Shh,gattina. Let me finish.” His silver gaze holds mine as he grips my hips. His voice is pleading. “You must know I would never cheat on you. It’s not me in the video. I swear on my life. I would die before I did that to you.”
I press my palm over his beautiful mouth. “You can stop now. I know it’s not you in the video, Nico.”
His eyes flare in shock as he mumbles, “You do?”
“Of course I do.” I place my hands on his head and run my fingers through his hair. “I have to admit it took me four views, one round of vomiting, and a lot of crying before I saw it, but I did.”
“How?” His grip tightens, fingers digging into my butt.
“She was touching you. And you have very strict rules about touching.” I scratch my nails over his scalp.
“I do.” He smirks as his hands slip under my sweatshirt and his fingers dance across the skin on my lower back. “Only you get to touch me.”
Guilt creeps in for not having recognized the signs sooner. It’s hard to see the truth through the lies when my family and the whole of the internet were coming after me.
“Then I zoomed in and saw a tiger.” I drag my fingers down the side of his face, over his scruffy jaw to his throat. “Where a lion should be inked.”
“I’m so sorry,gattina.”
“What are you sorry for? You did nothing wrong.”
“I hurt you. Worried you. Brought you into my mess with Damien. I outed you and your family to the public. Which should never have happened. I should have protected you.”
This man. Such a protector, even when it’s not his job. “You can’t protect me from everyone and everything.”
He scowls, not happy with my rebuke of his caveman attitude. “But I sure as fuck can try.”
Such a gentleman. Still… “I can take care of myself.”
“I know you can take care of yourself. You’re fucking amazing. And strong. And brilliant. You’re a badass doctor, who is also the most gorgeous woman on the planet.” He winks, and my body practically melts.
Between the sexy smirk and his declaration, I find myself falling for him even more.
I run my thumbs over his cheekbones like I did during his last migraine episode. “So are you.”
He shakes his head. “You don’t get it. You are everything. My everything. My every thought. My every breath. My heart beats only for you. I love you so fucking much,gattina. Amore mio.”
My heart trips over itself; the kaleidoscope of butterflies that live in my stomach take flight, and I feel as if I could float away with happiness. He loves me. Deep down, I knew he did. He’s been showing me from the start. But hearing those three words directly is even better.
I cup his face in my palms and tilt his head back. “I love you too, baseball boy.”
A wide grin spreads across his face. “Yeah, you fucking do.”
“So cocky.” I lean down.
“You love me cocky,” he whispers.
“I do,” I admit, then press my lips to his in a searing kiss.
Sparks crackle in the air around us as we embrace. Without breaking our connection, Nico stands, placing a hand on the small of my back and the other around the back of my neck. He pulls me tight and tilts my head to the side, deepening our kiss.
Our tongues tangle in a sensual dance, and the familiar flame ignites low in my belly and spreads through my veins like wildfire, burning every nerve ending in my body. It’s a sensation I’ve only ever felt with Nico.
The man may have taken me by surprise and turned my life upside down, but he did it in the best way possible. Now I can’t imagine my life without him. Nico was the missing piece of the puzzle that made me, my heart, and my life complete.
Wrapping my arms around his shoulders, I lift onto my toes and kiss him harder. Nico hoists me up, placing his hands under my ass, and I lock my legs around his waist. He turns on his heel, carrying me out of my apartment.
“What are you doing?” I ask completely breathless from his drugging kisses.
