I consider the possibility. “That ship has sailed. It doesn’t hold the same appeal it used to.”
“Are you saying you want a job?”
I lift an eyebrow. “Will you let me?”
“If it makes you happy.”
“What about security?”
“We can work around it.”
I sit up. “Do you mean that?”
“Of course.” His smile is terse. “I never said I was going to lock you up in the house and deny you the right to have a career.”
I don’t know why I’m so surprised. Of course Dante will want what’s best for me. He’s not going to dictate how I’m supposed to live my life as my father had done. My father had controlled and managed me for so long, telling me what I could and couldn’t do, that I sometimes forget I’m no longer living in the condo under his thumb. I’m a wife and a mother. I’m my own woman, and Dante will never take that away from me.
“I’m sorry.” I avert my gaze. “You’re not my father. I didn’t mean to imply that you’re like him.”
“Tatiana.” My name is harsh on his lips. “Do not apologize when you’ve done nothing wrong.”
I slip my hand into his, intertwining our fingers so that our wedding rings press together. “Thanks for not saying no.”
He looks at me from under thick, golden-brown lashes. “What do you want to do?”
“Organizing.”
I sit up straighter. Where did that come from? The word just slipped out. Yet now that the idea is out in the open, excitement mounts inside me.
“As in event organizing?” he asks carefully.
“Home organizing,” I blurt out.
Wait. Exhilaration courses through me.
“I’m good at it,” I exclaim, surprised at the revelation that made itself known and thrilled that I remembered something about myself.
“Oh, my God, Dante.” I climb into his lap and lock my arms around his neck. “I’m good at it!”
Something passes through his eyes, but it’s gone before I can get a read on it.
His question is cautious. “That’s what you want to do?”
“Yes,” I cry out. “I mean, I think so.”
He scrutinizes me, looking into my eyes as if he’s trying to see into my soul. I’m too elated about my discovery to pay too much attention to his wariness. Maybe he’s already thinking about the security nightmare of protecting me if I’m out on the streets, working in a different part of the city.
Needing to set him at ease, I splay my palm over his chest. “It can be a half-day job to start with. I still want to be here for Noah until he goes to school.”
Dante nods, but the gesture is tense. He kisses my forehead. “We’ll see.”
Now that I’ve made a choice, I’m impatient to act on it. It’s a hasty decision, but at least I made one, and that feels like huge progress. I haven’t made any big decisions since I woke up with a part of my memory missing.
It’s still early, and Noah won’t be up for another hour, but I know Dante. He won’t go back to sleep. We may as well use the time we have alone.
He watches me through hooded eyes when I get onto my knees and straddle him. He steadies me with his hands on my hips as I pull down his pajama bottoms to free his cock. He’s hard and thick, the broad head already glistening with pre-cum. The sight is hot, the knowledge that he wants me intoxicating.
I want to get rid of my panties, but when I make a move to stand, he tightens one hand on my hip and dips the other beneath my nightdress. He goes straight for the kill, holding my gaze with smoldering heat burning in his as he presses his fingers on my clit. I jerk in response to the touch. Pleasure fires through my nerve-endings. Reading me to gauge my reaction, he rubs in circles.
