“Per sempre tuo,” she whispers, adding, “Always.”
The other three words I want to say are right there, but the burden of the secret burner in the safe and the little lies we’re both keeping steals my ability to let them free.
“Always,” I whisper back against her lips before giving her ass a playful tap. “Go jump in the shower. I’ll meet you in there.”
“Ooohhh, sexy shower times are my favorite,” she says, rolling out of bed and strutting to the bathroom. Before she disappears inside, she looks over her shoulder at me. “Do not leave me waiting, otherwise Diego will get the honors of my first orgasm.”
“Who the fuck is Diego?”
“My dildo,” she says simply before stepping out of view.
“He can join us, but I’m still the boss,” I call out, only to be met with the sound of her slapping something against the tiles and her tinkling cackle.
It hits me then: Love isn’t grand gestures. It’s the sum of all the infinitesimal moments collected over time that fill your heart to bursting.
I open the safe and pull out the burner. There’s a slew of messages from last night, which were more of the same, begging for a chance to explain. Then there’s the latest.
Unknown:
You win, but I’ll be waiting.
Bile rises in my throat. I want to blame it on the hangover and lack of oily food in my stomach to combat it, but I can’t shake this ominous feeling that Alessandro’s message was, in fact, intended for me.
Chapter Forty-Nine
I Should’ve Stayed In Bed
Raf
Six weeks later
The last thingI wanted to do was leave my bed this morning, because unlike most other mornings when I wake to an empty bed, Chiara is still curled around me like a vine. Until she became a regular fixture in my bed, I had no idea I loved to sleep like this. Limbs tangled, every bit of her touching every bit of me. She feels safe and protected, and I feel more wanted. Needed. More loved than I ever have. Even if neither of us has actually said it yet. Her alarm goes off as well, and I peer down, perplexed as to why she’s getting up so early when she doesn’t have a photoshoot until much later.
“Angel, did you forget to change your alarm?”
“No,” she groans out. “Evie changed my workout time to this morning because I couldn’t make it tonight. Ya know. The one YOU put in my calendar as a reoccurring date with the note DO NOT MISS.”
I chuckle into the top of her head resting on my chest.
“Oh baby, you know it does things to me when you’re such an obedient wife.”
“Fuck you,” she huffs. “For the record, yourwifeis going to be doing absolutely nothing to you as punishment for this ridiculously early wakeup on a day I don’t actually need to be awake before the sparrows.”
“I didn’t say I wanted you to do anything to me. Mayybbeee…” I say, flipping her onto her back and straddling either side of her upper body. “I want my breakfast in bed this morning.” She squeals and squirms as I trail kisses all the way down her naked torso until I get to the top of her red lace panties—the ones she was wearing that day she strutted into my office and almost made me buckle. Clearly it was only a matter of time.
“Mmhmmm,” she moans, as her legs fall open. “If I have to get up early on my day off,thisis the type of wake-up call I want.” I run my tongue underneath the waistband of her panties to tease her and she hums in encouragement. Then I run my nose down her center, inhaling the scent of her desire mixed with her signature cotton candy body cream, then kissing my way back up her inner lips, pulling her panties to the side as I reach the top of the waist band.
I slowly circle her clit with the tip of my tongue before taking it into my mouth completely and sucking. I feel her swollen bud flutter, and my dick throbs. I want to bury myself to the hilt in one thrust, but I also want to tease her and draw out her pleasure, feel her drip down my chin and settle in my beard as a reminder of what I get to come home to.
I wrap my hands around her upper thighs and hold her open.
My phone starts ringing but I ignore it.
“Babe, do you need to get that?”
I shake my head and move my tongue side to side to flick her clit.
“Oh God!” She moans, rocking against my mouth.
