Total pages in book: 152
Estimated words: 144979 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144979 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
I’m too fucking close to blowing my load, and she hasn’t come yet. So I pick her up and carry her to the bed, wedging my body between her thighs. She wraps her heels around my back as I thrust into her and fuck her deep.
Twenty seconds later, she’s coming all over my cock.
I sink inside her and unleash what feels like ten years of pent-up tension, coming so hard the edges of my vision go black.
I collapse on the bed beside her, then tug her back against me and drape my arm over her waist.
A long stretch of silence follows as I close my eyes, losing myself to the softness and warmth of her body. I could fall asleep right here, but her voice pulls me back.
“If there were no treaty, would you still want a family?”
I open my eyes and look down at her, but she’s not looking at me. Her eyes are shut, and it feels like she’s holding her breath.
“What are you really asking me, cara?”
She doesn’t answer.
“Do you want to know if I’d still choose to have a family with you?”
Or is it something else?
That thought has been rattling around my brain for a while. But historically, we don’t have a great track record when it comes to getting her to open up to me. I’m not sure she’s ready yet, and her silence seems to be proof of that.
My phone rings in my trouser pocket, and I ignore it.
“Abella.” I tip her chin up. “Look at me.”
She does. Her eyes are soft and sleepy, and whatever was on her mind a moment ago, she’s buried it deep inside her.
“Are you going to get that?” she asks. “It might be important.”
I don’t want to get it. I already know it’s one of my brothers. We’ve been tracking the movements of Ray’s business partner, and tonight we lured him to the ball with a potential lead. While I’ve been here with Abella, my brothers have been interrogating him.
The phone rings again, and Abella groans.
“Either you get it or I will,” she grumbles.
“We’re finishing this conversation,” I tell her.
“Okay, but later.” She yawns and closes her eyes again.
I watch her for a moment before the sound of my ringtone starts to annoy the fuck out of me, too. Reaching into the pocket of the pants still hanging off my hips, I grab my phone and answer the call.
“We’ve got it,” Romeo says.
“All of it?”
“Everything.” He hesitates for a second, and that’s never a good sign. “You’ll want to see this.”
I glance at Abella. I really don’t want to leave her tonight, but she’s exhausted, and I need to see what they unearthed. This could be the missing link in Grant Ellison’s disappearance and the connection to Aegis.
“It’s alright.” Abella opens her eyes and looks up at me. “I’m tired. You can go do what you need to do.”
I nod reluctantly.
“I’ll be there in thirty minutes,” I tell Romeo.
Before I go, I clean Abella with a cloth and remove her heels. I drape the comforter over her naked body and kiss her on the lips without thinking too much about it.
“Goodnight, cara mia.”
As I’m pulling away, her fingers trail down my arm and grab my hand, holding me there for a moment.
“Tu sei stato e sarai sempre la mia vita.”
You have been and you will always be my life.
48
ABELLA
The moment Angelo’s gone, I rifle through my overnight bag and pull out my medical records. I had planned to tell him tonight, no matter what, but because I’m not brave enough to face his rejection, I’ll be leaving them for him to read on his own.
It seems like the best way—if there is such a thing when it comes to ripping your heart out.
I set them on his pillow and grab my planner, flipping to a blank note page. I press the pen against the paper and force myself to write on autopilot because there’s no other way I’ll get through it. I don’t have much time, and I definitely don’t have time to say all the things I want.
So, I say what needs to be said most.
Angelo,
There was never anyone else for me.
It has always been you.
Ti amerò per sempre
Abella
After I finish the note, I rip it from the journal and leave it on his pillow, along with the only copy of my medical records. Then I promptly run to the bathroom and vomit up the contents of my stomach.
I want nothing more than to curl up and cry, but I can’t. So after I clean myself up, I open the group chat and text them one word.
Valkyrie.
I have enough time to dress in the clothes I brought for tomorrow, and they’re the only thing I’ll be leaving with.
I glance at the bed where I just spent my last night with Angelo, and agony pierces through me. The thought of leaving him again is too painful to bear. So I focus on each step. The first thing I need to do is breathe. The second is answering my phone when I see the virtual number.