Total pages in book: 52
Estimated words: 48585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 243(@200wpm)___ 194(@250wpm)___ 162(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 243(@200wpm)___ 194(@250wpm)___ 162(@300wpm)
The following day, I have a dress sent up to the suite for her while I finish up a bit of business. I will have the maid bring it up to Valentina, along with a note telling her to be ready to go out for our date at seven o’clock in the evening.
“Make sure that she has everything she needs,” I instruct the maid. “And if there’s anything else that Valentina wants, please let me know so that I can get it to her before our date tonight.”
“Yes, of course, Mr. Moretti.” The maid nods as she lowers her head. “Are the two of you celebrating something special?”
How she asks almost seems as if she’s got a sixth sense about it. But then again, how could she know anything about Valentina expecting a child? All she does is clean the suite and keep to herself. I don’t even think she knows she works for a mafia family, considering Vincent and I have never let the lower staff in on our more interior business dealings.
“Just celebrating being able to spend some time out in the city together,” I smile at her as I glance at her name tag. “Thank you for taking the dress up, Maria.”
“My pleasure, sir.”
After a long day of business meetings, a chat at the bar with Gabriel and Alonzo, and a few loose ends tied up that Vincent wanted me to tend to, I am more than ready to take Valentina out for a nice date somewhere. And when I return to the hotel suite and see her step into view, she is nothing short of breathtaking.
I stand in the hallway, frozen and speechless as I stare at her.
Valentina blushes and smiles as she walks toward me. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a powerful man at such a loss for words,” she teases as she stands in front of me and runs her finger down the front of my chest.
She makes me feel as if I’m the most powerful man in the world. Who needs a title when I have the affections of such a goddess? To think that Leonardo Conti, a man who would have perversely enjoyed psychologically manipulating her for his own sadistic tendencies, almost trapped her in a loveless marriage. He will never again dominate her emotionally. He will never lay a finger on Valentina. She is mine now, and she is free to do as she pleases.
“So, where are we going?” She asks, with a gleam of excitement in her eyes.
“Well, not to a bar in your current condition,” I tease her. “But how about a very nice restaurant and a delectable virgin cocktail?”
She grins and threads her arm in mine as we head out together.
I chose the most expensive restaurant in all of Vegas, one that usually requires a reservation months in advance. But I mention the Moretti name, and within minutes, they seat us at one of the nicest tables in the whole place. We talk and laugh and sample several items off the menu, and for a few hours, it feels like everything else melts away.
I’d like to think that Leonardo would simply be disillusioned with Valentina now, that he might just let her move on to torment some new woman that he can exert power over. But I’m not foolish enough to believe that. At least for the moment, we can enjoy some time tonight and not think of such things.
“People are looking at us,” she whispers as she leans across the table toward me.
“Who?”
“Those people over there.” She lifts her finger inconspicuously to point to a couple sitting in a corner booth.
I recognize them instantly. They’re friends of Alonzo. Good, that means that word will spread quickly that Valentina and I are a couple and that she is not only under my protection but is my woman to protect. I can only imagine how enraged that will make Leonardo. I try to put thoughts of him out of my head and enjoy this evening out with the beautiful mother of my unborn child.
“Do you have any idea how much I’m in love with you, Valentina?” I ask, hoping that she does.
“No,” she says with a subtle smirk. “I think maybe you should tell me.”
“I love you more than the moon loves the night,” I say, trying my best to be poetic and hoping that I don’t sound ridiculous. “More than a camera loves the perfect view.”
“Oh, that’s a good one,” she grins.
We both share a small laugh, but I’m so in love with her I would give anything to see Valentina happy and content.
“You have always been important to me,” I say as I reach across the table to hold her hand between my palms. “Ever since the first moment I laid eyes on you, and within the spaces of each time we saw each other. When I came to see you at the Conti estate, it wasn’t just because I wanted to. It was because I needed to. I think that perhaps you and I have been meant to be together this whole time. And now that we are, I intend never to let you go.”