Kent says nothing, just turns and storms into his office, slamming that door as well. ____________________________ “So, where are we off to?” I ask, eagerly smiling as I buckle my seatbelt in the front of his car. But while I was expecting words, Ivan’s response is to place a gentle hand on
“Oh my god,” I mutter, my mouth full of crab cake, my eyes almost rolling back into my head with how delicious it is. “This is…seriously, how do they get such good seafood up in the mountains? This tastes like it was caught this morning!” “I think it was,” Ivan replies, equally intent on a lobster
“Seriously, though,” Ivan says, grinning at me. “We’ll just forget about our lives for a couple of hours. Be two totally different people. Leave it all behind. Hi, my name is Rodrigo,” he says, his smile growing as he holds out his hand to shake mine. “Pleasure to meet you.” I laugh at his stupid
I can’t help myself, then, as I turn my face to Ivan, a tiny moan on my lips that he snatches away with his mouth on mine. I kiss him without remembering to breathe, so hungry for him that I forget myself – hungry for his joy, his laughter, his ease and his jokes – the way he lets me escape the r
“It’s time, miss,” he says, his voice serious. “He wants you home. Now.” “Oh?” I ask, biting my lip with disappointment. “No breakfast?” Slowly, the guard shakes his head. I turn my attention back to Ivan, but his eyes are on the guard. “Can you give us a minute?” Ivan says to Kent’s man, u
A hand on my shoulder shakes me awake and I jump, gasping a little bit as my head spins to see Kent’s guard sitting next to me in the back seat of the SUV. “Sorry,” he says, tentative and pulling away. “I didn’t mean to scare you – we’re just…home.” “Oh,” I say, surprised, turning to see that we
“What happened?” Kent asks, taking a step closer to me, glowering down at me so I have to tilt my head back and look up at him. “Did he touch you?” I frown at Kent then, a little defiance curling in my stomach as he glares at me. “Was he…not supposed to touch me?” I ask. “It was a date, Kent. You
Kent leans against the wall outside of Fay’s room for a moment after he leaves, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath through his nose. That girl… She’s going to be the death of me, that girl, Kent thinks as he clenches his jaw, grinding his teeth. It had been…so fucking difficult. So damn h
My dad greets him with such genuine joy and excitement that it makes my heart swell with joy. They talk for a few minutes about Dominic’s day before dad gives him a little nudge back towards the gate where Kent and I are waiting. Dominic gives dad a kiss before running ahead again. My dad waves to
“Papa!” Dominic shouts, startling me out of my reverie as he drops my hand and darts down the road. I look up, a huge smile breaking out on my face again as I see Kent on the sidewalk just ahead. His back is to us as he speaks companionably with the butcher, a heavy bag of his purchases already hung
As I walk down the street towards the little Italian kindergarten, the whispers start around me, as they always do. I listen to all of them, a big German Shepherd padding quietly at my heels. “Is that her?” “Yes, that’s the one – I heard she was her husband’s mistress before he married her – tha
Both Kent and I laugh, but Don Bianci – across the baptismal font from us – snaps his eyes up, perhaps not liking the joke as much as we do. But I just ignore it, because dad’s right, frankly – and it’s too happy a day to care. After the final blessing everyone applauds Dominic – he likes that, bl
“Well, it didn’t seem to affect your first very badly,” Ivan says with a shrug, peering around Kent to where Daniel is laughing with an arm around Jerome’s shoulders. “So…maybe keep it up.” I smirk, squeezing Ivan’s hand once more before standing and moving to Kent’s side, tucking myself against h
“Hey, gorgeous,” Ivan says, his mouth turned up in a smirk as I cross the churchyard, beaming at him. “Look who’s talking,” I say, laughing and reaching for him when I come close enough. Ivan wraps me in a hug, dropping a kiss to my cheek as I hold Dominic a bit to the side so he doesn’t get squis
He laughs, smiling at me genuinely. “Do I make you nervous?” he asks, blunt. I laugh, unable to help it. “Has no one bothered to tell you, in all these years, that you’re a little terrifying, Don Bianci?” He grins and shakes his head at me. “Well, considering what you accomplished, young lady, I
Two months later, we’re all gathered together again. And it is only with frustration that I see Gio and Janeen standing so close together that their arms nearly brush, even though they’re still not together. I roll my eyes, dismissing the problem for a moment as I move my eyes down to Dominic and
It's an incredible night. Kent didn’t lie, not at all, about the food either. I’m shocked by the mountains of dishes that continue to follow each other, one after another, long into the night. After a few hours of it I just mournfully watch the waiters go by because I couldn’t eat another bite if I