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
“You’re ruining my life!” Daniel shouts, taking a fierce step into the room and slamming the door shut behind him before stalking over to Kent’s desk. Kent doesn’t flinch, not an inch, instead taking a moment to study Daniel as he crosses the room. He hasn’t seen Daniel since last night after Fay le
I lay back on my bed for…way too long. Just laying there, frustrated, staring at the ceiling. I am also exhausted – I know this by the fuzz that I feel in my brain, the lethargy taking control in my limbs, and my very slightly grumpy mood. It’s been…one hell of a 48 hours, if I’m being honest with
And also, he’s stupid hot…when I think about what we almost got to last night, about the way his skin felt under my hands, the fact that I could have, if I wanted to, pulled that shirt from his body and inspected the intricacies of those hidden tattoos, the forbidden parts of him… I groan and turn
Kent stares at me, frozen, for a moment. A little shiver passes through me as I see him looking at me, see his lips part minutely, see the shock run through him like a wave. And then, before I can blink, he’s in motion, crossing the room in four long strides and slamming the door shut behind me. I
I had come down here, thinking that I was going to be in control but – My eyes fly wide as I realize that right now? This is on Kent’s terms. Not mine. And then, as Kent leans his body forward and I feel the fabric of his shirt against the sensitive skin of my back, as I feel him move one of his
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