At first Sarah hadn't been comfortable with the blatant nepotism, but both Logan and Jackson had convinced her that they genuinely saw value in her work. "Looks like she's not wanting for attention, so I'll take her beautiful mother out for a spin on the dance floor in the meantime," Giovanni said, and whisked a laughing Sarah away from Lorenzo before the other man could protest, twirling her around to some upbeat music. He'd had Sarah for barely two minutes before someone cut in, and after that Sarah was passed from partner to partner for the next half hour before Lorenzo finally claimed her. "Think you can spare some time to flirt with your husband, cara?" he asked sulkily, and Sarah blinked up at her husband uncertainly until she recognized that Lorenzo was a little jealous and most definitely pouting. The fact boosted Sarah’s confidence and brought a delighted smile to her face. "I have a few minutes to spare between dances." Sarah nodded after a considering pause, and L
Sarah woke up some time during the early hours of the morning when she felt Lorenzo leave the bed. Sarah blinked in confusion, not sure how she'd gotten to bed. She was stark naked, and she didn't remember getting undressed or even coming upstairs for that matter. Sarah could hear Luciana fretting through the baby monitor and was about to get out of bed when she heard Lorenzo’s gentle voice crooning to the baby. Luciana calmed down a little, and Sarah smiled as she listened to her husband sing to the baby, Lorenzo’s sleep-roughened voice slightly off-key. His voice faded and Sarah sat up, switching on the bedside lamp and adjusting the pillows behind her back when she discerned that Lorenzo was probably bringing Luciana into the bedroom for her feed. Lorenzo appeared moments later, looking completely rumpled and wearing nothing but white boxer shorts. He smiled when he saw Sarah sitting up in bed. "Your daughter's hungry." Lorenzo’s nodded down at the fussing baby, and Sarah rea
Lorenzo paused, his gaze lingering on Sarah before he continued, his voice low and reflective. “She’s the kind of woman I always pictured myself marrying. Poised, sophisticated, beautiful...She keeps all her emotions locked up tight, which suited me fine because I never appreciated messy emotional scenes. We dated and got along pretty well when we were in college. I fancied myself in love with her. It was a very neat, clinical, and uncomplicated version of love. I thought that we were perfectly suited, before things got difficult and we broke up. We both have grown up since then and realised we weren't as well suited and we thought. I- when we were together, we were...practically kids, jesus. We were so young, and just- privileged with the youth we had, free of responsibilities and societal expectations." Sarah tried to keep her expression neutral, but it hurt so much listening to her husband talk about the other woman. "Then I came here to meet your father and saw you for the f
Sarah fell back onto the mattress, her body slick with perspiration and limp with pleasure. Spasms of her powerful release still violently racked her slender frame. Her husband, Lorenzo, had disentangled, detached, and distanced himself from her within seconds of their mutual orgasm and lay on his back beside her,his breathing heavy and ragged. Sarah turned on her side to lovingly trace Lorenzo’s profile with her eyes, yearning to touch and caress the smooth and slightly tanned skin, but she knew her touch would be rebuffed. Lorenzo’s words, the ones he always said after his climax, still hovered in the air between them and still, after all these months, hurt more than they should have. "Give me a son, Sarah..." With those five words, he killed the afterglow, destroyed the intimacy of the moment, and relegated the act into nothing more than a biological imperative. After eighteen months of the same,Sarah had finally accepted that it would never change. It wasn't an abrupt rea
"You must be cold in only that skimpy little thing you're wearing," Lorenzo observed Sarah idly, heading to the fridge for a carton of orange juice. His short black hair was damp and standing up in tufts where he had carelessly towel-dried it after his shower. He wore nothing but a pair of black shorts. He looked as gorgeous as always, and Sarah hated him more than ever for that masculine perfection. "I'm fine." Sarah got up abruptly and headed toward the sink to rinse the mug, but Lorenzo grabbed her elbow to halt her movement. She tensed, shocked by the touch...Lorenzo never touched her outside of the bedroom. In the eighteen months they had been married, married not bonded, this was the first time that she could recall the alpha touching her without it being a precursor to sex. Lorenzo leaned closer to her and lowered his lips to her left ear. She felt Lorenzo’s hot breath on the side of her face before he spoke. "There'll be no more talk of divorce, Sarah ...ever," the Alph
Hours later, Lorenzo came downstairs for breakfast. It was a Saturday morning, so he didn't have any early-morning meetings to rush off to and instead he tended to linger over his newspaper and coffee and largely ignore Sarah . That morning was no different. It was as if their earlier argument hadn't happened at all. They ate their casual weekend meals in the kitchen and the homey setting lent a false sense of domesticity to the scene. But while Sarah was uncomfortable and tense in the intimate setting,Lorenzo always remained as cool as the proverbial cucumber. Then again, that was nothing new, as the alpha rarely showed emotion. In fact the "discussion" of that morning was the most heated Sarah had ever seen him. Lorenzo kept his feelings under wraps but had always made his contempt for the omega more than clear. It was in the way he refused to meet Sarah’s eyes, the way he could make love to the omega without kissing her on the mouth, the way he could talk past Sarah when
Sarah shook herself, refusing to dwell on past events that she could not change and instead tried to focus on her present. Breakfast passed with agonizing slowness, the silence broken only by the sound of the Alpha's newspaper as he carefully perused the business section. Sarah barely ate and hated her husband for being so unaffected by the tension that he could finish a hearty meal.Sarah picked up her own dishes and headed to the sink. "You have to eat more than one slice of toast," her husband's voice suddenly growled unexpectedly. "You're getting much too thin." The fact that he had noticed what she'd eaten, despite having hardly glanced at Sarah over his newspaper, startled her. "I'm not that hungry," she responded softly, and placed the dishes in the sink. "You barely eat enough to keep a sparrow alive." He lowered his paper and met Sarah’s eyes for a few seconds before diverting his focus back to the mug of coffee on the table in front of him. The direct eye contact was
Sarah had no clue where she was going and knew that there would be hell to pay when she got back-Lorenzo liked to keep her in a little box labeled "his wife," to be brought out only for social occasions when he needed someone to act as his perfect hostess. Any sign of mutiny from her was bound to have unpleasant and unforeseen consequences. Still, it felt good just to do something so defiantly out of character. Her cellular phone started ringing seconds later and when she stopped at a red light she switched it off and tossed her wedding ring, she didn't need it anymore. It was still early, barely nine, and because it was Saturday, the roads were a bit congested. Still, she felt free and she headed from the relative tranquility of New York, one of the wealthiest and most beautiful cities in the united states , toward the city. Usually he would go to Brooklyn and spend the day with Luke and Elsia but she knew that it was the first place Lorenzo would look.Lorenzo knew how limited
Lorenzo paused, his gaze lingering on Sarah before he continued, his voice low and reflective. “She’s the kind of woman I always pictured myself marrying. Poised, sophisticated, beautiful...She keeps all her emotions locked up tight, which suited me fine because I never appreciated messy emotional scenes. We dated and got along pretty well when we were in college. I fancied myself in love with her. It was a very neat, clinical, and uncomplicated version of love. I thought that we were perfectly suited, before things got difficult and we broke up. We both have grown up since then and realised we weren't as well suited and we thought. I- when we were together, we were...practically kids, jesus. We were so young, and just- privileged with the youth we had, free of responsibilities and societal expectations." Sarah tried to keep her expression neutral, but it hurt so much listening to her husband talk about the other woman. "Then I came here to meet your father and saw you for the f
Sarah woke up some time during the early hours of the morning when she felt Lorenzo leave the bed. Sarah blinked in confusion, not sure how she'd gotten to bed. She was stark naked, and she didn't remember getting undressed or even coming upstairs for that matter. Sarah could hear Luciana fretting through the baby monitor and was about to get out of bed when she heard Lorenzo’s gentle voice crooning to the baby. Luciana calmed down a little, and Sarah smiled as she listened to her husband sing to the baby, Lorenzo’s sleep-roughened voice slightly off-key. His voice faded and Sarah sat up, switching on the bedside lamp and adjusting the pillows behind her back when she discerned that Lorenzo was probably bringing Luciana into the bedroom for her feed. Lorenzo appeared moments later, looking completely rumpled and wearing nothing but white boxer shorts. He smiled when he saw Sarah sitting up in bed. "Your daughter's hungry." Lorenzo’s nodded down at the fussing baby, and Sarah rea
At first Sarah hadn't been comfortable with the blatant nepotism, but both Logan and Jackson had convinced her that they genuinely saw value in her work. "Looks like she's not wanting for attention, so I'll take her beautiful mother out for a spin on the dance floor in the meantime," Giovanni said, and whisked a laughing Sarah away from Lorenzo before the other man could protest, twirling her around to some upbeat music. He'd had Sarah for barely two minutes before someone cut in, and after that Sarah was passed from partner to partner for the next half hour before Lorenzo finally claimed her. "Think you can spare some time to flirt with your husband, cara?" he asked sulkily, and Sarah blinked up at her husband uncertainly until she recognized that Lorenzo was a little jealous and most definitely pouting. The fact boosted Sarah’s confidence and brought a delighted smile to her face. "I have a few minutes to spare between dances." Sarah nodded after a considering pause, and L
"So what are the plans for tonight?" Elisa asked curiously as Sarah enjoyed the decadent slice of chocolate mousse cake she was having for dessert. "We'll probably have a quiet evening." Sarah shrugged. " Lorenzo doesn’t know it's my birthday." "Oh." Elisa glanced away for a long moment before turning back to Sarah . "Do you want me to tell him?" "No, he'd feel awful if he knew." Elisa’s lips tilted at the sides. "Well, at least he wouldn't be indifferent," Elisa said. "Which is probably what he would have been a year ago." Sarah nodded. "I know." She paused. "Lorenzo told me he loved me...about a month ago. And he's said it every day since. But, I can't quite seem to bring myself to believe him." "Sarah, it's been pretty obvious to me for a while now that he's in love with you," her cousin startled Sarah by saying. "It has?" "Yes...I think I started to see it when he tried to forgive my debt for no good reason and then when you fainted after your amniocentesis and star
It was three months later and Sarah headed down to the kitchen for breakfast and found her husband already seated at the table, newspaper in hand. He'd already dressed Luciana and had her little baby carrier placed on the table in front of him. Luciana was asleep and Lorenzo was so absorbed in his paper that he didn't notice Sarah at first. It was Ms. Brown day off, so Lorenzo had fixed himself a bowl of cereal, toast, and some coffee. Sarah smiled at the sight of them, her heart overflowing with affection for them both. "Good morning," Sarah greeted cheerfully as she headed over to the breakfast nook. Sarah dropped a kiss on the baby's cheek and then, after the briefest of hesitations, one on her husband's lean cheek. While Sarah was a lot more affectionate these days, Sarah still felt a certain reserve around Lorenzo, not sure if she could touch and kiss her husband as freely as he did to her. Sarah knew she was being silly, but she seemed unable to overcome her emotional bar
Lorenzo smiled bittersweetly. "I know you don't believe me yet," he whispered. "But I'll make it my life's work to convince you." Lorenzo bent his head and kissed Sarah gently, his lips moist, gentle, and sweet on Sarah’s. Lorenzo raised his head much too quickly, and Sarah went up on her toes to prolong the contact. "Enzo..." Sarah didn't know what to say, but Lorenzo shook his head and smiled gently. "It's okay. I just wanted you to know." Lorenzo kissed her again, a little bit more urgently this time. Sarah’s dormant hormones sprang to life in an instant, and she pushed closer to Lorenzo, deliberately rubbing herself against Lorenzo’s hardening cock. Lorenzo deepened the kiss, his tongue plunging into Sarah’s mouth in clumsy desperation, and her lack of finesse made Lorenzo even hungrier for her. "The doctor gave me the all-clear for sex last week," Sarah reminded Lorenzo, and he groaned at Sarah’s urgent words. "I didn't tell you how I felt because I was trying to
The thin sound of a distressed infant's wail jerked Sarah from a restless sleep. She sat up and fought her way out of bed before groggily trudging to the nursery. When she got there she blinked up at the already-present Lorenzo who was cradling their crying daughter tenderly in his strong arms. He was wearing only a pair of boxers and held the tiny baby up against his strong, naked chest. He was crooning gently to her and Sarah was transfixed by the sweet picture they presented. Lorenzo looked up and saw Sarah standing in the doorway. Lorenzo’s hair was messy and standing up in spikes. "Hey." Lorenzo smiled over at her. "I was hoping you'd sleep through this. You looked exhausted earlier. I don't think she's hungry. Just cranky. I think her wet nappy woke her up. I changed her and she's all dry and comfy now, but she hasn't worked the bad mood out of her system yet." Sarah walked over to them and peered over one bulging bicep into Luciana’s scrunched-up little face and smil
"I think it's time you left, Father," Sarah said voice rigid with pain, and her father sneered one last time before he pivoted on his heel and strode from the room. "Don't you dare believe what he just said, cara," Lorenzo whispered rawly, focusing his desperate glare on her. "Don't you dare!" "I know that you love her, Lorenzo," Sarah whispered. Lorenzo wasn't sure if she meant the baby or Martina, and Sarah could tell by the look of uncertainty on Lorenzo’s face that he wasn't sure either and so he was at a loss as to how to respond. "Would you try to take her from me?" "NO!" Lorenzo practically screamed, and the baby startled. Sarah soothed her with slight rocking motions until she started suckling again. Lorenzo reined in his temper and gentled his voice with visible effort. "I wouldn't do that to you. Cara I'd never hurt you like that." Lorenzo looked stupefied and hurt at the question. "But you want her..." Again the ambiguity and Lorenzo’s frown deepened. "If yo
Sarah awoke to the sound of angry, hushed voices and blinked groggily as she tried to get her bearings. "I don't want you anywhere near her." Sarah heard Lorenzo hiss furiously and tried to concentrate on the drama unfolding in her doorway where she could see two large men silhouetted. One was unmistakably Lorenzo, and the other...she narrowed her eyes slightly, trying to focus a bit better. It looked like her father. "She's my daughter and I'll damned well see her when I want to," the other man blustered, confirming that he was, indeed, John Malik. "So that you can damage her more than you already have?" Lorenzo asked, almost shaking with rage. "I won't let you get close enough to hurt her like that again. And you can forget about getting that heir you want anytime soon. I refuse to give you that pleasure." "Well, then stay married to her until you do, or give up the vineyard," her father sneered. "The vineyard never meant as much to me as it did my father. You can hav