Page 78 of Stolen Vows
Leo freezes, every muscle in his shoulders seeming too tense. He draws back. “What?”
“Well, yeah.” A blush crawls up my face. “It’s kind of hard to be married and live in different states. Do…?” My breathing grows ragged as panic threads through my insides. “Do you not want to be married anymore?”
“No.”
My eyebrows arch, offense stabbing me in the gut.
I blink, tears springing to my eyes immediately, and then blink again to keep them at bay. It doesn’t work, and they spill down my cheeks anyway. I shove at his chest. “Then why are you even here, Leo? All this effort, and you’re just giving up?—”
He cuts me off with another kiss, and I let out a small “tch!”of surprise. This time, his tongue delves past my lips, warming me in places I forgot about.
When we break apart, he smiles. It’s big and wide andfreeing.
“You can’t get rid of me that easily. I just don’t want to go back to Boston.”
“Oh.” I frown, considering this. “How come?”
“There’s nothing tying me to that city anymore. I’ve resigned my position within what’s left of the family, and I have no desire to go back. I’d much rather spend my time going where you go and watching you flourish.”
I scoff. “Yeah, well, that’s gonna be kind of hard to do without the orchid. I don’t think my boss will promote me without it.”
“Fuck that guy,” Leo says. “I’ll buy you a lab, and you can run it yourself. Hire your own employees and do your own research without time constraints or authoritarian oversight. You don’t need the flower, and you never did,stellina. You are a star in your own right, and…well, that’s why I fell in love with you. What was maybe just one night for you back then was seven years for me, and I hope you’ll let me stay by your side for the foreseeable future so that I can prove it to you.”
“What will you do? If you’re not a don?”
“I don’t know. Leaving the Mafia isn’t exactly a thing people do, but…I’ll figure it out.” He kisses my fingertips. “From here on, I won’t live a life that endangers you in any way. No matter what I have to do, I will keep you safe for as long as you’ll have me.”
My heart does somersaults in my chest, but I’m not really sure what to say. I open my mouth, and nothing comes out.
Not waiting for an answer, he climbs on the bed, kicks off his shoes, and wraps an arm around my waist.
When he takes a piece of my hair between two fingers, I gasp. “It’s so short!”
He twirls it, then brushes it against the tip of my nose. “I like it. Suits you.”
“I don’t think you’ll be able to wrap it around your cock for a long time.”
His deep belly laugh catches me off guard, and I stare up at him, awestruck, as his chest rumbles with the sound. Those smoky eyes cool off, as if being this close to me, beinghere, removes some of the pressure he’s been feeling.
Slowly, I lift my hand, turn his face down, and kiss him thoroughly.
Deeply.
Maddeningly.
We’re breathing hard when we pull away this time, and I return his toothy smile. “I think I love you back.”
“You think?” He snorts. “Not exactly inspiring confidence, wife.”
“Yeah, well.” I poke him in his side, earning a wince. “You’ve got a lot to prove to me. Luckily, going where I go should give you plenty of time to do that.”
“Oh myGod, are you two done fucking yet?”
Genevieve stands in the doorway in a sleek pencil skirt and deep-red blouse, startling us. Her black hair is pinned back, and while she looks as devastating as she did at the auction, there’s a slightly different air to her here. Something more formal and reserved, even as she looks us over with a hint of playful disgust.
“You wish we were fucking,” Leo mutters, kissing my forehead.
“That’s true. I’m a little offended I wasn’t invited to the show, given everything I’ve done for you.”
