by Fiona Murphy
All I can do is stare at him as he walks out of the room naked. He comes back with a large hand towel. I can tell he’s cleaned himself. The towel is steaming hot; slowly, gently he runs it over me, cleaning me and massaging my legs. “I think you should lie in bed for a little longer.”
“If I do I’ll fall asleep. I’ll give it a minute though.”
“Sounds good.” He starts dressing; it takes only a little longer than it did for him to undress. I’m sad when he’s clothed again. Besides his slightly ruffled hair, you would never guess what he was doing less than ten minutes ago. A few steps and he’s standing over me. His finger runs over my swollen lips. “I can’t kiss you, if I do I won’t leave.” I catch his hand and press a kiss against his finger. “I’ll call you as soon as I put out this fire.” I nod as I let him go.
16
Chloe
It takes a while to get up enough energy to get out of the bed. Looking down on the rumpled bed, I blush. I don’t bother trying to tidy it up. The charity place took everything but the beds with their bedding due to concerns of bedbugs. The bedding was supposed to be rounded up and donated to a recycling place for textiles. I roll up the covers and toss them in the corner, I’ll throw them in the huge dumpster on the way out because there is no doubt what happened on them.
Getting dressed isn’t quite as easy. My blouse doesn’t want to close at the bottom after Enzo tore it open. A goofy grin comes over me at how desperate he was, the look in his eyes when he saw me naked. Even though I hated the way he tossed the demand for at least two kids at me, I’m finally convinced my appeal isn’t just my willingness to pump out his babies.
I manage to make it out of the house without running into anyone. Back home I’m almost to my room when Russell opens his door, holding a bat.
“What the hell are you doing home?” we both yell in unison.
Russell drops the bat. “You slut! You had morning sex.”
“Don’t call me a slut, slut. You have sex written all over you.”
“Hi, I’m Adam. We’ve met before.” I blink a few times at the blond Adonis I remember from a Christmas party and business dinner. He’s wearing a pair of boxers and nothing else.
“Hi, I’m just going to get changed and I’ll leave you two the place.”
“Don’t even try it, missy. What happened?”
I eye Adam. “I’ll talk to you later. I promise.”
Russell pouts, then tugs Adam with him into his room. “We need to get going too. We’re supposed to be in a client meeting, but he cancelled. It should have been over an hour ago. If we’re any later getting back to the office the office gossips will chew us up and spit us out.”
In my room, I snag my robe and towel then go to take a shower. I don’t want to shower but the scent of Enzo on me is driving me nuts, making me hot and greedy for him all over again.
Running my washcloth over my body, I remember Enzo doing the same thing. I didn’t expect him to be so sweet, so caring. If I hadn’t been in love with him before, I would have fallen completely and utterly into it in that moment. Closing my eyes, I sigh. Love...god it was scary, absolutely fucking terrifying and at the same time so right there was no choice in it, not from the beginning, definitely not now. It was like jumping off the Sabatini building, before I decided to let go and trust in Enzo, I was jumping blind and I had nothing but my gut to tell me I wouldn’t slam into the concrete. Today, the moment when we locked eyes, it wasn’t just my gut anymore, it was Enzo. I have no doubt we’re going to hit some bumps, but I’m finally not afraid anymore.
***
Chloe
I’m barely settled into my chair when my office phone rings. “Hello?”
“Find the multifamily property you want, up to three million dollars. My lawyer has an opening in an hour at eleven, don’t be late. He’ll go over the prenup with you and handle the purchase of the property to be included in the prenup. You can take it with you to have your own lawyer look it over. At one thirty you meet with the dressmaker. She’s not happy with me at my insistence she has six weeks, but she promised it will be ready by the seventeenth for the wedding day on the eighteenth, so if she’s bitchy it’s about me, not you.”
I’m stuck on a prenup being drawn up so quickly, until he says the eighteenth. “Six weeks?” I check the calendar. Is he for real?
“It’s the soonest I can take time off for more than a few days. If I give you any longer you’ll change your mind.”
“I—where, how?”
“I would prefer we do it at the house outside in the back. I want to keep it small, family and a few friends. Our backyard will fit twenty to thirty people easily, or we can do it on my boat which can fit two hundred, but I still want it small. I’m working on getting a wedding planner, the few I’ve dealt with aren’t budging from leaving the couples they are working with. Get with Bethany, she can take you out to my boat. Just don’t be late to the lawyer. I have to go I have another call I need to take.”
I’ve barely put my phone down before it rings again. Without thinking I answer. “Can I see you in my office?”
“Yeah, yes, okay.” Why did Dante sound so serious?
There’s no question if Gretchen or Hannah heard, as they’re both grinning wide as I pass them. I don’t bother to knock. Dante and Cesare are in the sitting area. They both have huge grins on their faces, flashing their dimples. Oh thank god.
Dante envelops me in a hug. “I’m happy for you both. I knew it. I told Che.”
I’m surprised but don’t hesitate to hug Cesare back. “Congratulations, to you both.” Cesare guides me onto the love seat as he sits in one of the club chairs. “In complete disclosure, I advised Enzo against getting involved with you.” A hand goes up. “You might not be aware Enzo has a history of doing exactly what I tell him not to, except in business, and sometimes even then he doesn’t listen. From the beginning I thought you are an excellent fit for Enzo. I’m sincerely happy Enzo pulled his head out of his ass and picked someone who is his equal and cares more for him than his money.”
“Why does he always do the opposite of what you say?”
A single shoulder goes up. “I’m not sure if it’s simply being the older brother or what.”
“Or maybe how when Dad was gone, you stepped right into his shoes without hesitation,” Dante murmurs. “I was used to it but Enzo, not so much.”
“I had no idea.” Cesare frowns.
“Come on, Che. He only said ‘you aren’t Dad’ about a dozen times a week. I was relieved when he went into the Army because I wasn’t sure how much longer we could all last in a one-bedroom apartment without some bones getting broken.”
His frown deepens. “I was only—”
“I know, he does too. Now I think it’s habit more than anything else.”
“Regardless, I wanted to be honest with you in case Enzo said something.”
“Thank you, I appreciate it. I’m wondering what your uncle and cousin’s response will be.”
“What about Tony and Dominic?” Cesare’s eyes narrow.
I tell him about the dinner and what Dominic said. Cesare and Dante share a look; I wish I knew what it meant.
“Don’t worry about Tony and Dominic. I’ll talk to them.”
“I just want Enzo—”
“Hey, like Che said, don’t worry about Tony and Dominic. They’re cautious, it’s in their DNA. Me and Che know you better than they could have gotten out of one dinner. Now, can you do me a favor and go see Bethany today? She’s dying to see your—he didn’t give you a ring yet? That’s not like Enzo.”
Remembering the ring I sent back to him by messenger service, I still don’t dare tell them Enzo asked once before. “It’s not a big deal. Are you sure you don’t need me?”
“You’re good. Enzo said he had you scheduled for a meeting with a lawyer pretty soon anyway. Try not to take offense on the prenup, if he didn’t have one, he’d never hear the end of it from his investors. It really is just bu
siness.”
“It’s not a big deal. Thanks.” And I mean it. I’m not offended by the prenup, but I am worried Enzo might try and get sneaky with it.
***
Enzo
I bring the meeting to an end. Finally the fire is officially out, and I’m not going to lose eighty-seven million dollars because of human error. A few messages are waiting, but none of them what I’m waiting for. I return the only one I want to.
“Enzo, congratulations on your engagement. You chose well in Ms. Hutchins. She’ll give you many beautiful children and even more gray hair, and both will make you less miserable. Dominic safe from a bloody nose now?”
“For now.”
Tony laughs. “Excellent, blood ruins silk.”
“So you’ll be attending this wedding?”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Hanging up, I wonder if it was what he and Dominic said that had Chloe changing her mind. I doubt it. It wasn’t until I told her I would sell the house that her attitude changed. Actually, it was right before that, when she blew my damn mind by going down on me in the foyer with a basement full of people. My cock jumps all over again at the memory of how fucking good her mouth was, the way she hummed in pleasure, the smell of—enough. Any more and I’ll be ready to come just thinking of it.
Pauline bangs into my office. “What did you do?”
“What?”
“Your brand-new fiancée entered the building in tears. You got about thirty seconds.” She slams the door behind her.
Checking, there aren’t any messages from my lawyer. The terms of the prenup are more than fair. What the hell was Chloe crying about?
For the second time today my door bangs against the wall. Her face is puffy but the tears are gone. “A settlement of five hundred thousand dollars per kid. Are you fucking serious?”
Goddamn it, I thought she was different. It’s Sheryl and the prenup all over again. She had demanded a million per kid; I don’t know why I thought Chloe would be different. The whole reason why she was saying yes was the house and the kids. “I’m not paying a penny more.”
“More? What is the matter with you? For fuck’s sake, Enzo, I don’t want our kids wondering if the only reason they’re here is because I wanted more money from you. Take it the fuck out of the prenup or I swear to god this is all over now.” She takes the thick prenup out of her briefcase and throws it at me.
I barely manage to catch it before it hits my face. Relief fills my entire body, replacing the tension. “All right, breathe. The lawyer should have told you some of the things were negotiable.”
“That’s not the way he made it sound. You’re such an idiot, fifty thousand a year if I divorce you before we hit ten years, but a million a year for every year after ten years. If you think that’s the only thing preventing me from divorcing your ass, you are not paying attention.” She shakes her head. “Where’s my ring?”
Stiffening at the reminder, I shrug. “I threw it away. You didn’t want it.”
“You’re lying.”
“You said no.”
“I said not yet. You did not throw a million-dollar ring away, Enzo Sabatini. Give it to me.”
“How did you know it cost a million dollars?”
“I looked it up. I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry, I didn’t fall in line with all your devious, scheming plans and say yes to marrying you after knowing you for all of six days. It took me two whole weeks and a lot of sleepless nights. Stop being an asshole.”
Shrugging, I lean back in my chair. “I don’t have it means I don’t have it.”
“Just for that, I’m going all the way up to two nine on the multifamily even though I would have been happy with a one six property. Get that to your lawyer, I won’t sign it without it taken out.” She slams the door so hard it shudders in the frame.
I barely manage a deep breath before Pauline opens the door, then leans on the doorframe. “You could have told her that you told me to hide it from you until the house was finished so you wouldn’t do anything stupid, again.”
“No, I’m still not sure I want her to have it yet.”
“You big ol’ baby. Fine, be that way. But you at least better give it to her when she has your first baby. Anything later and I’ll give it to her myself.”
“As always, your advice is unnecessary and unappreciated.”
***
Chloe
“Tell me I’m doing the right thing, Bethany. Please tell me I’m not making the biggest mistake of my life, that this isn’t going to be a complete and utter clusterfuck but worse because there will be kids involved.” All of my earlier calm was completely destroyed by that fucking prenup. What if I was wrong, and it was just really awesome sex?
“You’re doing the right thing. You are not making a mistake at all, let alone the biggest mistake of your life. Enzo is straight-up, kiss-all-his-billions-goodbye crazy about you.”
I stop pacing the length of the living room in the under-renovation home Bethany is having fun planning. “Are you sure it’s not just how I want a half a dozen kids as of yesterday that he loves? I mean he’s done this once before.” I think about it for a long minute. “If I tell you something, do you swear not to tell anyone? Dante included.”
Her eyes go wide. “Not tell Dante?”
“Especially Dante. Please, I need to know, but I’m pretty sure Enzo will hate me forever if he finds out I told anyone this.”
“Oh god, you’re killing me. Now I have to know. Okay, I swear. I’ll take it to my grave.” She raises her hand.
“Enzo actually asked me to marry him last Monday with a ring and everything.”
“Holy fucking shit! Are you serious? Like you guys met on Tuesday, and he asks Monday after you threw water in his lap on Saturday and he swore on Sunday he wasn’t interested in you anymore?” I nod. “So wait, have you been engaged all this time?”
“Of course not! I couldn’t say yes because of everything you just said. Hello, not even a full week, and him being a complete fucker.”
“You said no?” Her astonishment reminds me of Enzo’s face that day.
“I said not yet. Would you have said yes to Dante that soon?”
I’m jealous of the way her smile lights up her whole face. “Oh yeah. I didn’t know what I wanted, I just knew I wanted Dante. Whatever way I could get him, and if he asked I would have screamed my yes. He bought my engagement ring only three weeks after we met. It’s just...” She sighs. “I know it sounds crazy, but once you know you just know, all the way down to the marrow in your bones. I couldn’t have said no to him.” When she looks up at me, her smile disappears. “But not everyone is the same, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I mean I can understand why you might have said no if you weren’t sure.”
Shaking my head, “That’s exactly what Enzo said. I didn’t say no. I said not yet. I was scared, okay? I’ve never wanted anyone the way I wanted Enzo. No one ever made me feel the things he’s made me feel, like lust, giddiness, contentment, but then there was the anger, and the pain and the complete exasperation. I couldn’t walk away from him even when he gave me every reason to. I wanted to say yes, but I was too afraid I wasn’t being... I don’t know, it seemed crazy until the moment when he told me he was going to sell the house. That he was going to walk away from it, from me. It hit me I could actually lose him. I told him to ask me again, but he wouldn’t. So I asked him, even though a part of me was still terrified I was just a repeat of the Sheila thing to get the family he wanted.”
“Wow.” With an unladylike snort Bethany tosses her long hair over her shoulder. “The whole Sheila thing, and you bear no resemblance whatsoever. For the first time, in the four years I’ve known him, Enzo is...I don’t know how to explain it... like he’s excited, happy is too beige of a word to use. When he looks at you I expect a cartoon heart to start pounding out of his chest. He told Dante he made a mistake marrying Sheila and he’d never get married again. Not only does he want to marry yo
u, he asks you less than a week after meeting you.
“I’m going to let you in on a Sabatini trait I’m sure you think you’ve seen and know, but woman, you have no idea. They are all about control; their need for control over themselves and those around them makes up 99 percent of their DNA. These men are downright Machiavellian in the way they plot to get the end result they want. I’m going to say he had to know there was no way you’d say yes, whether he gave you the best orgasm you ever had in your entire life or not, after knowing him only one week and with him being such an asshole. I’m also going to guess he got the ring and laid all these plans, but then he saw you and it all went out the window. For that to happen means Enzo is straight-up, kiss-all-his-billions-goodbye crazy about you.”
Pathetic, I’m so pathetic; I sag onto the other end of the couch. “For real? Don’t tease me.”
“I swear on this gorgeous baby cooking inside me. I’m going to give you some tips: he wants the control, give it to him when it’s something minor. If it’s big then stand your ground, he’ll respect that too, but on the small things it will soothe his savage beast when you do. An offshoot of the control is the Sabatinis are super protective, okay, overprotective. You think it’s controlling, but it’s really that they want to wrap you up in cotton wool and keep the world from so much as giving you a headache. So, good luck dealing with that. It’s sweet but also will drive you clear up the wall at times.”
Hmm.... I haven’t seen any of that yet. “He told me he threw the ring away. Do you think he really threw it away?”
She considers the question. “I wouldn’t put it past him. As much as I love him, I would never want to anger him. I’ve never seen him angry, and I hope I never do. I promise, by the time you guys get married I will have done all I can to impart my long and varied knowledge of Enzo and the Sabatini men. For now, let’s get to the fun part of planning a wedding. You want to do it at the house or Enzo’s boat? I have pictures of the boat and we can go check it out. Enzo bought his boat to compete with Dante’s boat. I mean they are actually super yachts that are over three hundred feet long, so calling them a boat is like calling a tiger a kitty.”
