He answered almost immediately, the sound of the casino around him. “Hey, Beautiful.”
“Is this a bad time?”
“It’s never a bad time.” The noise died away, and he was suddenly surrounded by silence. “I hadn’t heard from you, so I started to worry.”
“I was just busy…weddings are crazy.”
“Barsettis know how to party. It’s almost three.”
“Yes, we know how to drink too.”
He chuckled. “I like that. I like that you drink a lot but barely get drunk. Classy.”
There was that word again. Classy. That was how he described me to Ruby. That word meant more to me than he realized. It reminded me of his loyalty, of his devotion to only me. “I guess I’ve built up a high tolerance.”
“What time will you be home tomorrow?” He said the word home, like that penthouse belonged to both of us.
I considered telling him about my mother, but I feared that might upset him. I warned him not to threaten my family again, and if I had to listen to it one more time, I’d slap him so hard his cheek would be red for a week. “Around one.”
He growled, like that was too late. “I want you here in the morning.”
“I’m having brunch with my family.”
He growled again. “You’ve been there all weekend. What more do you guys possibly have to talk about?”
“Wine,” I joked. “We can always talk about wine.”
He sighed into the phone. “I miss you. I hate that I miss you so much.”
I hated myself for the exact same thing. “I know…”
He was quiet, just listening to me breathe. “You must be tired, Beautiful. I’ll let you go to sleep.”
Against my better judgment, I blurted out something I’d been keeping from him. It was supposed to stay a secret. I even tried to keep it a secret from myself. “I can’t sleep without you…” I closed my eyes as the waves of humiliation rolled over me. I’d become so sickeningly dependent on this man. I needed him for safety, for rest, for pleasure—for everything. I kept telling myself he was just some guy I was sleeping with, but that was a lie I couldn’t tell anymore.
He was quiet, absorbing my words like a sponge.
“I’m exhausted, but I won’t be able to sleep tonight…”
“That’s why you always lie on the couch…” He said the words to himself more than he said them to me.
“Yeah. Because I wait for you to come home.”
“Beautiful…” He didn’t say anything else, like there were no words to describe his thoughts.
I was embarrassed that my heart was beating on my sleeve. I used to be so cold to him, but now I couldn’t keep up my poker face any longer. Now, I was just blurting things out and acting like an idiot.
He finally said something. “Now I miss you even more.”
6
Bosco
My men started to follow her once again when she entered the city district. They kept their distance until she was far away from her family’s property. The Barsettis might be living in peace and quiet, but that didn’t mean they were ignorant of their surroundings. If twelve men were following a member of their family, they would notice.
My body finally relaxed once she was under my jurisdiction again. Even though there was no one in the universe who wanted to hurt Carmen, I liked knowing she was protected at all times. Since she was my woman, she was the queen of my life. She deserved to have everything a queen possessed, including my obsession, my money, and my private guard.
Now I just had to wait for her to come home.
Fifteen minutes later, my men notified me of her arrival. Her belongings were placed in the elevator with her, and she rose to my floor. The doors gave a slight beep when they opened, and there she was.
Beautiful.
A soft smile spread across her lips when she looked at me, like it’d been years since we last saw each other, not days. She grabbed her bag from the floor and carried it inside, her pretty eyes still trained on me. She was in skintight jeans and a dark blue sweater. Brown boots were on her feet. Other than her beauty, the thing I noticed most was the diamond necklace around her throat. Flawless and vibrant, those diamonds were of the highest quality. She didn’t have that when she left, and I certainly didn’t give it to her. The pendant was in the shape of a rose, which was fitting for someone as soft as a rose petal.
She unzipped her brown boots and left them on the floor before she finally moved into me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and then jumped up, knowing I would catch her. Her ankles wrapped around my waist, and she secured herself in place so she could be eye level with me.