I leaned down to kiss her, nuzzling her jawline and pushing her head back until she was leaning on Liam’s chest. “You’re right, you know?”
“Right about what?” She asked, her voice breathy and light as my fingers traced up and down her sides. Cormac tangled his fingers in her hair, holding her in place as she arched her back, pushing her perfect breasts into my chest.
“You deserve our respect.”
Cormac pulled her hair hard enough that her eyes watered. “Except in bed, where we’ll treat you like the slut you are for us.”
Her eyes glazed over as her breath turned ragged. “Deal?” I whispered in her ear.
“Deal,” she answered.
More than a few minutes later, we filed into Antonio Russo’s study, where the lawyers and the Russo family waited for us. A rare smile lit up Antonio’s face as Ginevra walked into the room, her hair a little bit mussed, her lips bruised and swollen, my arm around her waist, tugging her into my side. Antonio leaned down to Patti, who sat beside him on the couch, and whispered in her ear.
Patti’s eyes flicked to her daughter, and she took Antonio’s hand. “You should be proud of her, Tony.”
Antonio’s smile turned proud. “I am. You know that, right Ginevra? I am so damn proud of what you built in California, and the strength you’ve brought back to Yorkfield.”
Ginevra’s eyes widened. “Thank you, Papà. That means a lot.” I kissed the top of her head, and released her to join her father at his desk where Olivia, our lawyer, and Pietro, Antonio’s lawyer, waited for her. Ginevra propped open her tablet and dialed in Cheryl.
On the desk were three copies of the legal documents that would bind us to the Russos forever. The stacks were tabbed where each of us had to sign, and one by one, we flipped through the pages, initialing at the bottom of each one, signing where the tabs indicated.
Antonio was quick, as were we. We’d been over these documents so many times in the lead up to Sofia’s grand revelation, I was confident of their contents. Ginevra less so. She scanned each page with sharp eyes as she signed, making sure her last-minute additions and changes were integrated into the final documents, occasionally conferring with Cheryl.
A third of the way through, she stopped, reading carefully, then rereading. She flipped to the appendices that listed her father’s businesses and properties, at least, the ones that we were buying stakes in, then flipped back, and continued to sign. At long last, she finished the stack of papers that required all of our signatures, and we breathed a sigh of relief. We were investors in the Russos’ businesses, to the tune of ten million dollars.
Olivia placed two more stacks on the desk. This was our poly marriage agreement—a prenup, a business agreement, and designations of next-of-kin, all in one. As with the contracts with the Russos, Ginevra read through them page by page. She’d seen the contract before, but not the charts of businesses and assets at the end. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw how extensive our operations were, but she didn’t share her thoughts, not with the Russos in the room. Ginevra was ours, now, and she knew where her loyalties needed to lie.
When the four of us finished signing, Olivia packed up all the stacks, including Ginevra’s, promising to overnight a copy to Cheryl.
“A toast,” Patti proposed. “To our newlyweds.”
“Or newly somethings,” Luca added, grinning, unable to resist teasing us about our unusual relationship.
She handed each of us a champagne flute, while Antonio popped open the bottle.
“To the future,” I proposed, raising my glass. As they echoed my words, I looked down at Ginevra, allowing the rosy tint of optimism about the future to cloud my vision for a moment. Maybe this could work. Maybe we had a shot at a house full of laughter, a house full of family.
I pulled Ginevra to her feet and kissed her gently, brushing my lips over hers, hoping she understood how meaningful this moment was to me. When I pulled back, her eyes were shining with emotion. Maybe she did get it. Liam tugged on her, his kiss much more energetic as he wound his fingers in her hair and plundered her mouth.
Cormac and I angled our bodies to give her some privacy when he wrapped his fingers around that lush ass and pulled her into him. God, Liam could be a real asshole sometimes. By the time Cormac yanked her away, she was flushed and panting.
Ginevra and Cormac smiled at each other, an unusual softness in both of their gazes. “Sweet Ginevra, there’s no turning back now.”
Her smile turned wicked. “Dear Lord, I hope not.”
He bent his head down to hers and brushed his lips over her cheek, before pulling her in for a kiss that was slow and sweet. He’d met his match in her. We all had.
“So when’s the wedding?” Sofia asked, grinning widely as she watched the four of us moon over each other.
Ginevra exhaled with a puff of her lips, leaning her face on Cormac’s chest. “I don’t want to plan a wedding.”
Patti raised an eyebrow. “The community is going to need a big visible sign of your commitment to one another if you want them to treat this as anything other than a business arrangement. Which is, I think, what you boys need out of this arrangement more than anything else.”
Our wife twisted her lips in frustration, but nodded at her mother, ceding the point. Patti was right, of course. We’d paid a fortune for Ginevra so we could reap the benefits of the Russo name, and that meant continuing to legitimize our relationship.
Sofia laughed, while we guided our wife, our partner, over to a sofa. “Let me handle it for you, big sister.”
Ginevra’s eyebrows shot up. “You want to plan my wedding?”