Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 93425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
I set Matteo down in the middle of the bed and he quickly cuddles up to Emma. Emma cracks an eye open, and a small, sleepy smile stretches over her face when she sees who it is.
“I’m sleeping with you and daddy tonight,” he tells her. My body freezes, and I watch for Emma’s reaction. She throws her arm around him, pulling him into her body and placing a kiss on his forehead before returning to sleep herself. In the safety of his mother’s arms, Matteo forgets about every worry he has of monsters watching him. I stand at the side of the bed, trying to figure out what I should do. I can either join the investigation to figure out if there had been a monster outside my son’s bedroom, or I can crawl into bed with my family.
Fuck it. My men don’t need me micromanaging when I know Davide has already called Andy in to lead things. There’s a reason Andy is the cousin I’m closest to and also the man who will become my second in command when I take over for my father. I trust him with my life. I trust him with the safety and well-being of my child.
Decision made, I crawl under the cover and stretch an arm across Matteo so I can lay it on Emma before succumbing to sleep.
Chapter Thirty-Three- Emma
Enzo is staring at me with fuck-me eyes.
It’s highly inconvenient when we’re sitting at the table with his mother and sisters. Bianca is joining us to go over plans for the engagement party and wedding. Caterina and Alessia are both enthusiastically throwing out ideas while Mia, Enzo’s youngest sister, is more reserved. She has shown little interest in the entire process. Instead, she sits with Matteo and colors pictures with him. She has quickly become his favorite aunt, and I think that it’s because she matches him in calmness.
“Red is classic. It’s romantic,” Alessia argues. She’s been pushing hard for us to include red in our color pallette. I never realized that you had to come up with colors for your wedding to revolve around.
“She’s a redhead. We’re not doing red-on-red. Rich blues, greens, and beige,” Caterina argues back. They’ve been going back and forth for a while, and no one has bothered to butt in between them. I’m tempted to remind them it’s my wedding, but I don’t think it would do any good.
Enzo’s ignoring them. I can feel the heat of his gaze on me when I’m not looking directly towards him. It feels dirty. Even though he isn’t doing anything inappropriate, it feels wrong that this is happening in front of his family.
My libido has all but done missing since I had a kid. Not that I had a lot of chance to exercise it beforehand. I’d just never felt the need. Not the way I do now. Every look from Enzo, his soft touches, and the words that come out of his mouth. They all have an effect on me. It’s embarrassing how easily he turns me on.
He’s pleased with himself. I told him that sleeping together was a mistake, but he hasn’t let that deter him. Strategically placed touches that seem innocent, his bedroom eyes staring at me from across the table, it’s all a part of a ruse to get me back into bed with him. So I ignore him, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing me squirm.
“Sorry I’m late,” Bianca says. She approaches the table and gives everyone but Enzo a brief hug, me included. It catches me off guard, but I think I compose myself before I look like an idiot. “What do we have so far?”
“I have most of the engagement party taken care of already. We mainly have to complete the guest list and make sure the menu is correct.”
“And the wedding will happen maybe in the spring, maybe in the fall, maybe next winter,” Mia says. This catches Enzo’s attention.
“I’m not waiting until next winter to get married.”
Alice chuckles at her son, shaking her head. “But winter has such amazing color combinations we could do!” Caterina whines.
Enzo glares at her until she pouts with her arms across her chest. Alessia smirks in victory as she crosses winter-wedding off the giant whiteboard they have brought into the kitchen. There’s more wedding talk, I throw in my opinion occasionally. At one point, Enzo steps in again to remind his sister’s that it’s my wedding, not theirs.
“Matteo, do you want to go see grandpa today?” I ask him after we finish for the day. I don’t know if we actually have made any progress on the actual wedding. Originally, I wasn’t planning on asking if he wanted to see my father today, but if I don’t get away from Enzo, he’s looking at me like he might want to eat me alive.