Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 39233 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 196(@200wpm)___ 157(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39233 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 196(@200wpm)___ 157(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
He had tasted her while she was lying on his office desk, naked from the waist down, and the door unlocked. She had also pleasured him on her knees when they were enjoying dinner in a private room at one of Boston's most popular restaurants—-but one that also happened to have panoramic untinted windows on all sides. The drive to her work from her apartment was only supposed to take ten minutes tops, but every damn day she would arrive at the diner, barely making it in time, and all because they had to take a detour along the way.
The same thing had happened tonight, with Massimo and Ysabel on their way to their rehearsal dinner, and they were scheduled to arrive on time as well...until he had caught her staring at him, with stars in her eyes.
"Too handsome for you?"
He had only meant it as a joke, but instead she had shaken her head. "I don't think 'handsome' is going to cut it." And then her voice had gotten a little shy as she admitted, "I think you look beautiful—-"
And that was it, Massimo thought. He had asked his chauffeur to drive in circles while he rewarded his fidanzata with two consecutive orgasms, and he would have gone for a third if not for their incessantly ringing phones, and an exasperated La Strega saying she would die of hunger if they were to delay another minute longer.
Life had been really good lately, Massimo conceded somewhat grudgingly. He could not even recall the last time it had been this good, and that was what disturbed him the most.
Had he really not loved Ynez at all, and that was why he could not recall having this good a time with her?
Had he truly been mistaken with everything he imagined her to be?
Sex with Ynez had been good - or at least it had been when they were still doing it. And anytime he had wanted to talk about business, Ynez had been able to converse with him at the same level, and he had liked that about her. It had made her all the more different from his mother.
But when he tried to remember the last time Ynez had made him laugh the way Ysabel often did—-his mind drew a totally complete blank.
What the hell?
They had been dating for five fucking years. Surely it was not possible that Ynez had never made him laugh?
"Massimo? What is it?" Ysabel's voice drew him back to the present, and he saw his family seated around him, all of them looking like they had no problem at all with the fact that just weeks ago, it was Ysabel's sister he had been dating.
That, of course, was not Ysabel's fault, but the fact that his family had never liked Ynez only made him feel guiltier about his previous relationship.
"You've been staring at me for some time," Ysabel whispered under her breath. "Do I have something on my face?"
Massimo's entire family could see that there was absolutely nothing on Ysabel's face...and not one of them was surprised to hear the reply of her fidanzato.
"Sì, ciliegina mia."
There was nothing Massimo liked more than having an excuse to touch his fidanzata, and Massimo's body turned rigid with need as he ran his tongue over an otherwise clean spot next to the corner of her lip. He heard her catch her breath, lifted his head and saw the stars in her eyes—-
Too damn adorable.
And so he could not resist doing the same thing all over again.
Cesare and Penelope, who were seated across the engaged couple, exchanged looks at how Massimo was acting towards his fidanzata. He had the opportunity to speak with his brother in private last night, and when he had asked Massimo bluntly if he had already fallen in love with Ysabel—-
"Just because I am also about to be a married man does not mean I have also lost my heart to my future bride."
His brother's tone had been sardonic, and the smile that had accompanied his words had not reached Massimo's eyes. Cesare had told his wife about it, and she in turn had told him what she observed from the night Ynez had unexpectedly dropped by at the Marchettis' estate.
"I think she loves him, Cesare. And I think he loves her, too. But Ynez..."
"He will never cheat on Ysabel, if that is what you're worried about."
"I believe you when you say he won't. But...there's more than one way for him to hurt her, and that's what worries me."
Penelope could see in the way her husband frowned that both of them were thinking of the same thing. It was also equally obvious that Cesare did not want to think of his brother capable of breaking Ysabel's heart...but such a thing seemed inevitable, with the famiglia enjoying their coffee when news suddenly broke out on the Internet about a drunk and wildly sobbing Ynez going live...as she begged for Massimo to come to her and talk.