By the end, Oscar joins along too. “Yeah, I only learned the last part. It’s the best part.”
I kiss their foreheads and grin at their cuteness. “So tell me, am I looking at the next champion soccer player and dance superstar?”
“You are! Daddy spoke to them and they both said we can join. Slonne starts dance after school next Tuesday—”
“No.” Slonne interrupts her brother. “She said next Thursday, remember?”
“Oh yeah, whoops. Yeah, Slonne has dance on Thursday and I have soccer on Wednesday.”
“I’m so happy for you both! I’ll be sure to talk to Daddy about it. Why don’t you both get ready for dinner now? I’ll come to help in a minute.”
Slonne shakes her head. “Daddy said he’ll help us and to let you finish getting ready.”
“Well, that was very kind of him. Okay. Tell him I’ll be finished soon, alright?”
They nod and skip out of the bedroom hand in hand.
Addilyn. My breath staggers. The final piece of the puzzle.
We’ll have her soon.
In the bathroom, I decide against my normal lipstick and choose the deep red one instead.
“Amore?” Giulio calls from outside the bathroom door, his husky voice shooting electric sparks across my body. “Sorry, I couldn’t come in earlier. I’m halfway through making dinner. Everything going okay?”
“It’s no trouble! Yes, I’m almost done. You can come in.”
“No, not yet.”
Snickering, I draw the lipstick away from my full lips. “Why not? It isn’t as if this is the night before we get married and you can’t see me or my dress.”
“That night was pure torture without you.”
“Ditto.” I rub my red lips together. The dress hugs me in all the right places, accentuating my legs and cinching my waist. “Is that why you picked white?”
“I guess that’s for me to know and you to find out.”
I’m having the time of my life and the night hasn’t even begun. For the first time in ages, I feel like myself. When I step out of the bathroom with a hand running down my smooth thighs, I find Giulio sitting on the edge of the bed wearing a dapper tuxedo. White tuxedo dress shirt, dark silk bow tie, a finely pinstriped black vest with matching slacks, and a hot blazer.
He looks elegantly sexy, as always.
“Oh, Dio.” His jaw visibly drops. “My god, Lencia. You look so stunning, you always do. Those red lips…your hair…wow.”
I run my hand through my short hair. I’ve curled it into loose waves tonight. “You really like it, huh?”
“I love it. I think you’re ready for world domination.”
I laugh at his comment. “If you say so.”
“It suits you so well. New beginnings, huh?”
“New beginnings.”
Giulio stands and motions for me to step forward. Head high, I stride towards him. We’re grinning from ear to ear as he takes my left hand and raises it over my head. “Spin around for me, baby.”
I do. Slowly.
“I love everything about what you’re doing. I know what it means and could not be prouder.”
Leaning forward, I steal a peck on his lips. It’s short, yet enough to signal just how grateful I am. Our grins deepen, proving difficult for me to wipe away the scarlet transfer on his lips. “Keep still, baby.”
“Impossible.” He kisses my thumb. “By the way, the kids helped me pick out the dress.”
“Aww, really?”
“True story.” Giulio’s hands depart from the dips of waist and I laugh when he softly spanks my ass before giving it a tight squeeze. Then he dips forward and in a sexual, deep voice he teases by my ear, “But those panties were all me. They’re mine. And don’t you forget it.”
“Oh I won’t, Mr. Giannotti.”
“Good.”
I’ll never forget this birthday.
Giulio has turned the luxurious rooftop deck on what is the fourth level into this mesmerizing wonderland. Flickering candles guide the path to the large rounded marble table. Adjacent to us are lounges, a hot tub, and a dreamy rooftop pool with views of the mountainside. Below, in our backyard, fairy lights wrap around the soaring trees, gold balloons align the fence, and everything I could have ever wanted is here underneath the pink hued sky.
All except for one.
Dinner outside our new home is something special to me. The rustic Italian food is divine and the orange flourless cake is to die for. Later, we switch to wine as the kids sip their hot chocolates. The conversation flows easily from topic to topic, and the outdoor gas heaters blanket us in sweet serenity. It’s simply perfect.
As the stars begin to show, we navigate the skies until we find ours. They’re impeccably aligned and the twins are completely mesmerized, just like they are every single time we show them…and every time I see them too.
“Why don’t you get Mommy’s gift?” Giulio says.
“Oh, yeah!” Oscar rushes down the outdoor marble steps and into the house with his sister hot on his tail.
Giulio rounds the table and moves his chair next to mine.
“Thanks for everything today. It’s truly been one of the greatest birthdays I’ve ever had.”
“Better than that Beyoncé concert years ago?”
“Smart move.” I nuzzle into his chest. “Better than the Beyoncé concert.”
“Helena will never forgive you for that answer.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself if I don’t choose you over Queen B. There’s no better healing than when we’re together.”
“I would do anything for you, and you know I’m not just saying that. You’re the only woman I want, and I’m glad we have overcome our version of hell.”
“Same.” I’m hot all over, loving the way our citric vanilla scents mix into one as my lips trail down his neck. “I could stay like this forever.”
Giulio’s hands pull me in closer. “Mrs. Giannotti, you’re playing a very dangerous game kissing my neck like that. The twins will be back any second.”
“Oh?” I smirk. He’s left to witness my hand glide down his chest, past the dark leather Tom Ford belt with a thin golden T-shaped buckle, and resting on his crotch. I give his already semi-hard cock a tight squeeze. “What is it you said about a dangerous game, Mister?”
“Don’t tempt me more than I already am,” he murmurs softly. “If we were alone alone, I would bend you over this table and take you from behind with that beautiful dress of yours bunched up to the sides. How’s that for participating in your dangerous game, Mrs. Giannotti?”
Hot…damn!
I arch a suggestive brow.
He mirrors the action and licks his lower lip.
Holy hell!
I’m all flustered and in need of him even more when Giulio kisses my lips with the same passionate urgency I’ve been craving all evening. The tip of his tongue gently slides against my lips and I part them. His tongue finds mine, softly devouring me into sweet ecstasy. Giulio takes me over the edge as I alternate between slowly stroking his length through his slacks and fast palm rubs.
“That feels so good.” He breathes against my lips. “Fuck, baby.”
My smile widens. “It’s my birthday, I can get away with it.”
Giulio is about to respond when the twins come running up the outdoor steps. We separate in a flash. My hand moves instantly to my wine glass while he groans in a mere whisper to me, “Dio mio, you tease. I’ll get you back. You just wait until later. Just wait, baby.”
Haha!
I can’t stop laughing inside at the way Giulio is looking at me—so hot and bothered.
Oh darling, I feel exactly the same…
I clear my throat and face the twins. “That was quick! But you didn’t need to buy me anything.”
Giulio leans forward, discreetly adjusting himself under the table, and winks at me. “You know that was never going to happen.”
He walks towards Oscar, blocking my view of
something they exchange. They step apart beaming. My heart seizes as the twins sit back down meanwhile Giulio helps me out of my chair.
What’s going on?
We stand in front of the outdoor table, hand in hand, and get caught in each other’s warm eyes. “Valencia…we were both fighting against an invisible enemy. Up until a few weeks ago, I thought it would be impossible to ever be with you again. The thought destroyed me.”
“The only way we can get through this is together.”
“And I am with you, Lencia. I want this for us. I want this for Oscar and Slonne. I want this for Addilyn. After everything we’ve been through, we deserve that silver lining. We deserve more than ever to find our baby and we will.”
There’s a pang in my chest at his words, our reality, and most importantly the rebirth of us. Emotions begin to hit me. Somewhere along the way, I began living again. I brought myself back up. I survived. This is my life. I deserved to live it right. I am worth it.
Giulio casts a glance towards the twins and turns to me with a sharp breath. “I met you at a very delicate time in my life. You came into my life and saved me. You’ve continued to save me ever since. For that, I’ll forever be grateful. You’re important to me. I love you more than life itself. With all my heart, I love everything about you.”
“I love you too.”
“Then let’s do this the right way, all over again. Valencia, I had the honor of falling in love with you twice over. Not many husbands can say that. Not many children can witness their parents fall back in love again and that is something purely special. I want to find Addilyn. I want this life with you, Oscar and Slonne. I cannot do it without you all. So…”
Giulio grins, dropping down on one knee.
Oh. My. God.
My hands tremble as he reaches inside one of his suit pockets. A teal box. He opens it and I understand perfectly what it is.
My Platinum diamond wedding ring.
It’s altered because now attached to the original ring is another thin band of emeralds. The color of hope and rejuvenation. It signifies the second time we’ve fallen in love. Our two stories. We are stronger. Wiser. More compassionate.
“Valencia Marie Giannotti, you’re the one for me. Will you be my wife again and together annul our separation?”
“Yes. YES!”
Giulio slips on my wedding ring and pulls open the second box, revealing his wedding band altered with a matching rim of emeralds among the brushed titanium. I slide it on him and the twins cheer loudly as we press our lips together.
Yes. Always yes.
Eagerly tugging his lapels, I show him just how much I mean it. It doesn’t matter how many times we kiss. Every time feels like the first. That fiery devotion. That pooled longing. That warmth in my heart delivered straight to him. Only to him. Always to him.
“I love you, Lencia.”
“I love you too, Giulio.”
Oscar and Slonne rush to us and we come together in a group hug.
We did it!
Our lips haven’t detached once since shutting Slonne’s bedroom door. We stumble into our bedroom as Giulio’s hands rush through my new hairdo, setting off a moan caught in my throat. It’s therapeutic the way one single kiss from this man has enough depth to pull me under.
“God, I will never get enough of you,” he whispers softly, slowly pulling off my dress and I grin as it hits the floor. Apart from my panties, I’m bare against his tuxedo. “Never.”
“Well, it’s a good thing we’re married then.”
“You see, I missed the sarcasm and those snarky replies too.”
“Wait until I’m in my dirty thirties.”
“Baby,” he whispers, “every day is a blessing with you.”
“You’re my blessing. You make me feel alive again. I used to feel as if I was constantly fighting to be the perfect wife, mother, sister, and friend… I felt so alone, Giulio…so alone.”
“You have to be there for yourself first” His soft hands slide against my breasts, his heat spreading with mine. I look at him with burning desire. So intimately. “Lencia, don’t worry about being the perfect anything. Perfection is an illusion. Nothing is perfect. All we can be is our best. That is fulfillment. But it begins and ends with you, darling.”
“I believe that now.”
I cannot stop kissing him.
Touching him.
Appreciating him.
He falls to his knees and his mouth brushes against my core. Giulio knows my body. He knows of that fire burning inside me as he grips my hips, close to the band of my lacy thong. He knows my body is a perfect reminder of Addilyn—I’m certain of it as his warm lips meet with my white cesarean scar, my heart thudding at the open mouthed kisses.
I’m not surprised that Giulio can sense exactly what’s going on with me, even when I fail to pay attention to it myself.
“I really missed you, Giulio,” I admit with a puff of air escaping me. My body softens naturally to his touch. “Everything about you.”
“I missed you too, baby. It’s time we stop blaming ourselves. We’ll make this right for our little girl too.” Giulio makes his point clear, meaning every single word. “I’m here now. I’m here with you. For you. Forever.”
Hot tears trail down my cheeks at just how perfect this moment is.
“Lencia, tell me where you want me.”
I tap my heart. “Right here.”
Giulio stands tall, overpowering my ability to think straight with his striking masculine Italian features. “I need you there too, amore.”
And then his lips are on mine. Hard. Warm. Desperate. I undo his bowtie and pull him closer with the ends. Giulio lifts me in one solid motion, and my legs wrap around his narrow waist.
Giulio has me slipping into his world.
One I never want to escape. Not when he lowers me on the soft Egyptian cotton sheets. Not when he coats every inch of my skin with sensual kisses as my smile widens, not when he stands at the foot of the bed, exerting his dominance as he peels off his pinstriped blazer and vest with his hooded eyes still locked on mine. And especially not when his shirt, leather shoes, and socks follow suit.
It’s so sexy watching him undress.
Waiting and anticipating.
Desire grows deep inside me when he sets down his bowtie on the bed beside me. I adore the way his toned arms flex when he bends and his hands press against the sheets by my waist.
“Not so fast.” My right heel softly meets his chest to push him back up. “More.”
Giulio smirks and clicks his tongue at my demand. “Of course, amore mio.”
I kick off my heels and I follow his hands working his belt. My hum urges Giulio to remove his slacks vigorously. The bruises along his chest and cheekbone have faded and are now projected against my own ribcage from falling down the stairs after the ransom call. But overall, I’m okay and in time they’ll fade away too.
Giulio strips me of every single dreadful memory.
This is my past, present, life, and future. With him.
The second time Giulio lowers himself on the bed, an alluring smolder is in his eyes. I love the way his crow’s feet deepen and those smile lines extend.
“You’re being demanding tonight, baby.” He spreads my thighs and hovers over me. I moan at the sensation of his skin on mine. “And I’m loving every single second of it. I love you, birthday girl.”
I smile in the low light, my hands caressing and swirling over his dimples of Venus. “I love you more. I love that tonight also marks seven years of knowing you. I love it all.”
His kisses from the crook of my neck to my breasts and down around the bruises.
It’s all a part of us. All a part of our story.
When Giulio comes back up, there’s a sly smirk on his lips. It has me ponder what’s going through his mind. “I wasn’t joking earlier when I said I’d get you back for teasing me like that.”
Oh, that!
I giggle at the mischief on his fac
e. “What are you going to do about it?”
Giulio bites his lip and nods towards the silk bowtie.
“You want me to…put it around my neck?” I ask.
Head shake. No.
“Put it on you?”
No.
“Uh…” I bite my lip, perplexed. Giulio’s looking at me with a warm, mesmerizing smile. Those hot lips are potent when he hands me the bowtie. The smooth material sways from side to side between my thumb and index finger. “I don’t know what else…”
“Remember Valentine’s Day this year?”
When my eyes snap to his, I find we’re both smirking. “You want to blindfold me again, Mr. Giannotti?”
“Baby, I want to bind your wrists together with this and blindfold you with something else for teasing me so damn hard.” His smooth hand fans out across my body, slowing by places I need him the most. “I want to forbid you from touching me tonight. I want to devour your sense of feeling. I want you to feel it. You’re the only one that sets me free.”
“Giulio?”
“Hmmm?”
“Shut your mouth and do it all to me.”
“Mmhmm, that I can do. That I can definitely do, Mrs. Giannotti.”
Our poetic last name becomes the antidote for our entire past and assurance for our future. The words Giulio whispers in my ear only intensify the warm sensation across my entire body as he puts an end to my wandering hands. We’re smiling as he binds my wrists above my head and collects the silk blindfold I had on this morning before he surprised me with this new home.
He winks at me seconds before I’m blinded.
“Safeword, baby?”
Through the darkness, I grin. “We won’t be needing one.”
“Oh, that confident, huh?” Giulio teases, and I can hear the smirk on his lips. “We’ll stick to red if you want to stop, okay?”
“Okay.”
I gasp at the sound of him literally ripping my panties off. “Giulio! Again?”
“Shhh, I’ll buy you another pair.”
“Oh, really now?”
“You better believe it, birthday girl.” Another chuckle rumbles in his throat and for a second I don’t feel his touch. His erotic, masculine cologne has my body craving him. “You’re so beautiful, Lencia. So goddamn beautiful.”
Merciful Vows: A Bittersweet Second Chance Romantic Suspense (The Giannotti World Book 1) Page 39