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Time loses all meaning when Leo and I explore the hidden space between the rooms. My hair won’t stop standing on end, but there’s also a little zing of excitement that warms my blood. This feels more akin to an action movie than my real life, but I guess I could say that about a lot of things that happened these last few months.
All the best parts feel like they were plucked from feel-good movies and romcoms. And all the bad parts, well, I try not to think of those.
My footsteps slow as we approach another one of those cutout peep holes. So far, we’ve seen a handful of them carved into the walls, allowing us glimpses inside various rooms. I wonder what it looks like from inside the room. Are the peep holes situated over the eyes of some renaissance-style painting? If someone looked hard enough, would they see me watching?
It’s a theory I’m keen to test when I step up to the little fishbowl glass orbs carved into the wall. Murmurs can be heard through the wall, too low for me to make much of anything out.
“Not a sound, baby. I think these halls will hold our sound, but I don’t want to test that theory just yet.” Leo’s lips brush my ear with each word. It’s barely given breath, it’s so quiet.
We’re pressed against the wall, my eyes peering through a sort of peep hole. It has a wide lens, so it offers a broader view of the room. Which is good, because there’s an enormous table situated dead center. I can’t quite see everyone seated, but I can see Matteo sitting at the head and Dante standing sentry behind him.
I press my ear against the wall, right next to the peephole and if I strain my hearing, I can just make out the murmurs of the men inside the room. What I hear sends a chill down my spine.
4
MADDIE
“I think we should get married.”
The clink of cutlery scraping against plates stops at my statement. I fork a bite of Matteo’s pasta into my mouth and take my time savoring the garlic and oregano on my tongue. In another life, he could’ve been a world-renowned chef.
I look around at each of my men and smile before twirling another forkful of pasta. It takes everything inside of me not to smirk or outright laugh at their expressions. They’ve all shut it down, their reaction so swift, it would be alarming if I didn’t know it’s a conditioned response. Even Leo’s normally open face is shuttered.
Aries’s gaze feels like an afternoon in the Florida sun—scorching and intense. Dante’s face might as well be carved from stone, and if I didn’t see his eyes crinkle ever so slightly in the corner, I might’ve been worried about his reaction.
I take it back. Matteo’s expression is akin to him jumping up and going streaking. He stares at me all wide eyed with his fork frozen halfway to his mouth. He looks like an adorable goldfish, his lips parting and closing a few times. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so stunned, and considering I dropped some pretty big news last week, that’s saying something.
A tiny part of me that I would deny if ever asked, sort of revels in the fact that I even can shock these men. They’ve seen and done things that would make even the most criminal of men cower.
Matteo recovers quickly and leans forward, placing his fork down. “If this is about the baby, Cherry—”
I cut my gaze to Matteo. “It’s not.”
Aries slides his palm on my leg underneath the table, his long fingers reaching either side of my lower thigh in a gentle squeeze. “Talk to me, Raven.”
I set my fork down and give Aries my attention, praying he can read my determination and love in my gaze. I always thought it was odd, bullshit even, every time I read about a couple falling in love and seeing affection and love shine from each other’s eyes. And if I hadn’t met them, I might still feel the same way.
But it’s not bullshit.
Every time Aries stares at me with his borderline obsessive intensity or Leo with his persistent mischief. Dante with his quiet confidence and Matteo with his unadulterated possessiveness.
They express it differently, but each of them look at me as if they’re a meadow of sunflowers and I’m their sun. Their devotion seeps into every little thing they do, and it’s one of the reasons I’m not nearly as scared about bringing another little life into this world. I know with every fiber of my bruised and healing soul that their devotion will expand to include this baby—our child.
“I think we should get married because I love you.” I look at each of them, pausing so they can read my sincerity. “Each of you. Irrevocably and without shame. This is just a natural extension of that.”
No one responds, and I think, not for the first time, I’ve stunned them. I reach for my water glass and bring it to my lips.
“Plus, I know you’ll never be boss if you’re not married.” I shrug and take a sip.
Matteo cuts a look at Leo, but he’s too busy staring at me with his bright green gaze. “You sly little fox.”
I let the smirk I’ve been holding back slip free and take another sip before I set it back down. “Leo and I did some . . . exploring today. Did you know that there are tunnels between the walls in your father’s house?”
“You took her between the walls?” Matteo’s eyebrows fly to his hairline. He makes it sound like some sort of sex club, which honestly sounds like a voyeur’s paradise. Especially for my man who enjoys to watch.
“Yep. But don’t worry, big brother, we only popped in on your meeting for a few minutes. Then we moved on to some more pressing matters.” He arches a brow and smirks like the cat that got the canary—or the cream in this case.
In fact, the more pressing matters consisted of Leo leading me to the other side of the house through their magic tunnel system. We stumbled out into one of the rarely used rooms that had no other use but to look pretty—his words, not mine.
