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“Don’t lock the door. Lean against it and take off your underwear, but leave them around your ankles.”
“Why?” she asked, prickling with nervous excitement.
“Because I want you to open your legs as far as you can and imagine my hands are cuffing your ankles. I’m kneeling in front of you and I’m going to lick your fingers as you caress yourself. Tell me when you start doing that.”
“What, um...” She felt jittery and naughty and aroused as she let the scrap of lace drop. “What are you doing?”
“Opening my towel and thinking I won’t be so selfless this time. I’m going to come when you do.”
“Oh.” She pressed the back of her head to the hard door.
“Are you touching yourself? Tell me exactly what you’re doing,” he prompted in a velvety voice that rasped across her senses. “I’ll tell you exactly what I’m doing while I’m there on the floor in front of you.”
Her husband had a really filthy mouth, but she seemed to possess a kinky streak that liked it. Within a few minutes, her helpless sobs were filling the room. He owned her, he really did, even from nine thousand miles away.
But as his groan of completion resounded in her ear, her panting lips curved into a tender smile. She felt close to him, despite the distance. She really did.
“When I finally get my hands on you, we won’t leave our bed for a week,” he promised in a voice she knew very well. It was the one that often played against her ear when she was basking in this same afterglow.
It dimmed as she waited to find out if Gio would use what he knew, but as time wore on she began to believe Gio really would stay silent about Libby.
Then Rafael called one morning to say, “I rerouted to Genoa.”
“What?” she cried. “I thought you were coming to Athens.”
“Gio Casella finally picked up the phone.”
“I was going to come see you.” She had only been toying with the idea, but panic had the words blurting out of her.
“I would love that,” he said in a throaty voice. “But if he actually goes through with signing the contract, it will be an all-hands situation while I finally get everything off the ground. I want to give you my full attention once we’re together so I’ll come to you when I can.”
Wait, she thought, but he ended the call.
CHAPTER TEN
HE SIGNED IT.
Gio didn’t need this partnership as badly as Rafael did, but if he walked away from this deal, he knew Rafael would find someone else and compete against him. He was a practical businessman so he got over his snit and closed the deal.
Rafael had braced himself for fresh haggling and threats to expose the surrogacy arrangement, but Gio only adjusted some dates to reflect the time they’d lost. He remained frosty, though, not mentioning Molly’s name or asking how she was doing.
That didn’t surprise Rafael. Apparently, their engagement had been a sham, but Rafael was offended on her behalf and said as much before he left. Probably not his smartest move, but he liked her and thought Gio should have treated her better.
The deal was done, though, creating a proverbial electric fence around his own assets. The growth would be exponential and, yes, he would have achieved his nine zeroes well before the age of thirty-five, which was the goal he had set for himself.
That should have brought him more satisfaction than it did. He hurried back to Athens to get things moving, but he was only irritated by the mountain of meetings and decisions that landed on him. He was usually energized by this type of thing, but all he could think about was carving out time to see his wife.
By the time he was finally on his way to see her, they had been nearly two months apart. This house wasn’t a home without her and he wanted her here. She had even offered to come to him, but he wanted to collect her. At twenty-four weeks, the baby was moving enough that he might feel one of those kicks for himself.
Since when had he become a family man? Next, he’d be falling in love.
He paused in changing out of his suit to consider that.
His priorities had definitely shifted, which felt unfamiliar, but not as alarming as it might have a year or even a few months ago.
Sasha’s memory loss was still a concern, of course, but they were finding their way out of the rough patch that had plagued them for so long. In some ways, her amnesia served them. It had forced them to set aside their go-to coping strategy of lust—notwithstanding the phone sex—and address the underlying issues they had ignored. He had had to name those issues for her and acknowledge his role in their various mistakes. Things like his remoteness and refusal to share his most difficult memories.
Letting her in felt risky as hell, but he understood that trust was a two-way street. He had to offer it to gain it, so he was letting down his guard with her. She was still a mystery to herself as well as him, but he was getting to know her all over again and, to his eternal delight, was more attracted to her than ever. She was softer these days. More vulnerable.
