Page 185 of Defiant Beta

My smile grows. “This morning. You can tell me again if you want.”

Her expression is soft. “I love you.”

I brush back her hair from her face. “And I love you, beautiful.”

Our kiss is deepening when a door slams.

Vincent and Xavier walk into the bedroom in dress shirts and black slacks. Vince is carrying a large white paper bag that smells spicy and savory. My stomach immediately grumbles.

“No dinner tonight?” I ask as Della perks up when she spots the bag.

Xavier yawns as he closes the door and takes off his shoes. “If we hadn’t spent this morning fighting with tourists, I’d be more excited about being surrounded by even more of them in a packed restaurant.”

“Who was fighting?” Vincent tosses his coat on a chair and crosses over to us, kissing Della softly. “And yeah, I canceled the reservation. None of us is up to it.”

“How did you know?” I ask him.

“Della was taking too long to dress. Longer than usual,” he adds.

“I don’t take ages to get dressed,” she denies. “And it’s not my fault you keep buying me more clothes and leaving me with impossible choices about what to wear.”

It makes her smile, so I can’t see him stopping that habit anytime soon.

“Xavier was fighting,” Della tells Vincent. “When teenagers want a picture, you risk losing an eye if you don’t get out of their way.”

“I was trying to protect you from the hoodlums, woman,” Xavier grumbles. “And we passed a falafel place. The queue was a thousand people deep, so it has to be good, huh?”

Vincent starts pulling food out of the bag as Xavier crawls right into the bed and over Della, kissing her neck.

She’s giggling when I grab him by the back of the shirt and lift. “For fuck’s sake, stop crushing her.”

“I don’t mind being crushed,” Della says with a soft breathiness.

We’ve been in Paris for a week, yet we’ve barely left the penthouse suite overlooking the Eiffel Tower. We move from bed to the couch to the oversized sunken bath.

And we spoil our betaalways. She’s the heart of Pack Madden and always will be.