I lie back, spreading my legs wide and walking my fingers down my stomach slowly until they edge across the waistband of my matching panties.

“You like?” I ask playfully.

“Don’t,” he warns, placing one knee on the bed.

He removes my hand and straddles me. He grabs my other hand and entwines them both with his.

We kiss deeply, passionately, and very slowly. My hands start to roam everywhere when he releases them finally. I’ve missed him.

“I want you,” I say after he’s been feasting on my neck for several minutes.

“I want you, too.”

He reaches for his wallet, pulling out a condom. He tears it open and slides it down his cock. It’s a shame to cover up. Just a few weeks until I see the doctor and it will never have to be shielded again.

My bra and panties have long been tossed somewhere. Our bodies are naked and sweaty. Cain dips his finger inside of me as he slowly kisses and licks my neck. When he hits my clit with his thumb, I begin to moan, his name falling from my lips. Teasingly, he makes his way down my body with his tongue, stroking lightly down the center of my breasts and circling around my belly button, stopping just shy of my aching core.

“Cain!” I cry out when his mouth hovers over my clit, his warm breath causing me to damn near come on the spot.

“I got you, baby.”

He nips at my clit, fingers pumping steadily. Then he withdraws his fingers and replaces them with his tongue and mouth.

Oh, God. This man and his tongue. He runs it in slow, delicious circles up and down my entire pussy. He licks, then sucks, dipping his tongue inside repeatedly. I squirm beneath him until I come hard, screaming his name.

“I’m going to make love to my wife now. Nice and slow,” he says, removing his mouth and replacing it with his dick.

He slides inside of me leisurely. I arch my back, taking him in as deep as I can. He begins to move slowly, in and out. Making love to me sweetly.

“Mrs. Bexley, I’m going to make love to you so attentively that your body will know personally that I am so much in love with you, that every part of me belongs to you.”

He thrusts in and eases his way back out again. His hands move to my ass, tilting me upwards to drive in deeper.

“I love how you smell and taste. I love the way you feel beneath me. On top of me. All around me. I love how naughty you can be. How sweet you can be. I honest to God love you, Calla.”

“I’m so in love with you,” I whimper, holding back the happy tears that want to flow freely.

He drags himself out to the tip and presses back in. My walls clench around him.

“I’m yours, Cain,” I vow, clawing my nails down his back.

My release builds as we kiss tenderly, coming together. No roughness. We gratify each other completely, solidifying that we are each other’s universe.

“That was...” I begin to say.

Cain beats me to it.

“Fucking hot!”

I roam my hands across his solid chest.

“Yes, it was. It was perfect.”

“I have something for you,” he says, reaching into the nightstand drawer and pulling out a black velvet box.

He places it on his chest, right next to my hand.

“Your mom gave this to me. She thought you might like it. It belonged to your grandmother.”

He lifts the lid.

“Oh, my God! It’s beautiful!” I exclaim softly.

“I don’t know much about jewelry. Your mom said it’s two carats.”

He takes it out of the box, lifts my hand to his lips, and then slides the wedding set onto my finger.

My hand starts to shake as I hold it up to the light. The round diamond sparkles, the small diamonds all around it glistening. It’s an exquisite piece.

“Thank you!” I squeal, raining kisses all across his chest. “I will never take it off.”

***

“Well, good morning,” I say, blinking in shock at the group standing outside my front door.

Salvatore, my parents, Manny, and Lola all step inside the apartment. I thought this meeting would be between Salvatore and myself. I presumed wrong.

My mother wastes no time at all grabbing my hand and staring down at the ring on my finger.

“It’s right where it belongs,” she murmurs, running her finger over the diamond and then placing her hand on my cheek.

“It’s exquisite. Thank you, Mom.”

“You’re welcome, honey,” she says, pulling me in for a tight hug.

“We hope you love your accommodations,” Lola says as we all take a seat in the living room.

“Love?” I question. “I’m more than in love. Thank you for letting us stay here.”

“Nonsense,” she says with a flick of her hand. “I can’t remember the last time I even stayed here, it’s been that long. It’s yours for as long as you like.”

“Thank you,” Cain and I say at the same time.

“Let’s get down to business, shall we?” Salvatore suggests before turning to me.

“Calla, I’m delighted the two of you decided to move here. It makes what I’m about to ask you a lot easier.”

“The answer is yes,” I say boldly. “I would be honored to work for you. That is, if I’m accepted to NYU.”

He regards me for a moment. They all do. I feel like I’m being dissected by several pairs of eyes. I sit up straight, my shoulders firmly back.

“What?” I finally ask, unable to stand the silence anymore.

“You’re a very bright and observant young woman,” says Lola.

I glance over at her and she looks happy. Her smile is infectious. Her dark hair is pulled up on top of her head. The silver streaks splattered throughout shine from the steady streams of light coming in from all of the windows.

“Thank you,” I say graciously. “However, I’m not feeling very observant at the moment. Something tells me you all know something I don’t.”

“Ah. That’s where you’re wrong, Calla,” says Salvatore, eyeing me shrewdly. “You see, this observance of yours, the way you can read people... it’s a gift. The moment I saw the way you handled that slimeball Monty, I knew you were the right person for this job. You’re loyal and trustworthy. After the challenges of the past month, you have shown yourself to be courageous, independent, and unafraid to speak your mind. This, my dear, makes you a very powerful woman.”

Now that I look at everything that has happened in the past month, he’s right. I’ve taken my husband back after six years. Absorbed the news about my father being a cold-blooded killer and that my mother is also an ex-killer and the sister to Salvatore Diamond. Discovered that Manny, or should I call him Roan now, is my cousin.

I still cannot believe after all this time that his real name is Roan. A man who followed my every move for the past several years. Internally, I laugh at that one. If I was that observant, I would have picked up on the fact I had someone following me most of the time. Either that, or he’s very good. The latter sounds much better.

“By answering yes before I asked also goes to show you trust me. You trust all of us in this family to do right by you. That is why I’m here to tell you, your intuition is correct. We do want you on board with my counsel team. Although, you will not be working for me.”

I open my mouth, not knowing quite what to say. The wheels turn in my head. If he doesn’t want me working for him, then who?

With a nod from the head of the man in charge, Roan steps forward.

“You will be working for me.”

Epilogue

Two and a Half Years Later

“Good lord. I hate this weather,” I say to Stefano, one of my associates, as we take the elevator to the top floor where our offices are. 57th Street, of all places, just a stroll up the road to 5th Avenue and I’m in shoe heaven. Not today, though, in this bitter cold winter air.

I shiver in my boots, not so much from the cold, but because they are the ugliest pair of things ever to grace my feet. If I were to walk out the door of our penthouse with my heels on, Cain would have a fit. Safety first. Not that I blame him, really, with the still-unknown whereabouts of Royal. I know all too well how one can make themselves disappear, although my circumstances were a little different. I thought no one knew where I was, but they all knew all along. Especially the man I was running from.