Chapter 41
Lorenzo
“Ido,” I said, staring into Isabella’s face. She had never looked more beautiful with the sunshine shimmering through the trees, highlighting the gold that ran through her hair.
“By the power invested in me by the state of New York,” the justice of the peace said, “I now pronounce you as husband and wife. Mr. Vitali, you may kiss your bride.”
I cupped her cheek softly and leaned in, kissing her. Her arms slipped around my neck and held me close. “You’re mine now, dolcezza,” I murmured.
Isabella giggled. “I was already yours.” Her lips brushed against mine again. “Now it’s just on paper.”
When I lost Sienna, I never planned to allow a woman back into my bed again, let alone marry anyone else. But Isabella had resurrected that part of me that had been dead and buried. She made my heart race again.
I was never going to let this woman go, even if that meant locking her away from the entire world, and from the look on her face, she knew it too.
There was supposed to be a dinner and a cake to celebrate, but I needed to be alone with my wife. Fuck, even thinking the word made me hard. “Amalia,” I said without taking my eyes off of Isabella. “Make sure everyone eats well and make a toast to us and all of that.”
Elio chuckled. “Are you leaving, cugino?”
“We are,” Isabella answered for me. Her eyes left mine only to find Amalia. “Save some cake for me?”
Amalia’s laugh was delighted. “Of course.”
Our bags were already loaded in the back of the Bugatti. We hadn’t driven in it since the first time I took her to see her sister, and when she saw which car I had prepared, she smiled. “Oh, this is special, isn’t it?” she asked.
I wrapped my arm around her waist. “Yes, dolcezza,” I said, simply. “It is.”
Her silly smile faded into something more serious and fond. “Are we going to the Palazzo?” she asked as I opened the passenger side door for her.
“I thought about that,” I said. “But no.”
“Then, where?”
“You’ll see,” I told her. “Be patient.”
We took our time driving into the city, stopping at a little hole-in-the-wall Chinese spot for beef and broccoli and wonton soup because that was what Isabella had a taste for. The sky was turning a dusky pink when I pulled the Bugatti into a parking garage.
“A condo?” Isabella asked.
“Real estate is always a great investment,” I said. “I’ll go over all of the places we own someday.” I pulled into my parking spot near the penthouse elevator. “Let me take you upstairs, and then I’ll come get our bags. You need to get off your feet.”
Isabella wanted to argue, I could tell, but ultimately, she nodded because of the exhaustion that was beginning to pull at her.
We rode the elevator to the penthouse, and I watched her eyes go a touch wide when we stepped off. There was a wall of windows in front of us that looked over the city skyline. It was an impressive view, even for me.
“Do you want the tour?” I asked her. “Or do you want to explore while I go get our bags?”
“I’ll look around myself,” she said and leaned up to press a kiss to my cheek. “Hurry back.”
ISABELLA
Once I was alone in this massive penthouse, I started to poke around. The kitchen was immaculate and modern, the exact opposite of the charming farmhouse aesthetic from the estate. The living space was large and sprawling, and down a hallway, I found the master suite.
The bedroom was similar to the one at the estate: dark woods and luxurious linens.
The bathroom, however, was a showstopper.
Where Lorenzo had a massive shower at the estate, a marble tub dominated this bathroom.
On a shelf beside the tub, there was a collection of bath salts and crumbles.
Immediately, I knew what I wanted: I crossed the room, turned on the faucet, and then picked out a soft vanilla bath oil from the assortment on the shelf.
The tub was filling up fast—was that some kind of feature they paid for when the tub was installed?
—so I poured in the oil and filled the air with the sweet scent.
On the counter, I found some hair ties and quickly pulled my hair up. Then, I slipped out of my dress and dropped my panties to the floor before sliding into the hot water. Sighing, I sank down, and I was happy to realize just how deep the tub was. I stretched out and let myself relax.
I knew it the moment Lorenzo found me. The vibe of the room seemed to shift, and I glanced over my shoulder. “Hi,” I said. “I found the tub.”
Lorenzo’s smile was predatory. “I see that.”
I tipped my head back. “Care to join me?”
Without saying a word, he stripped out of his clothes and climbed into the tub behind me. I shifted forward to accommodate him, making a contented noise when I rested my back against his chest. He wrapped his arms around me to keep me that close.
Lorenzo propped his chin against my shoulder, and I felt his body go lax for, perhaps, the first time since I had met him. Seriously, even in his sleep, Lorenzo seemed tense. “Thank you for today,” I told him, voice barely above a whisper.
He chuckled. “I feel like I should be saying that to you.”
“Why? It was my idea to move up the wedding day. You didn’t have to agree to that.”
Again, I heard that raspy laugh against my shoulder. “You didn’t have to agree to be my wife, dolcezza. Believe me, I got exactly what I wanted.”
My heart fluttered. We weren’t often soft with each other, and it made my whole body tingle now. “I got what I wanted too,” I murmured to him.
His lips brushed the nape of my neck. “I’ll spend the rest of your life giving you anything you want.”
I snorted. “Anything?” I asked.
He nipped me, hard enough to make me gasp. “Within reason, dolcezza.” Because even as his wife, I would never be truly free. That was the “price of admission,” as he had put it. That might chafe later, but I wanted him, above all else, and now he was well and truly mine.
I leaned my head back, and he took the kiss that I offered to him. “Can you guess what I want right now?”
He hummed, playing dumb. “I don’t know,” he said. “How about you show me?” Taking hold of his hand, I brought it down to my breast. Lorenzo let out a pleased sound. “Is this really where you want my hand?” he asked, breath whispering against my skin.
I shrugged, trying to be nonchalant, but my voice came out in a pant. “It’s a start.” His fingers toyed with my nipple, tugging at it lightly and sending little shivers over my skin, despite the heat of the water around us.
“Where next?”
I dragged his hand down and between my thighs. Being submerged in water wasn’t great for natural wetness, but when he touched my clit, I let out a soft sound of pleasure. “Here,” I pleaded.
“You need me to touch you, huh?” he asked.
I was hopelessly addicted to him touching me, and he damn well knew it. “Always.” Lorenzo shuddered against me. He was getting hard; I could feel him pressed against my lower back and felt him suck in a breath. “I think you need me to touch you too,” I gasped out as his fingers circled my clit.
“Of course, I do.” I hadn’t expected him to agree with me, and something about that made me moan out loud. Lorenzo chuckled. “You liked hearing that, dolcezza?” His breath sent a skittering of goose bumps across my skin. “Do you want me to tell you how much I crave your body against mine?”
I nodded, swallowing hard. “Please.”
“It hurts not to be touching you,” he said, and he sounded so genuine that it was hard to breathe.
“Do you know how much of my day I spend thinking about being inside of you?” His finger teased at my entrance.
It was too dry to press inside, but just feeling him there tore a sound from my throat.
“If I could put you on my lap and keep you on my cock all day long, I would.”
Another brush against my clit sent me into a sudden orgasm, and I cried out, spine bowing. “Lorenzo,” I whined. He reached for the drain and lifted me out of the tub. I yelped, wrapping my arm around him. “What are you doing?”
He stalked out of the bathroom, heading straight for the bed.
We were still soaking wet, but Lorenzo didn’t seem to care.
“Can’t have you the way I want you in a tub,” he muttered and set me down on the bed.
He sank to his knees and spread my thighs with his shoulders.
“Tell me if you need to move,” he said and buried his face against me.
“Oh, fuck.”