Chapter 60
Chapter Sixty
VIOLA
If someone had told me one month ago that after my husband died, my life would change from abject misery and despair to this level of deliriously happy, I would have been sure they were joking. Or cruel. Or both.
But this is my current reality.
I’m standing in the middle of our kitchen with my arms wrapped tightly around my grey bundle of irrepressible joy, refusing to let him go even though I know I have to.
His warm, wriggling body presses against my chest, his tiny heart beating fast and steady against mine.
His pink nose nudges into the crook of my neck, wet and curious, and those pretty ears flop softly against my shoulder with every excited wiggle.
He smells like a puppy now, a mix of clean fur and something innocently alive.
Throat tight with emotion, I bury my face into his fur, breathe him in, and feel another ridiculous surge of love.
“He’ll be fine,” the housekeeper assures me gently, her voice warm and patient as she stands nearby, watching me cling to him like he might vanish if I let go.
Rebecca smiles at me with kind eyes. “Don’t worry, I’ll take very good care of him while you’re gone.
He’ll have all his toys, his favorite blanket, and I’ll send you pictures every day if you want. ”
I know she’s right. I know he’ll be okay, but I hold him on to him a little longer, pressing one last kiss on the top of his head.
A month ago, I had nothing. No freedom. No joy.
No one really cared whether I smiled or cried.
Now I have this tiny creature who looks at me like I hung the moon, and a man who brought him home just because he remembered that I have a soft spot for dogs.
The thought makes my eyes sting with happy tears that I don’t bother hiding.
Ricci walks in then, carrying two leather duffel bags. He stops in the doorway when he sees me, and a soft smile curves his lips. Yup, the one that still makes my stomach flip every single time. His eyes move over me holding the puppy, and something warm and possessive flickers across his face.
“I told you, you can take him with you,” he says softly. “You don’t have to leave him behind. We’re flying private.”
I hesitate, looking down at the puppy’s big dark eyes and that perfect pink nose.
Part of me wants to say yes so badly — to keep him close, to have him with us on this trip.
But I know myself. I know how easily I get distracted when I’m happy, and I want this weekend to be about us. Just us. Just me and Ricci.
“Nah,” I say reluctantly, pressing one last kiss to the top of the puppy’s head before handing him over to Rebecca. “He’ll distract me. I’ll have eyes for no one but him.”
Ricci laughs. “In that case, he is banned from the trip.”
Ricci’s eyes meet mine across the kitchen, and the look we share is so intimate, so full of everything we’ve been building these past weeks, that I feel heat rush up my neck and across my cheeks.
I blush. Hard. We’ve become so close, so much more intimate over the past month.
He’s been incredibly considerate and patient in ways I never expected from a man like him.
A part of me is still waiting for the other shoe to drop, still braced for the kind of casual cruelty I knew so well before.
But it hasn’t come. Not once. And because it hasn’t, I’ve decided I want to completely let go and just revel in him and us.
This is my attitude for our vacation. I want to enjoy every single second of it.
Ricci comes over, gently pulls me away from Rebecca and Freddie.
His strong, warm fingers lace through mine, and we head out of the apartment together.
The driver is already waiting downstairs to pick up our luggage.
We’re going for the weekend to a villa by the beach in California, and the thought still feels surreal.
Like something that happens to other people.
As we step into the elevator, I glance up at him. “Have you ever been to California?”
He nods, thumb brushing slowly over the back of my hand. “Several times. For work. Never on vacation, though. So this should be interesting.”
He asks me the same once we’re settled in the car. I hesitate for a second, then tell him the truth.
“Yes. When I was much younger, I went there with a friend looking for work.” I pause, the memory still carrying a faint sting.
“She made it sound so good, but it turned out we would be working as glorified escorts. My father really needed the money even then, but I just couldn’t do it, so I left on the next flight. ”
He goes silent beside me. I feel the shift in the air, the way his body tenses just slightly. “Things have been difficult for you, haven’t they?”
I look out the window for a moment before turning back to him with a smile. “Yes. But now… suddenly I’m flying private and going on a weekend trip with my husband.” I shake my head at how absurd it sounds. “Isn’t that insane?”
He leans down, cups my face with one big hand, and kisses me deeply.
His mouth is slow and thorough, tongue sliding against mine in a way that makes me melt into him.
My fingers curl into the front of his shirt as the world outside the car fades away.
There’s only the taste of him and the steady, possessive way he holds me.