Chapter 11
Francesca
After that—highly—emotional revelation, I realized that Eve had cleaned up the mess I'd made.
I felt terrible for dropping the entire plate of meat on the floor like an idiot.
But Eve told me over and over again that it was fine.
And Carlo went into the fridge and pulled out more meat and some salmon steaks.
“We have plenty of food, Francesca. It's okay. See?”
It didn't matter. I still felt bad.
Giselle forced me to sit down and keep her company.
She even found the reality show I liked.
We chatted and laughed as we watched. But something was bothering me.
There was still a palpable tension between Giselle and Stefan since the swimming pool incident.
They hadn't worked it out. And I knew that in the coming days, Giselle would need Stefan more than ever.
So—
I decided to risk Giselle getting angry at me.
When Nick got up to talk to Carlo outside, I very, very, very quietly said, “After Dani fell in Stefan's pool,” Giselle's head swung to me and the happy expression on her face fell right off.
“I found him upstairs in our room. He was on a chair—his head in his hands—” I lowered my voice, “crying. His whole body was frozen, Giselle. I was worried he was in shock.”
Giselle peered over at Stefan while I continued talking softly.
“On our way over here that day, he called a contractor to come over and start on a safety fence for the pool. Then he called another company about getting an alarm installed in case that fails.” Her eyes shot back to mine.
“Then he called the contractor back and told him to figure out how to put safety gates at the top and bottom of the staircase.”
She looked down at her hands and chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. But she still didn't say a word.
“It's eating him up inside, Giselle. He loves that little girl with his whole heart. He would never do anything to hurt her.”
She finally looked up at me with tear-filled eyes and nodded.
“I know. I was just so frightened.” She looked back at Stefan.
“And I needed someone to blame.” She swallowed and looked at me.
“I wasn't lying when I told you he's the best out of all our men.
He really is. And the fact that he's building an entirely new and improved food bank for your community—” She shook her head.
“That surprises none of us. Because that's the kind of man Stefan Sovrano is.” Her eyes held mine like she wanted to say more.
Instead, she pushed up out of her chair and made her way over to Stefan.
From the look on his face, I could tell he was surprised to see her approach. Giselle wrapped her arms around him. He instantly looked at me—and I smiled.
They talked quietly to each other for a while. I couldn't hear what they were saying. But whatever was being said—it was intense. I kept watching my show so they wouldn't think I was watching them—which I totally was. I was definitely going to have to rewatch this episode again.
Finally, they grinned at each other and hugged for a long moment.
And then—
Stefan and Giselle—
Kissed.
Like, kissed, kissed.
There was definitely tongue action going on there. Neither of them was trying to hide it. Eve was on the other side of the kitchen, making rice. And they both knew I was—right there.
The really, really, really odd thing about watching them kiss—was that it didn't bother me like I thought it would. Not like back when I saw them kissing at the hospital all those months ago. Back then, I thought my heart was going to break. But right now—I felt—fine.
No, not fine. It was a relief to have them friends again. And to know it was because I'd given Giselle a push.
And it wasn't like he was lying her down on the counter and making love to her. This was just a—
Kiss.
Like when Nick kissed me.
And when Carlo and I kissed.
I was concentrating so hard on watching Stefan and Giselle kiss—that I didn't even hear Nick until he sat down beside me. “Oh, good. They've kissed and made up. Thank God. I couldn't take the tension between them anymore.” He made me jump slightly.
“Oh, yeah,” I said, ripping my eyes off them to look at Nick.
“I feel like you probably had a hand in helping them out.” He stared at me, waiting for an answer.
I smiled at Nick. “Maybe,” I said, and he gave me a sexy smirk.
Nick Rosetti was a handsome man. He wore a suit better than anyone.
I mean, I guess I wasn't around a lot of men in suits.
But I had watched a ton of TV. And Nick Rosetti absolutely looked better in a suit than anyone I'd ever seen on TV or in movies.
“How does it make you feel when you see them kissing like that? Most women would be having a fit right now.”
I bit my lip for a few seconds. “Truthfully? It all seems odd. But I think I'm starting to understand it better. Maybe.”
Nick grabbed my hand and brought it to his lips. “That's good. I'm glad. It'll take some getting used to. But as long as you understand that we all love each other. And there are no jealousies between us.”
Whatever Nick was saying was starting to confuse me. But I just nodded along in agreement. Stefan and Giselle were still talking softly and holding each other. It was a sweet scene.
“How did you feel after our kiss the other day? We never discussed it afterward.” He kept hold of my hand and he was looking at me very intensely.
“Um, it was nice.” As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I wished I could shove them back in. Oh, my gosh. That sounded so stupid.
Nice.
Like any guy wants to hear that word when describing how they kissed.
But Nick apparently didn't mind. He sat there and chuckled.
“That's good, too. I very much enjoyed our little kiss, Francesca.
And I'd like it to become a regular thing between us.
I don't want there to be any shyness or awkwardness between us whatsoever.” He continued holding my hand, but his other hand landed on my thigh.
“And in order for that to happen, we need practice to become more—” he tilted his head in a sexy manner, “familiar.”
I really wasn't sure what Nick was talking about. But my panties seemed to get the memo. Because whatever he was saying—and the way he was saying it—made my panties wet. “And right now, I'd like to kiss you. Is that okay with you?”
Oh, my gosh.
Was it wrong that my nipples had gone instantly hard?
“Oh.” I quickly looked over at Stefan and Giselle. And they were back to kissing again. If they were kissing—I guess that meant it was okay for me to kiss Nick. Right? “Yeah, sure.”
Nick grinned and leaned over—and touched his lips to mine. He didn't start with a peck like he had the other day.
Nope.
Nick's tongue delved into my mouth. He started a teasing little dance with my tongue. This wasn't a little, innocent kiss.
Nope.
Nick Rosetti wanted to make out.
And the weird thing was—I did, too.
So, I followed along as he led. Tasting, teasing, playing.
Until I was all hot and bothered.
“Why are we the only ones not kissing?” Carlo's voice floated into the kitchen.
Eve answered with a giggle. “You tell me,” she asked playfully—and also seductively.
Not two seconds later, I heard Eve laugh out loud and the table moved slightly.
I broke our kiss and turned my head. Carlo and Eve were making out like crazy.
Eve was sitting on the table, and Carlo was kissing the crap out of her.
Then I looked into the kitchen—and saw Stefan and Giselle still kissing. But their kiss had also evolved. Into a much, much hotter make out session as well.
“See? We're all okay with everyone having fun.” Then Nick kissed me again.
And I let him.
And I was absolutely going to need new panties.
Nick's hand left my thigh and dragged up the side of my body.
His fingertips just barely grazed my breast—just enough to make me wonder if he'd done it by accident—or not.
“You taste so fucking sweet,” Nick whispered against my lips as his hand held the back of my head, keeping me in place.
He continued assaulting my mouth with his delicious kisses.
His other hand pulled mine up to his chest. He wanted me to touch him.
And I wanted to touch him, too. So I did. I let my hand wander over his strong chest as we kissed and kissed.
And kissed.
“Fuck,” Carlo's deep, growly voice said sharply, “I forgot about the steaks.”
Eve's sultry, sexy little laugh followed.
Reason and sense seemed to slam back into my brain.
I was making out with my husband's best friend. And his best friend's wife was making out with his brother.
And my husband was making out with—
Oh, my gosh.
This was all getting too confusing. I gasped and pushed away from Nick. He wouldn't let me go too far. Not at all.
Instead, he held me close and said, “That was lovely, Francesca. Thank you.” His eyes sparkled with mischief.
And desire.
That look did very bad—but also good—things between my legs.
Then Nick touched his lips to mine for one last gentle kiss. And he let me go.
Holy.
Crap.
What just happened?
Nick grabbed my hand and squeezed it. And thank goodness he did. His touch felt like a grounding of sorts. Without our connection, I might just spin off somewhere.
I looked toward the kitchen and saw Stefan and Giselle looking at us. Stefan was behind Giselle—his hands on her big belly, his chin on her shoulder.
Her hands were on his as she leaned back into him.
They both smiled at me.
Neither of them seemed bothered one bit by what I'd been doing with a man who was not my husband.
Eve startled me when she stood up across the table from us. “That man. Honestly.” She held a bunch of napkins that had been on the table before—before we started our big make out session.
And before she and Carlo started theirs.
Those two must've knocked the napkins on the floor when she landed on the table.