Darling, Dove Preview #5
He navigated the halls of their twenty-bedroom mansion with ease, making it to their wing in record time.
An entire upper hallway made up of their three-room master suite with an attached walk-in closet and bathroom.
The wing also shared their study and library, her photography room, and a private entrance to the gym downstairs.
He dropped the duffle bag to the bed, knowing Frankie would want to handle the dirty clothes like she did with the rest of the laundry.
The main cleaning, Sissy handled. Or rather, the woman managed the schedule of cleaning services that came. The laundry, Frankie did on her own. A mountain between them and the kids, it never ended.
In fact, piles of folded clothes covered the brown leather couch and matching chair sitting between the foot of their massive bed and the wide dresser and mirror on the far wall. Passing the dresser, he paused to glance over the rows of jewelry his wife kept displayed on black suede stands.
He hadn’t noticed her wearing it earlier, but she must have because the only stack of rings missing between the ones he’d designed for each child, was Christopher’s. Which said a lot. Frankie tended to wear whatever stack reminded her of the child most on her mind at the time.
Four rings in total for Christopher’s design, it featured all gold bands.
One with his name inscribed in his father’s handwriting around the outside.
Another band, with six diamonds in two clusters of three, for his birthday.
A third ring with an oval cut five carat sapphire.
Finally, the remaining band, with three diamonds for his birth order.
All the diamonds were set in such a way on the various rings that they nestled around the sides and top of the sapphire when stacked properly.
The bedroom door opened and closed as Nico headed into the walk-in closet.
“I was thinking something easy for dinner,” Frankie called to him.
“Already taken care of.”
Her happy sigh carried to him.
“What did you decide to do about the fight?” he asked after shedding his suit jacket, beginning to work on the buttons of his silk shirt.
“Nothing. I let them apologize, and then I told them exactly why they needed to work it out when I handed over the team list to post.”
That surprised him. “Which means what, exactly?”
“Damiano’s going to have to learn how to get along with Dylan, and Dylan’s going to have to learn how to handle being told what to do whether he likes it or not,” she further explained.
“Damiano’s got captain—he deserves it. Dylan’s co.
He also deserves it, but I just made an example out of him.
Now his behavior doesn’t only reflect on him, he’s a reflection of the team and how others should behave. It’ll be a good lesson.”
“He’s certainly got a lot to learn.”
“Yep. And a part of me feels like I just rewarded both for punching one another in the face.”
Well...pros and cons. “Dami’s gonna have problems with that one, baby.”
“More than just the obvious,” Frankie added, a zipper echoing.
Nico came to stand in the doorway, shedding his shirt in enough time to watch Frankie paw through the items in his duffle bag. Her brow pinched and she sniffed hard before grabbing something out of the bag. Another of his shirts.
Her head swung his way.
“Why the fuck does this smell like a woman?” she asked, brown eyes blazing.
Nico tilted his head sideways. “Still? Fuck, that was three days ago.”
“Nico.”
“If you relax, I’ll—”
“Thirty seconds. Go.”
Damn. He loved this woman. She did not play.
“The issues in Maine? The family smuggles contraband into Canada, and they were getting picked up a lot at the borders. Tony LaRocca’s got a grown ass daughter who happens to be pretty good at worming her way into a man’s bed.
We used her to help with a border agent we needed some dirt on.
I gave her something to put on after, okay? He’d ruined her top, babe.”
Frankie’s lips flattened in a thin line, but she didn’t look away. “Oh, yeah.”
“You asked.”
When she asked, he told her. He didn’t hold shit back, and he always laid it all out on the table for her to make of it what she wanted. He followed that rule for everything between them. Work. Kids. Whatever.
She asked. He told. Simple. He couldn’t help if she didn’t like the answer.
Then, her tongue peeked out to wet her lips. “How old is she?”
Nico chuckled. “Seriously?”
“Yeah, seriously. How old?”
“Twenty-five.”
“Huh.”
That didn’t sound indifferent, more...irritated.
“Frankie—”
“Did you want to fuck her?”
“Almost eighteen years together, and we’re still doing this. You’re still doing this.”
And he still reaped the benefits.
“Answer the question, Nico.”
He would. Just so they could get to the good part here.
“No, I didn’t want to fuck her, but she offered.”
Frankie’s eyes widened in disbelief. “And?”
“And I said no.”
“That’s it—no?”
She straightened to her full height in those heels that made her stocking-covered legs look fantastic as he padded across the room, speaking to her the entire time.
“I told her no—that I married the girl of my dreams, the love of my life who I adore, and the woman who gave me five beautiful children. My wife, who makes me happy, and crazy, and everything else in between, Frankie. My wife, who I hold above all others, every day. Unquestionably. A five-minute fuck with a beautiful woman is not worth or nearly as good as what waits for me at home, even if I did want to fuck her. That’s what I told her when I said no. ”
Now standing toe to toe with his wife at the foot of their bed, she tilted her chin up to stare at him. “You didn’t really say all of that, did you? No would have sufficed, Nico.”
“She persisted.”
A sneer pulled at her full lips. “Yeah?”
“I made it clear why she wouldn’t compare.”
“Good.”
He knew she’d like that.