Chapter 10 #3
Oh, man.
Poor Giselle.
Poor, poor, poor Giselle.
She had no idea what her intended was doing behind her back. With her best friend.
She really didn't.
“That man loves you,” I said, even though I severely doubted how much he really did love her. Especially if he could sleep with his best friend's wife.
I left her to rest and walked out.
In the middle of the hallway, I met Eve at the top of the stairs.
She held up a large bottle of water. “We couldn't find the smoothie.” She laughed and gave me a quick hug.
“Thank you for taking care of my friend,” she whispered.
When she let me go, her eyes dropped to my mouth.
“You have a bit of cannoli on your lips.” Then she laughed softly and headed down the hallway.
Whoops.
I licked the leftover cream from my lip while I walked down the stairs. I wasn't sure where Stefan was, but I was pretty certain he would still be with Dani. I wondered if she was still playing with her bunny and its new accessories.
She was so grateful for what I'd picked up for her. It was cute.
When I walked into the kitchen, I heard voices. Stefan and Carlo were out on the patio drinking. Dani was flouncing around with her bunny, playing some kind of imaginary game.
Stefan spotted me, and a wide grin crossed his face. He waved me over. Carlo turned his head and kept his eyes on me the entire time I walked up to them. It was a little unnerving to tell you the truth.
“My beautiful sister-in-law.” Carlo stood and pulled me into his big chest. “I'm sorry for offending you.
Giselle was right. I should've kept my mouth shut.” He pulled away just enough to look down at me and say, “You women are slow to learn how things work, though.
And it can be really fuckin' frustrating.”
His apology seemed genuine. As genuine as something could be from a cheater.
“I wasn't offended, Carlo. And you're right, that stuff is all between me,” I looked over at Stefan, he took a sip from his glass, his eyes stuck on me, “and my husband.”
Carlo chuckled and then surprised me. He cupped my face with his huge hands and leaned down. “You're fucking perfect for my brother. I couldn't be more pleased.” Then he kissed my forehead.
Having Carlo's warm body next to mine—and then having his lips on me—holy cow.
I mean, yes, it was just a chaste kiss.
But it still did very, very, very real things to my body. My nipples beaded up instantly.
My body betrayed me, no matter how much I willed it to stop reacting like this to Stefan's brother.
To Stefan's—cheating brother.
Carlo laughed low, and deep. “As I said, I'll try to behave.” His eyes drifted over my face—and then—down to my cleavage.
I knew exactly how good my cleavage looked at the moment. And Carlo's eyes were all over it. “Fucking perfect,” he mumbled, still staring at my chest. Having Carlo's eyes focused—there—made me suddenly clench down deep below.
Good grief.
I had issues.
How could I possibly be attracted to my cheating brother-in-law?
He grinned at me.
“Let go of my wife, will you?” Stefan grabbed my hand and pulled.
Carlo finally surrendered and stepped away. “You can't blame me, Brother. Look at her. She's beautiful.”
Crap.
More clenching.
And more nipple hardening.
Gah. I needed to find a way to stop my brain—and my body—from doing this whenever Carlo was around.
Sheesh.
“I know exactly how beautiful my wife is.” Stefan pulled me onto his lap and kissed my lips. His tongue swept in—which I thought was an interesting thing to do in front of his brother. But I kissed him back, because if Stefan wanted to kiss me right now—with Carlo watching—who was I to say no?
“Mm,” he said, breaking our kiss. “You taste delicious.”
Carlo's deep, throaty laugh floated into my ears. “I bet Francesca tastes delicious everywhere.”
Crap.
More clenching.
And could my nipples get any harder?
“Oh, she does. Trust me.” Stefan smiled up at his brother and they both laughed. Then Carlo headed into the kitchen.
“What did you just eat?” Stefan kissed me again.
When he broke our kiss, I said, “Cannoli. I shared a box of them with Giselle.”
He laughed heartily at that. “Ah, it all makes sense, now. Eve doesn't let her cheat on her healthy diet.” He smiled at me. “But you asked Eve to get a smoothie that I know we didn't bring home. I wondered what the hell you were thinking.”
I shrugged and snuggled into him, laying my head on his shoulder. “She seemed so sad. I thought it might lift her spirits. Even if it's just for a minute.”
Stefan's hand rubbed up and down my arm. “She's having a rough time of it.” He kissed my head. “Hopefully that baby comes soon.” I could hear the distress in Stefan's voice. He obviously loved her and wanted her suffering to end.
At that moment, Dani turned her head and saw me. Her little face brightened, and she darted straight for me.
“Look!” She held her bunny up with delight. “Bunny still has them pajamas on that you gotted me.”
I nodded and fixed one of the bunny's booties. It was about to fall off. “I see that. Your bunny looks very cute.”
She giggled and nodded, then skipped away.
“She's not going to bed anytime soon, is she?” I whispered to Stefan as we watched her dance and sing to her bunny.
“Nope. She had two cannoli.”
I raised my eyebrows and let out a small laugh. “Two?”
He sighed loudly. “She gave me her sad face. What was I supposed to do?”
I kissed his neck and smiled. “Seems like she takes after her mother in a lot of ways.”
Carlo yelled from the kitchen, “Daniella! Do you want to help me take a snack up to Mommy?”
Dani kept dancing around the patio. “No, fanks!” she said mid-song.
“We've got her,” Stefan said and waved to his brother.
And even though I wanted to slap Carlo's handsome face, and kick him somewhere very, very, very painful—I genuinely felt sorry for the man.
And it would be better for everyone if they could get along.
At least until the baby was born and Giselle had time to recover.
And then kick him out.
Carlo left, and we watched Dani play for a while longer. Finally, I said, “Maybe some warm soup will make her tired.” I stood and looked down at Stefan. “Do you want anything?”
His eyes traveled down my body and then back up again—landing on my cleavage. And, just like his brother, he stared at my breasts. “Just you, later,” he whispered. “On my face.” His gaze rose to mine. “I have a lot to thank you for.”