Becoming Mrs DeLuca novel Chapter 43

She was sprawled out on top of me afterward, my hands splayed out on her firm ass. Her bangs stuck to her sweaty forehead. “Now we talk,” she said when I hadn’t even caught my breath.

“Valentina-

“You promised,” she said, and her eyes stopped any protest I might have had.

“I did.” She waited. For an admittance, for my plea of guilt. “You are right. I asked Elia to test your loyalty”

Valentina pushed into a sitting position, straddling my stomach. I loved that she wasn’t shy about her body, and I loved admiring her. Her expression made it clear that she wasn’t trying to go for another round. She wanted the higher position to feel more in control. I’d give it to her. I grasped her hips, needing to touch her.

“Test my loyalty? You told another man to come on to me to see if I was willing to cheat.”

Bitterness twisted my thoughts. “I don’t trust anyone, not just you.”

“I’m your wife, Adrian. We have to trust each other. I don’t want us to be strangers living under one roof. I want this marriage to work, not just for us but for Sofia and Stefan too. They need a happy family.”

“Happy family,” I repeated.

My children had never experienced a happy family. For a while, Serena and I had managed to hide our resentment for each other, but in the last couple of years, things had turned for the worst.

“I want that,” she whispered fiercely, lowering herself until her face hovered over mine.

“So do I,” I said. But I was a realist, and in a few years, Valentina would be too.

“But you don’t believe in it.”

Looking up into Valentina’s hopeful, kind face, I really wanted a happy family. “It’s not a matter of belief.”

“It is. If you don’t believe in it, if you don’t work for it, then it won’t become reality.”

I smiled wistfully, wondering if I’d ever been this optimistic.

“Don’t blame this on me being young,” she warned, eyes flashing with annoyance. “Being positive is not a trait of the young. You are being a grumpy old man by choice.”

A laugh burst out of me. Valentina smiled. Then she became unguardedly hopeful. “Adrian, I want to be happy. I want us all to be happy.”

“What do you want me to do?” I asked without thinking.

Valentina was young. I wouldn’t be responsible for her unhappiness, at least not on purpose choice in the matter. With Serena, I’d thought I’d done everything I could to make her happy D enough, but I was up against an impossible challenge.

“Allow yourself to trust me,”

Issure if I had a

ch, it hadn’t been

I ran my palm up her back along the gentle bumps of her spine before cupping her head, pulling her down for a kiss. “I’ll

try.

“You could start by telling me what happened with Serena, and why Stefan acts the way he does.”

I shook my head. “That is the past, and it’s got nothing to do with us.”

Valentina smiled sadly. She knew as well as I did that it had everything to do with us, but the past with Serena wasn’t something I’d share with her. It wouldn’t serve any purpose but to destroy whatever tentative bond that was forming between Valentina and me. She was young. Maybe that was why I was willing to try at all. I didn’t want to be the one to destroy her loveliness.

“Okay.”

It wasn’t. Valentina’s body language made that clear.

“What else?”

“Spend time with the kids and me. Family time. Be home for dinner, be home on Sundays. I want to get to know you, what you like to do in your free time, what you enjoy doing.”

I tried to remember the last time I’d done something I enjoyed doing that didn’t involve my line of work. I couldn’t.

“Don’t tell me there’s nothing you like to do except work. There must be something else you enjoy besides torture and killing.”

She was so uninhibited with her words. It was a breath of fresh air. I hummed, cupping her head harder. “I’m good at both.”

“I don’t doubt it,” she whispered, shivering. “I love to paint and do Pilates, and I love the rain.”

My fingers on her neck loosened. “Paint?”

“Yes, canvases. Still lifes, landscapes, animals. I’m not so good with the human body, but I’m trying to improve. That’s what was in the huge package. My canvases.”

I hadn’t paid much attention to Valentina’s belongings. Maybe I should have shown basic interest in my wife’s life before I dragged her into the mess that was my own.

“And Pilates helps me stay fit, and it’s good for my mental health too.” She fell silent. “You look at me as if I’m talking

nonsense.”

“You’re not,” I said. “You just keep surprising me.”

“In a good or bad way?”

“Good.”

She shrugged. “That’s good.”

It was. But good things always came with a price.

“Why rain?” I asked.

She shrugged. “It’s just… I just find it beautiful, the freeness and unpredictability of it all.”

I nodded. “Have you painted since you’ve arrived here?”

“No, I was busy settling in, and the kids and Milo keep me on my toes.” She tilted her head thoughtfully. “And I’d need a room to paint. The fumes need to be contained.”

“There’s a vacant room beside my office. It’s got a nice view of the garden and direct access to the terrace.”

Valentina’s face lit up. She lowered herself and propped her chin up on her crossed arms on my chest. “Thank you.”

“How are things between you and my children?”

Her mouth thinned, but I wasn’t sure why. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she said, even though there obviously was. “The kids and I are getting to know each other. I think I can gain Stefan’s trust through Milo, and today Sofia let me carry her without crying.”

“About the dog-”

Valentina jerked into a sitting position again. “I don’t want to give Milo away, and I won’t lock her inside a room. It’s not fair to her. What’s your problem with her anyway?”

“Apart from the fact that she’s not trained very well?”

“That’s hardly her fault. Did Serena never work with her?”

I tensed. “The dog came at a difficult time.”

“I think Milo is good for this family, and I really like her.”

“Then keep her, but train her.”

“Will Elia stay my bodyguard?”

“Of course, he’s a good choice.”

“Because he’s not interested in women.”

I narrowed my eyes, wondering how exactly she found out. She misunderstood my expression. Worry tightened her face. “You knew, right?”

“Of course, that’s why he’s allowed to be your bodyguard.”

She huffed. “Trust?”

I smiled darkly then wet my thumb and pressed it to that little pink button, which teased me from its prime spot between those pouty lips.

“We‘

bet

‘rust yo‘ ess bef