Page 53 of Heart's Temptation

She pushed her plate away, a little over half-eaten but as it had been full this time, it was acceptable.

Niki took the card out of the envelope and opened it. Her eyes lit up as she read all the comments on the inside.

“Aww, that is so sweet of them. Your family always made me feel like I was part of them, and I’ve always appreciated that. When I heard about Luciano—” She paused for a breath, her eyes suddenly swimming with unshed tears. “I wanted to call you so many times.” Her voice cracked. “Mostly I wanted to console Isabella. She loved him so much.”

She did, and it was their very real love within the hard life of the mafia, a strange and unusual occurrence, that had created such a tight-knit family as ours.

“It’s fine, we all survived. But speaking of my father, you know on the night you disappeared, he had some very wise words of advice for me.”

“He did?” Her eyes went wide.

Marko sat back in his chair with a smirk. Of course, he knew of that fateful conversation that took place only days before my father’s untimely death.

“He told me you would be back.”

“How could he have possibly known that?” she whispered.

“He was a wise man. He said ‘When she returns, try not to be too harsh with her. Listen with an open mind before you demonize her, but also make it clear. That it will never happen again. Vitale women don’t run. Capiche?’”

I held her gaze as she absorbed this new information. “Does that mean you want me to stay?” Her voice wobbled with her question. We had discussed many things these past two weeks, but primarily the past. This was about our future that we hadn’t discussed yet. But I knew Niki better than she knew herself. She thrived on emotional stability, and really, stability period.

My father had been right. She did need us, but more than that, she craved, and wanted what we gave her. The light and the dark, the Daddy and the Dom, and being held safe in our capable hands.

“Nicolette, was there ever a time we didn’t want you? Was there ever a time when you thought we would let you go?”

She shook her head, releasing a tear that tracked down her beautiful face.

“Why would it be any different now?”

“Could you speak plainly because my heart is in my throat, and I don’t want to hope for something that can never be.”

She had doubts, even after all we’d been through.

Before I could answer, Marko spoke up. “Nicolette, what Gio is saying is, we are one, the three of us, not just now, but for the rest of our days.”

Happiness spread across her face like the sun traveling across the sky, everything it touched bathed in golden light. She was my golden light, the one that made life worth living, the one that kept the demons at bay, and the one who put the pieces of my shattered heart back together.

“Both of you, and me for the rest of our days is the best thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Good, because we planned on keeping you regardless of how you felt about it.”

Her pupils dilated. “You mean against my will, like a princess in a castle?”

An evil grin pulled the corner of my lips. “A princess that likes to get fucked from every angle with two cocks shoved deep inside of her.”

The image of her being speared from behind by me and below by Marko had my length pressing painfully against my pants.

A sound escaped Niki, a cross between a mewl and a growl.

Fuck it! All my plans to have her get a good night's sleep flew out the window. “Crawl to your Master, Nicolette.”

She was on her knees, with her bowed head at my feet. I reached down and captured her chin, drawing her gaze to mine. “You will never run again, is that understood?”

A quiver moved through her body, and I knew that every sense was on high alert.

“Yes, Sir.”

“That’s a good girl. Go to the bedroom. I want you naked and spread on the bed on your knees and elbows.”