Triplets Under the Tree

Antonio had kissed her soundly before sending her off to her own room, presumably to keep the rest of the household in the dark about the new relationship that had bloomed between them. She showered under the hottest stream of water she could stand, letting the water ease her aches. Her thoughts never strayed far from the sexy man down the hall.

He might even be in his own shower, naked, with water sluicing down his gorgeous body. Feeling a little scandalous, she allowed the image to play through her mind...because she could. She knew what every inch of that man’s flesh looked like, thank you very much.

She’d slept with Antonio. Her sister’s husband, whom she had always coveted. There was probably a special place in hell for a woman who did that. And she hated to admit that she’d loved every second of it.

When she emerged, steam had obscured the mirror. She wiped it with a towel and stared at herself in the glass. Odd. She didn’t look any different than she had yesterday morning, and it was a bit of a shock to see her same face reflected back at her.

By all rights, there should be some external mark to account for the rite of passage she’d undertaken. What, she couldn’t say. But a man had loved her thoroughly last night. He’d filled her body with his, tasted her intimately, brought her to a shuddering climax. Twice. It was an earthshaking event worthy of distinction. Maybe she should get a tattoo to commemorate the experience.

A dove on her breast, maybe.

Silly. She was already picking out matching tattoos after sleeping with a man one night.

But it had been so incredible. Now she totally got why he’d said he planned to do it a thousand more times. Once could never be enough.

She’d just pretend he’d never been married to Vanessa. Block it out and never think about it. Vanessa was gone, and Caitlyn and Antonio deserved to move on. Together. It wasn’t a crime.

At breakfast, the babies played with their bananas and Cheerios as always, Brigitte chattered up a storm as she did every morning and Caitlyn sat in her usual spot at the table. But the secret looks Antonio shot her gave everything a rosy, sensual glow, and she was very much afraid she was grinning at him like a besotted fool.

Perhaps she should be more covert if the goal was to keep their relationship on the down low.

“Caitlyn and I are going shopping today,” Antonio announced out of the blue when everyone finished eating.

“We are?” Did they have some Christmas presents to buy that she’d forgotten about? “It’s two days until Christmas. The stores will be insane.”

“I believe I have adequately demonstrated my ability to dispense with holiday crowds,” he countered with a smirk.

“So that’s your solution to everything now? Just buy out the whole store?”

“When I find something that works, I stick with it. You might consider thanking me for that.” His dark gaze flickered with promise, and yesterday, such innuendo might have made her blush, but she was a worldly woman now. So she stuck her tongue out at him instead.

Brigitte watched all of this with unabashed fascination, probably interpreting the exchange in the wrong way. “Well. You two have fun.”

Or the right way, depending on how you looked at it.

Antonio herded her into the Range Rover, and she dutifully drove, navigating through the paparazzi outside the gate. She wasn’t used to all of this. The cameras had camped out there ever since the first time Antonio had gone to Falco.

As always, Antonio ignored them. Oh, his lawyer and Thomas Warren had fielded a ton of questions on Antonio’s behalf, but he wasn’t in a hurry to take that part of his life back. He liked his privacy, which suited Caitlyn fine.

Once they were clear of the knot of people and vans, she asked, “What are we shopping for?”

“Bedroom furniture.”

She glanced at him askance and flicked her gaze back to the road immediately. “Because there’s something wrong with the furniture you already have?”

“Yes. It’s Vanessa’s,” he explained quietly, oblivious of the sword he’d just stuck through her abdomen. “Every stick of furniture in that room will be gone by the time we return. I already arranged it. Help me pick out something new.”

Oh. So that was why they’d slept on the floor. He didn’t want to sleep with Caitlyn in the bed he’d shared with his wife. He’d probably considered it the height of betrayal.

Her throat burned with sudden unshed tears. “That’s...”

There were no words to explain the hard twist of her heart. Vanessa had been his wife first, and there was nothing she could do to change that. After all, Antonio hadn’t chosen her when he’d had the opportunity. Caitlyn was the backup sister.