“Should I go too?”
Remembering how pissed off Johnny was when he called me to tell me she escaped from him, I shake my head. “No.” I press a kiss to her forehead. “Rest.”
The moment she’s out of my arms, they feel empty, I feel empty. Trying to shake it off, I give in to the need and kiss her hard and fast on her lips. Then before I forget my duty, I get as far away from her as quickly as I can.
When I get to the hospital the doctors aren’t happy. I’m not happy. Johnny looks like shit.
“If you die before my wedding day, it will fuck up everything.”
The old bastard laughs. “You can’t wait, can you? I did good.”
Shaking my head, I allow a smile. Fuck it, marriage isn’t what I wanted, but I don’t know if I’ll ever not want Regina. “Maybe.”
He knows me well. “You going to buy her a house now? She needs a nice big house. Women, they need to make a home.”
“If you stay in here overnight, I’ll buy her a house.”
A dark frown. “I’m not dying in a hospital.”
“You aren’t dying in a hospital. You’d better not fucking die until after I have my ring on her finger. One night, they make sure you’re good. I’ll come get you tomorrow. Take you to the hotel, get you checked in.”
The asshole shakes his head. “No, take me to the hotel now. I’m not dying until I get back to New York, Mama won’t come to the wedding, she’s still on Long Island.”
I give up. A call to the Drake Hotel and they’re willing to open his hotel room today instead of tomorrow as planned. It takes a few hours to get him out of the hospital and settled into his room. Then it’s late enough I stay for dinner. We discuss business, the things I need to know to wrap up his personal business once he’s dead. Johnny is past depression; acceptance is all he has left. Death is always a lingering thing hanging over you in this life. At least he had time to prepare for his.
16
Regina
Tomorrow is the day. Tonight, in just under an hour, I meet Dominic’s cousins and father in a less stressful environment than during the wedding. They are coming to the club tonight, which has been shut d
own. We’ll have dinner with his family, then what is essentially a bachelor party will happen in the gambling area in the lower level. I ask Dominic if they know the truth about us.
He shakes his head. “No. I told them it was lust at first sight. However in the family, who you were, who I was, it was marriage or nothing. They think we’ve been too busy wrapped up in each other to meet up.”
A small exhale, almost a laugh comes out of him. “They said they understood completely. With their wives it was that way, so it’s all good. I explained you were shy, once they meet you and know it’s a lie, they’ll think I just wanted to keep you to myself.”
I try not to take offense to his mocking of his cousins falling hard for their wives. I don’t succeed. As I walk away I don’t dare look his way, terrified he’ll see how badly his words hurt.
After a quick shower I flat-iron my hair to within an inch of its life. In the closet I stand helplessly lost at what to wear.
Fifteen minutes later, I’m fighting a smile as Dominic takes one look at me and growls like a mean, big-ass junkyard dog. It’s weird—I kind of expected to still be shy after that hot-as-fuck moment in the library when he blew my mind by making me come so hard I was pretty sure my soul left my body.
Yet the embarrassment, the shame I thought I would feel is nowhere to be found. It wasn’t dirty—okay, it was obscenely dirty. That didn’t mean it was wrong. As far as Dominic was concerned he was already my husband, vows or not. He was right, the whole right-or-wrong thing and shame wasn’t something that mattered. All that did was what brought us pleasure. Right now, Dominic is very displeased.
“No.” He shakes his head. “Change, you’re too fucking sexy.”
“Dominic, it’s not that sexy. It goes all the way to my ankles.”
“It’s a halter dress, it’s red, your breasts are on display. You aren’t wearing a fucking bra. Fuck that, no. This is a family dinner. I don’t need to worry about kicking someone’s ass tonight. Change. Now.”
Asshole. I flounce out of the living room and back into my room. As I get undressed I sigh. Okay, it is a little much. I picked it because of how sexy it was for a reason. His whole freaking family is going to be here. I’ve seen pictures of them on the internet, all the women are so pretty and sophisticated. I’m terrified they’ll take one look at me and wonder if Dominic has taken too many blows to the head.
Ooh, okay, I love this one. A Mac Duggal pleated dress with a plunging neckline that covers everything. It’s a beautiful vibrant blue that looks good against my skin. Once it came I had it altered as Lydia recommended, and brought the hemline up and added slits to the thigh on each side. It’s an elegant dress, I don’t feel like I’m pretending to be a woman in it—I am one. It also highlights all my curves in a way that is sexy, not sex.
Out of my room I find Dominic stalking the length of the living room. When he sees me he stops, those dimples flash, hitting me in my tummy. I’m frozen where I stand as he moves toward me, so fucking gorgeous in a black suit, white shirt, and black silk tie.
Thousands of men are walking around in something similar at this very moment, but not one of them could come close to him. His large hands capture my face and I shiver at his gentle yet firm touch. The kiss he presses against my lips is soft, almost gentle, it doesn’t stop the bones in my body melting. “Beautiful. Tomorrow is our wedding day and already it feels like too long.”