Just One Kiss (The Town of Pearl 8)

“Nothing,” she whispered.

Maxwell kissed along her neck and shoulder, wrapping her snuggly within his big, strong arms. She sighed, feeling instantly safe and content.

“You got awfully quiet. What did we tell you about being honest with us and sharing?” Maxwell asked. Salvatore crossed his arms in front of his chest and held her gaze.

She swallowed hard. Honesty was important. These men knew just about everything about her now.

She turned in Maxwell’s arms to face him, and then she took Salvatore’s hand and pulled him closer. Both men were right next to her. Maxwell held her by her hips, and Salvatore placed his hand on her shoulder.

“Do you think I’m clingy?” she asked.

Maxwell raised one of his eyebrows. “Clingy? No, why?” he replied.

She nibbled her bottom lip and ran her hands up his chest.

“I think I know what she means,” Salvatore said as he ran his hand from her shoulder to under her hair, cupping the back of her head. She tilted her face up toward him.

“Our woman likes to snuggle and she thinks we’re getting annoyed with that.”

“What? Never, Lucia,” Maxwell told her, but she held Salvatore’s gaze.

“Baby, none of us have ever been the snuggling kind, until you. And in all honesty, there’s nothing I love more than when you wrap this sexy body around me and squeeze me tight. Especially when you’re naked.” Salvatore leaned down and kissed her deeply, and she melted in Maxwell’s arms and in Salvatore’s kiss.

The sound of someone whistling brought them back to the present.

“This is a PG-13 area, Walters,” Deputy Marco Lewis teased as he walked up to them in his uniform with one hand leaning on his holster and one on his hip. Maxwell hugged Lucia to him as she tried to hide her embarrassed face. Salvatore shook Marco’s hand, and they all said hello.

The sounds of more screams and laughter filled the air.

“Sounds like the adult haunted house is pretty wild,” Maxwell said to Marco.

“I hear that old man Turner and his sons really took it up a few notches. It’s not intended for anyone under thirteen.”

“Daddy!” Marco turned around as two young girls around six or so ran up and hugged Marco. His eyes lit up, and a smile formed on his face. Lucia watched as he bent down and hugged both girls.

“Mia and Rose, you can’t run off like that. Mommy gets nervous,” Millie said as she joined them. Millie said hello to everyone, and Lucia smiled. She had met Millie during the festival planning.

“These are your two girls?” Lucia asked, and Millie and Marco smiled.

“Two little monsters,” he teased them.

“Daddy,” one of the girls said and slapped his thigh. They all chuckled and made small talk about the event.

Lucia couldn’t help but feel emotional. She couldn’t recall ever having a relationship with her father. He would call her into his office when she came home from boarding school, only on the holidays when her parents weren’t escaping to some exotic foreign resort to relax from their so-called stressful lives. Her father would ask her about her grades and drill in the fact that she was a Monte and Montes were always at the top of their class. She was more than that. She maintained the highest grades, received numerous prestigious academic awards, and they never came to the events, the celebrations, or dedications. She hated that feeling of loneliness, of not being good enough.

Lucia was lost in thought as Millie and Marco said good-bye. She stepped away from Salvatore and Maxwell, feeling so hollow inside with thoughts of her life back in South Carolina.

“Lucia? Lucia?”

“I’m fine,” she whispered and continued walking and trying to focus on all the fun things going on around her. The candy stations, the smell of caramel apples, popcorn, and pretzels. Children were laughing, spooky sounds filled the air, and then she spotted the pumpkin-carving tables, the judges sitting at the main tables by the front of the makeshift stage, and her eyes locked with Gabriele’s. He looked concerned, and ignored the man saying something next to him as he left the table and headed straight toward her. She felt so numb thinking about how much she lost out on as a kid, as a teen, and even a young adult. But then she felt Gabriele’s arms around her hugging her close.

“I missed you, baby. I thought you weren’t going to show up and help m

e get through this.”

His arms felt so good as she wrapped hers around him tighter.

“I love you, Gabriele. I love you.”