“You’re back,” she said, those two words underscored with relief.
A strange feeling passed through me. One I couldn’t name. The sensation started at the center of my chest and spread with every step I took toward Cleo. She watched me approach, pulling on her bottom lip with her teeth, and asked me about my trip.
Instead of answering her, I leaned down and kissed her. It was chaste. Sweet. It was probably just my exhaustion muddling my head, because in the moment, I didn’t want to fuck her. All I wanted was one simple kiss from my wife.
She didn’t pull away. She leaned into me like it was exactly what she wanted too.
And that tiny movement was everything.
I rake my fingers through my hair. I almost have her. By now, I’ve realized that the way past her defenses isn’t through her body, but through her mind.
Tesoro mio. So sharp on the outside, but she’s all soft inside. How did I not see it earlier?
She craves for someone to accept her for who she really is. Acceptance is one of many things her parents never gave her. She hasn’t been enough for them her whole life. They told her she is flawed, wrong, undesired.
But I desire her. Her flaws give her character. She is just right for me.
I might never be able to love her—my ability to love was ruthlessly trained out of me—but I can appreciate her. It will be enough for her, because it will be more than anything she’s ever gotten before. She won’t know the difference. How could she?
Our game is almost at its end. She put up a far stronger defense than I anticipated, but with each passing day, I chip at it bit by bit.
I’m a patient man.
I’ve been repeating those words so often in these last few days they feel like a prayer. It’s only a matter of time before she finally surrenders to me, and I can declare checkmate.
I was right all along. Cleo is a puzzle, one I’ve nearly managed to solve. And when I do, she won’t occupy so many of my thoughts.
The tension will dissipate. The intrigue will be over. And my mind will be calm again.
Nero was wrong. He thought she would unmoor me. That she would make me lose control. But no matter what my consigliere thinks, I’ve stayed in control the entire time we’ve been playing. And that’s the way it’ll always be.
There’s a knock on the door. I glance up from my laptop. Since it’s late, the staff has been dismissed for the evening. A shiver of anticipation rolls down my spine.
“Come in.”
My wife appears in the doorway, a stack of papers in her arms. She’s dressed in the same outfit I saw her in this morning—a white blouse and a pink skirt that stops mid-thigh. Her copper hair is loose, cascading over her shoulders.
She’s so beautiful.
“What is it?” I ask.
She leans against the doorjamb. “I need your help. Do you have time right now?”
I tear my gaze away from her bare thighs and nod. “Of course.”
She comes inside, closing the door behind her. “Loretta and I have started planning on how we can repay all of her debts.” She puts the stack of papers on my desk. “I’ve called most of her creditors today asking to put repayment plans in place that will give us some breathing room.”
Things between my cousin and her must be going well. “That’s a good idea.”
“There’s one creditor that won’t give us an extension for some reason. It’s the fabric supplier and starting next week he’s refusing to deliver any more stock until the debt is repaid.”
“How much is it?”
“A hundred thousand dollars.”
I lean back in my seat. “How long will it take Loretta to pay it back?”
“We’ve implemented some changes to how she runs her business, and I think we’ll see things start to turn around quickly. Assuming her sales double, she’ll pay him back in six months. If they triple, it’ll take four months.”
“Do you have numbers to back this up?”
She pulls out a USB from her pocket and slides it across the desk. “The financial model and all of our assumptions are here.”
I take the USB and plug it into my laptop. When I open the Excel file, it’s an effort not to show my surprise. “You made this?”
She sits down across from me and nods.
“How?”
“A lot of hours watching videos on YouTube.”
This financial model is better than most of the ones my capos show me whenever they have a new idea. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been promised there was no way for me not to make a return, only to look at the numbers and realize the idea is a dud.