Page 27 of His UnBearable Touch

“That’s where you’re wrong, brother.” Uberto slipped another sip of coffee passed his lips. “It’s not.”

“You should be concerned about what’s best for both of you, together.” Salvatore meant the words, but Valerio still balked at the idea.

“Her debut concert is in two weeks. After that is over, I will mark her. We’ve already discussed the issue.”

“The issue,” Uberto leaned back in his chair and stared right at his brother, “is that you’re denying what’s between you. It would be one thing if she didn’t want to be yours, but-”

“We already sense things from each other. What if I give her the mark and those feelings intensify?”

“What’s wrong with that?” Uberto was nearly tipping the table in his direction as he leaned on it. “She wants you, don’t deny-”

“I’m not denying anything!” Valerio was barely holding onto his temper. It didn’t help that inside of him, his bear sided with his brothers. “I just want you to listen to my wishes. This is important to her, the culmination of all of her hard work and I don’t want to be the distraction that ruins it for her.”

He looked at Salvatore, and felt a strange pressure in his head as his bear struggled for control.

The door opened and the men were on their feet as Natale and then Allegra entered the room. Salvatore growled with possessive satisfaction as his mate rubbed her hand over the swell that was their unborn cub. Beside her, Allegra walked confidently through the door. For the last few days, she’d walked around the shared areas of their penthouse and learned the distances and doorways that might cause a problem and didn’t need an arm or a guide unless she was going somewhere unfamiliar.

Before he knew what he was doing, he was at her side, reaching for her hand. She met him halfway, curling her fingers through his.

“Is everything okay?”

Worry darkened his features for a moment. Had she heard them through the heavy door? Or had she felt his anger? Either answer worried him and added more credence to his arguments with his brothers.

Allegra needed to focus on herself, and he would give her that opportunity, because he couldn’t do anything more important than take care of her.

* * *

Dress rehearsal had gone smoothly. The director of the zoo and the head of their charitable arm that raised additional funds for homes and animal care had proclaimed the upcoming event a huge success in ticket sales. The greater part of the group left after the main part of the rehearsal, until only Allegra, Essa, and Jane remained to practice the final piece of the night.

Jane walked Allegra to her chair on the temporary stage that they’d erected in front of the fountain, and set her hand on the back of the chair before brushing a motherly kiss on her cheek.

Allegra took her cello from its stand and placed the cello securely between her knees as she found the right placement for her feet. Reaching behind her she picked up her bow from the back of her chair and then rested it on her thigh until she could slide her fingers down to the frog and hold it at just the right angle.

A little shiver crawled up her arm and a smile tickled at her lips, she could almost hear the music waiting as if it stood in the wings, waiting behind a curtain, just as anxious as she was, waiting for the lights to come up.

And there, in the darkness, she felt the hum. Electricity rolling through the emptiness.

And then a light. A warm glow sitting off to the side, waiting, just like the music.

Waiting, like the swan she hears padding along the cobblestones behind her. It’s like she could see it, even through the back of her head, because she had seen it… years ago.

A flutter.

Wings took flight, just enough to push into the air to flutter down into the water.

And she felt the breath of the bird as if it was her own and lifted her bow. She let it glide over the strings like wings controlling the rate of her fall.

It’s just the swan and the water, feathers and flight, longing and joy.

Until the last note fell from the string like a sigh and Allegra released the breath she held in her lungs. She took a moment to wonder if she’d actually managed a breath during the song, or if she’d been that rolled under by the music that she’d held it all in while she played.

Jane closed the lid of the piano behind her, protecting the keys from the elements and curious fingers and stood from her seat on the bench.

Allegra heard the soft steps walking up beside her and Essa’s soft chuckle.

“Brava, Allegra. Brava.”

“Thank you, Essa.”

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