“Okay.” She didn’t look convinced, but she let the matter go. “I needed to talk with you, and I guess now is as good a time as any.”

I waited for her to continue.

“Sergei wishes to visit.”

My blood turned to ice. “Oh. When?”

“He said within the coming weeks. He has some business he needs to attend to in Moscow with your brother, but he wants to see you when he returns. There is also the businessof the upcoming wedding. It seems your brother is moving the upcoming nuptials?”

My heart clambered to a halt. “To when?”

“Two months from now.”

My heart sank to the floor.

I heard the screeching sound of the chair legs against the white marble. We all turned to look at Valerio, who just got up and left the room without another word. But before he had made it through the archway, his brother called after him.

“We’re not done with dinner.” The quip in his voice told me that this was more than just the dinner.

“I’m not hungry anymore.” The younger Valdez brother looked over his shoulder.

“Don’t care. Sit.”

“I don’t want to.”

They went back and forth like children.

“Enough of your childishness, Valerio. I have allowed you to do as you pleased for long enough. You will sit here and enjoy the family dinner as we always do.”

Valerio swiveled back and threw his brother a cool gaze. “I’m not a boy anymore, Andres. You cannot scold me into submission. If you want me in that chair, then you’re going to have to put me in it.”

Andres pushed his chair back and went to stand, but his wife grabbed his arm and pulled him back down.

“Enough, you two.” She leveled them both with a stare. “Let him go, Andres.”

Andres tore his gaze from his brother and looked at his wife. His shoulders eased and the heat behind his gaze quelled. It was astonishing to watch just how reactive and responsive they were to each other. It was as if an invisible tether pulled them to each other. They were one.

“Yes, let me go, Andres.” Valerio mocked his sister in laws voice. “Your balls are nonexistent at this point, brother.”

“Enough.”, “Quiet,” The King and Queen said in unison. Valerio rolled his eyes and pivoted out of the room without another word.

The room fell silent after his departure. The rest of the dinner became more awkward than it was before.

Something was definitely going on with the youngest Valdez, but it was not my place to ask. I was the one who had told him to keep distance, and I should be glad that he was doing that now. I shouldn’t yearn for his attention.

We are inevitable. His words rang loud and true in my head. He had been so sure of his words before, but his actions now spoke far louder than his confession.

Why did this man have to have me in such a chokehold? I needed to sort this shit out quickly before my soon-to-be husband arrived and a whole new problem arose.

I tossed and turned in my bed for two hours until I finally gave up on sleeping. My body was awake and frustrated.

Not only was I plagued with the idea of Sergei returning, but Valerio was a reoccurring thought in my mind.

I wanted that man, and I hated admitting it to myself.

Ever since the whole bathroom scene, I had been weak for him. All I could think about was his mouth on my pussy. And I wanted to taste him. I wanted to taste him so badly. I had seen the bulge in his pants, and I knew that he was big.

Fuck. I could imagine just how well he would fit inside of me. He would stretch my walls, and I would take every last inch of him.