Page 47 of Tito

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When I laid her down, she snuggled in and whispered, “Best day of…my life.” Her eyes closed and she emitted a cute little snore.

I snorted a laugh. Damn, she was adorable.

Chapter Fourteen:The Pantry

Valencia

Deep-Sea Submersibles: Engineering for the Abyss

Nuclear Icebreakers: Opening Routes Through the Arctic

LNG Megacarriers: Cryogenic Marvels Crossing the Oceans

Ultra-Large Container Ships: How 24,000 TEU Giants Rule Global Trade

I woke up suddenly. For a minute, I stared up at the ceiling and wondered where the hell I was. I tried to remember the day. OH! It all came back to me in a kaleidoscope of images. The pond and the bee, Tito’s fabulous mouth, his smile, his voice… Then the rest… Julianna was really Juliet and I was Valentina of all things. Her and I on the Zoom meet with our parents. Tito’s father murdered. Then our very hot shower… “Hmmm,” I hummed under my breath.

Turning my head, I looked over at the other pillow on the bed. Tito wasn’t there. I heard the door to the room click shut and I sat up. Did he just up and leave at…I paused to look over at the clock. Midnight?

I sat up and got out of bed. Looking down, I realized I was naked. “Darn it!” I muttered. I raised my head and looked around. Spotting the robe Tito mentioned sitting over the chair back, I rushed over, threw it on then hurried to the door. I opened it and stepped out into the quiet hall. I halted to tie the robe, then I looked up.

I just caught sight of him as he left the hall and took the stairs. I felt odd chasing after him, I mean he could be thirsty or hungry, right? Then I remembered he had an ensuite kitchen so maybe not?

When I got to the end of the hallway, I looked down the stairs and saw him step into the main hall then head left, toward the kitchen. Ok, so maybe he was hungry or thirsty. I headed down the stairs and after I stepped to the floor, I tightened myrobe belt. The robe was too long and I needed to raise it up. Belonging to Tito, it was actually very large for me.

Rushing down the large hall with the robe raised up in my hands, I then slowed at the kitchen door. What if he gets mad at me for…I shook my head. Nope, he wasn’t like that. I opened the door and peeked in. I didn’t see anyone. Stepping in, I looked around again.

An odd sound and a thump came from somewhere. I gasped and whirled around as I realized what was up now. Tito went into the pantry! He didn’t forget about Max. Oh, no. He was still on it.

I paused to look around again. Then I stepped over to the pantry door. I couldn’t believe I was following Tito around like this. But if he found something I wanted to be there. It was him and me, after all. I wanted to be beside him through thick and thin. This Max and the pantry business was probably on thethinside, as in nothing would be found but still…I wanted to be there.

Opening the door, I nearly jumped inside so no one would see me, then I quickly but quietly shut the door in case anyone came into the kitchen. Raising my head, I stared at the interior in pure disbelief. “Oh, wow.” This wasn’t a pantry, it was more like a supersized storage facility. It had a huge wide aisle with shelves that went up to about ten feet high. They called this a pantry?

I realized I didn’t see Tito in here as I looked all the way down to the end of this wide aisle. “Where—?” I jumped as something grabbed my ankle.

“Shhh!”

Looking down, I saw an odd thing.

Tito had a hold of my ankle as he stood below me at the first level of the shelf. All that could be seen of him was his head and shoulders.

Blinking at him, I asked, “H-how…”

He stared up at me and asked, “Baby, what are you doing here?”

I told him the truth, “I followed you.”