Page 42 of Reaching His Heart (The Sartoris 3)

Solette cocked her eyes at her. “Did you forget you live in paradise? I’m back in the real world, messing with things I probably shouldn’t.”

Shakarri moved her son to a spot she could watch him after she swiveled her chair around to face Solette. “Sweetie, you’re on easy street. Ezio didn’t make a fuss at all when you and Cason started seeing each other. That shocked the entire household. If you want to know about battling and the real world, a

sk Sonya. As far as I’m concerned, you’re in, and I liked you right from the start. Cason’s nuts about you. So what’s the deal?”

“Nuts?” Solette scoffed. “He does nothing other than try to get me to move in here.”

“Again, the problem?”

“He doesn’t love me.” Tears flooded Solette’s eyes, and she hiccupped. Embarrassed that she would get emotional that quickly, she scrubbed her face and worked to compose herself. “I know he wants me. Nobody knows that better than I do, but…”

“But he hasn’t made any declarations?”

“No.” Misery threatened to consume Solette. “You’re probably going to say it’s too soon, and I should be patient.”

“Nope. I wasn’t.”

Her calm demeanor stumped Solette. She couldn’t figure out what Shakarri was thinking any more than Cason. Maybe she wasn’t as good at reading people as she once thought. Then again, it could be her emotions running rampant. She wasn’t thinking clearly on several points.

Shakarri stood and moved to sit beside Solette. She raised Solette’s feet and set them on her lap then patted her leg. “Solette, you’re so sweet and innocent in your own way.”

Solette bristled, and her friend laughed.

“You have no idea how crazy that man is about you. Okay, so Cason hasn’t said it, but I’m telling you, he’s mad about you.”

“Why do you believe that?” Solette fought the feeling of elation hearing the words. Shakarri might be fooling herself.

“I know my brother-in-law.”

Doubt erupted.

“I see you don’t believe me.” Shakarri grinned. “When I first met Cason, he seemed so insincere. He’d flirt with me constantly, and Ezio didn’t say one word.”

“And I’m supposed to feel better about that?”

She laughed. “No, hear me out. He kept everything on a surface level all the time, so people who don’t know him well would think he didn’t care about anything. But then bam! He would do something so serious in protection of his family you wouldn’t believe it. All three of them are so family-loyal, and trust me. They will go to extremes in protection of their family.”

Solette nodded. “I believe that. It sounds consistent with who they are. What does that have to do with me?”

“Sweetie, he’s trying to get you under the umbrella where he identifies family. No one, and I mean no one lives in the mansion who isn’t family or staff. Ezio told me they don’t bring lovers to live here.”

“B-but Romy brought Sonya, and they weren’t married.”

“They have a son. She was family.”

Shakarri’s words blew her away, and Solette began to think about all Cason had said. “He gets so mad at me when I start asking about his health, as if he doesn’t want me to think about myself as his nurse.”

“Yeah, because you’re not staff, and he refuses to let you think about yourself in those terms. Granted, I think he needs to make himself plainer with words. But you can’t convince me Cason doesn’t love you. It’s so easy to see.”

“I wish I could see it.”

“You mean you wish you could trust your heart to accept it. You see it, my friend. All the time.”

Chapter 15

Cason tapped the airline tickets in his palm and thought about the trip he had planned. Would she accept it? She was so stubborn and so independent that she wouldn’t let him buy her anything. He’d give his right arm just to be able to do something for her and take care of her in some way. Otherwise, what the heck was his money for?

He paced the bedroom for a few minutes and then tucked the tickets back inside a drawer. Maybe later. A craving came over him to look into those big brown eyes, and he searched the house for her. She wasn’t in the usual places like one of the kids’ rooms visiting with Shakarri or the family room. He scanned the library and bypassed the offices on the first floor. Then he recalled how she loved the outdoors, but it was a rainy day. Well, couldn’t hurt to look.

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