Page 44 of The Veiling

A half-smile appeared on my face. “Okay.”

He waltzed to the door. I pulled the blankets up over me in case Joseph peeked in when Valentino exited, but he did not. He only mumbled to him in Italian. He was probably grumbling about us having sex or him taking too long. Maybe both.

“Valentino?” I blurted.

He turned around.

“You better be careful.” I crossed my arms over my chest, holding the blanket securely over my breasts. “Call me any chance you get. Be safe. Don’t make bad choices.”

He gnawed the inside of his bottom lip to hide the smirk.

“Come back to me alive and in one piece. He better not harm one hair on your head.”

Joseph peered around Valentino. “Isabelle, we have to go now. I’ll take care of him.”

“You better, and you better take care of yourself, too.”

“Baby,” Valentino interjected, “I’ll be in touch every chance I get, and if I can’t update you, I’ll have someone else do it.”

“Okay.” I was not satisfied with his response, but I let it go.

I did not want to hold him up any longer. I had already taken more of his time than I should have. He blew me a kiss as he closed the door. Huffing, I threw myself back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. I planned to get up and go bathe, but at some point, in the middle of the wheels spinning in my head and the worry of his trip, I fell asleep.

Rushing out of the house had been chaotic for me. I did not like just leaving Isabelle the way I did. She was worried sick about my trip. Everyone was on edge or tired from lack of sleep, so not much was said for the first half of the flight. I drifted off multiple times but could never get quite comfortable since my mind was all over the place.

Noah was sitting across from me, moving a finger back and forth across his bottom lip while he stared out the window.

“Why do you look worried about this?”

He did not respond.

“Noah.”

His gaze flickered to mine.

“What’s going on?”

He mumbled incoherently.

“What?” I pressed the button, sitting my chair upright. “What did you say?”

“I’m not worried aboutthis.”

“Then what are you worried about?”

He sighed as worry painted his entire face. “I think I accidentally asked Laura to marry me.”

“What?!”

Next to me, Joseph’s eyes popped open. “What?”

“Noah proposed to Laura.”

“No, I di—”

“What?!” Joseph coughed.

“I didn’t propose to her.” Noah exhaled, running his fingers through his hair. “At least I don’t think I did.”

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