Page 11 of Valentine Mine

“Make yourself at home, Violet,” Monroe implored.“We’re all family here.What’s ours is yours.”

Before I could thank her again, Gian nuzzled his nose against her ear.“Precious, let’s take a walk.I didn’t get to show you the waterfall during our last stay.”

“Is that code for you want to bone my sister in the jungle?”Maverick grumped, causing River to playfully kick at him to shush.“That’s a yes.Gross.I just threw up a little in my mouth.”

Lyric snorted but didn’t engage with his brother-in-law.“Seriously, Vi.Go change, and you and Shaw relax in the hot tub.Just looking at you in that thick hoodie is making me feel suffocated.”

“Getting rid of me?”I teased.

“Sure fucking am,” he admitted unabashedly.“As soon as you’re occupied, I’m taking my wife upstairs and fucking her until she can’t remember her name.”

“Gross,” Maverick gagged, earning him another kick and a giggle from his wife.

“You’re the only one I worry about being comfortable other than Mila this weekend,” Lyric continued.“If you’re comfortable, I know Shaw and Jagger won’t have anything to complain about.Luca will be happy that you’re happy.”

I hesitated, but he shooed me with a wave of his hand.His brown eyes were laughing, but he couldn’t hide the bit of concern I saw swirling in those ever-changing brown depths.“Go on.Get going.I don’t want to see you again until dinner.Your shit is already in your room.”

With a dramatic huff that had him laughing, I stood and glared down at him with my hands on my hips.“And where exactly is my room, sir douchebag?”

“There’s a double suite on the bottom floor in the southeast corner,” Monroe supplied, half distracted by Gian as he purred something in Italian at her ear.“I asked the housekeeper to give it to you guys.It opens up on to the beach.The view in the mornings is to die for.”

“Thank you,” I murmured, although I didn’t think she heard me.Or anyone else.Mainly her brother, who continued to make gagging noises.

Note to self: Donotgo in search of the waterfall.

Lyric caught my gaze and rolled his eyes before winking.Shaking my head, I sent him a small smile before going to find the others.It was a big, extravagant house.A little much for a private island that, according to Monroe, she’d only been to a few times in the years since Gian had gifted it to her for her thirtieth birthday.He tended to spoil her even more than Jordan Moreitti spoiled my cousin Arella.

Finding the southeast wing, I opened a few doors before I found what Monroe had said was a double suite.It had two bedrooms with a connecting bathroom.The rooms were decorated basically the same in soft, neutral tones, but the focal point of each one was the massive bed in the center of the space, set to face the sliding glass doors that overlooked the ocean, uninterrupted.

Bigger than what would be considered a California king, the beds could have easily held every couple on the island, although we would have been squished together.No one was in either room, so I picked one, deciding it would be Luca’s and mine.Given how plush the mattress looked, I stretched out in the middle of the bed, staring sightlessly up at the ceiling, pretending like I wasn’t procrastinating.

“Grow a pair, Vi,” I gritted out just as the bathroom door opened.

Shaw stuck her head into the bedroom.“Get your sexy ass up and in a bikini.Now.Lyric just told me about the hot tub.”

“It’s way too hot out for the hot tub, Shaw,” I whined.

“You have five minutes to get into a bathing suit, or you will be going in naked,” she warned.“Honestly, I prefer that.But do you really want to risk Luca and Jagger going feral if the other guys see us without tops on?”

CHAPTERTEN

luca

Jaggerand I were already in the tub with the jets blasting when Shaw walked out.Jags was in one corner, while I sat diagonally from him in another, waiting to get my first glimpse of Violet when she appeared.There was just enough room left for both our wives, and we had the bottles of chilled champagne and peach juice for the Bellinis Shaw wanted.

Maybe if we got Vi a little bit tipsy, she would be more at ease, more open.To tell me exactly what she was thinking.To be receptive to the affection I—and Shaw and Jagger—was ready to shower her with.Fuck, whatever she needed me to do to make her understand she was perfect the way she was.

As soon as Shaw sat on the edge of the spa tub, she kicked off her shoes and slipped her feet into the water.“Three more minutes, and then one of you is going to haul her perfect ass out here.Spank her if you have to.”

“She fucking needs it,” I griped.

“We agreed we were going with a soft approach,” Jagger reminded us, the voice of reason.“No putting her on the spot for not speaking up when her mental health began to deteriorate.What she needs is to be reassured with words and shown with actions that she is, without a doubt, a beautiful, desirable, sexy-as-fuck woman we love exactly as she is.”

“I thought I was doing that already.”Looking back, I still couldn’t pinpoint exactly when Vi had lost sight of her beauty.It must have been when I was busy with the press bullshit for the big game.Damn it!“How did I not realize something was going on sooner?We made love last night, and I didn’t even think about why the lights were off.Why did I let her hide from me?”

Shaw squeezed my shoulder.“I didn’t notice either.It wasn’t until this morning that I even felt a flicker that something wasn’t right.”

“Stop blaming yourselves,” Jagger snapped at us.“Vi knows the three of us better than we know ourselves.She hid this on purpose.We only got hints because she was finally ready to face it.I bet she was trying to make one of us confront her.”

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