Page 107 of Savage Vows

Even in such a short time, she’s gotten to me.

I yearn to have her in my arms, my bed, my life. I have to make love to her, to possess her.

Without her, my life is empty.

“I’m sorry, Matteo.” She clears her throat. “Are you still there? I had something I needed to take care of.”

“Five minutes,” I hear Nico say in the background, his words carrying a stern warning. “Or else.”

“Look,” I cut to the chase. I want what Nico and Bella share, what my parents had. “Just tell me how to get through to her.”

“I can’t,” she admits.

I pull the phone away from my ear and scowl at the device. What the fuck does she mean, she can’t?

“This needs to come from you, from your heart. You need to figure it out.”

She’s the damn communications specialist we’ve hired to craft the perfect message. “Bella?—”

“You’re the Don. You’re negotiating peace treaties, trying to avoid war.” She’s quiet before finishing with, “Give this the same consideration. Think it through. What doesshewant? What would make her happy? How can you give her what she needs?”

I’ve been accustomed to putting others’ needs before my own, but not with my wife.

“How can you be the right man for her? I’ll give you a hint. It has to do with getting real.”

Even though she hasn’t given me specifics, she’s given me the world.

“You can do this, Matteo.”

“Bella!” Nico calls in the background.

“I’m sorry,” she says to me breathlessly. “I need to go.”

With that, she’s gone.

I sit back down in my chair, staring at the phone in my hand, as if trying to conjure the words I need.

Maybe nothing in my life has been more important than this moment.

Thoughts collide, coming and going, but none of them are right. I’ve never been good at apologies. Not the kind that matter.

And since Clara, I’ve avoided emotions as well.

Finally, following Bella’s advice, I open my heart.

After all, I’ve already lost Alessia. What else do I have to lose?

I agonize over my message, changing the words and punctuation a dozen times, imagining how she will react when she looks at her screen.

What I have to say is inadequate, but it’s all I have.

Finally I hit send.

Then, my heart thumping like it never has before, I come to my feet.

And I wait…

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

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