Page 63 of Baby Surprise for my Brother's Best Friend

She stares at me, eyes narrowing, but her breath catches.

She picks up the box instead, fingers lingering on the lid a beat too long, like she’s trying to steady herself.

Her hand shakes almost imperceptibly before she opens it.

“Cannoli,” she says, teasing. “Let me guess. You saw them and thought of yourself?”

I grin. “I’m cream-filled and irresistible. What can I say?”

She laughs despite herself. It’s quiet, but it’s real.

She breaks off a piece and pops it into her mouth. Powdered sugar coats her lips, and I swear I lose a full second of thought.

She takes another bite, and her eyes flutter closed for a second. “Damn. That’s actually incredible.”

The little moan she lets slip might just kill me.

She licks the sugar away slowly. “You’re staring.”

“Can you blame me?”

She finally makes eye contact, that little grin still playing on her mouth.

The sight knocks the wind out of me, low and sharp.

My chest tightens with a hunger that’s not just lust. It’s need. The kind that makes you stupid and brave all at once.

She shakes her head. “You’re impossible.”

“Only for you.”

Her expression shifts just slightly, softer, warmer, and she tilts her head. “You keep feeding me like this, and I might actually start to like you.”

I lean back. “Careful,dolcezza. I might start hoping that’s true.”

But as I watch her walk away, still licking sugar from her fingers, one thought roots itself deep.

What happens after the merger? Do we go back to pretending none of this mattered… or is this just the beginning of something…real?

15

SOPHIE

I lean against the kitchen island, one hand gripping my coffee, the other scrolling through a flood of emails I’m too distracted to answer.

From the bathroom, Alessio hums off-key, loud, ridiculous, and completely unbothered.

I should be annoyed. I should be working. Instead, I’m wondering whether he’ll come out shirtless again.

Somehow, in between media cleanups and investor calls, I’ve started stocking his favorite cereal, ironing his collars, and arguing over tie colors like we’ve done this a hundred times before.

And ever since the night we fell into bed together, I can’t stop thinking about how he made me feel. The way he looked at me like I was the only thing that mattered. The way he made me come, hard and fast and with a depth that shattered something inside me.

No one’s ever touched me like that before, like my pleasure was the only thing he wanted in the world.

It was a mistake. Right?

But if it was... why do I want to make it again?

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