Page 18

TOXIC ROMANTIC

SANTINO

T he sounds of lively jazz drifted through the humid late June air as Santino arrived at the enclosed secret garden restaurant for his coffee date with his wife.

From what he’d seen of Montreal after landing at the airport that morning, it was really cool.

He hadn’t taken in any of the sights yet, but that was the last thing on his mind.

He’d known Vanessa had created a profile for herself on the app earlier that year when she’d started trying to date.

Quietly, he’d checked in to see if she was still active after her dates fizzled and disappeared.

There’d been no activity since she’d started seeing that redheaded motherfucker, then all of a sudden, after his “chat” with the man, she was back on with an updated bio.

The message she’d sent on the app had jolted the fuck out of him.

Had he pushed her so far over the edge with the Scott stunt that she was really going to fuck the first man that crossed her path?

He didn’t think she meant the comments about his abilities in bed, not judging by the way she reacted to him whenever he’d even so much as breathed on her.

He might not have been a boardroom asshole like Malone but he damn sure had been the boss of their bedroom and knew exactly what Vanessa’s beautiful body needed from him. The elevator had proven he still did.

Today, he was wearing a nice dark dress shirt and dark slacks.

It wasn’t how he typically liked to dress, but he knew she found it hot when he did.

Also, dark colors wouldn’t show stains if she flung her drink in his face before she got up and left.

She’d never done that before, but he knew there was a possibility.

He was out of options. This was it, the last chance to save this marriage.

The sun poured its light on the sidewalk outside the garden, but inside was shaded and cool.

There was a wall covered with trailing green vines behind rows of wood benches and tables.

And beside the patrons chatting and eating sat Vanessa, looking serene in her favorite hot pink sundress and those gold sandals he loved that wrapped around her ankles up to her shapely calves.

He was momentarily entranced by the slip of her hair against her smooth, sun-kissed shoulders, wishing he could be the sunshine that was allowed to touch her.

She had a legal notepad on the table and was bent over writing, most likely jotting down notes for a case.

He grinned despite his own nerves. Even here on vacation, she was hard at work.

Her ambition to strive, to be the best at whatever she put her mind to, was inspiring.

One of the many things he admired about her, even though he loved being the one to help her relax in every way possible.

“Is your party here, monsieur ?” the usher beside him inquired in accented English.

“She’s here,” he responded, then cleared his throat of the catch in it.

He squared his shoulders and strode forward in her direction. Sure enough, when she saw him, her eyes widened, then she looked down at her notepad, slapping it closed with a short laugh. Santino reached the table and held up a hand before she could stand up.

“Alright, I know,” he said quickly, sliding into the seat opposite hers. “I know I shouldn’t have resorted to tricks to talk to you, but you haven’t been giving me a lot of choices.”

“I was right. That was you. You’re…” She shook her head and laughed. “You’re funny. Real funny. Joke’s on me, I guess.”

“You knew that was me on the app,” he said with relief.

“DJ Jazzy Jeff. The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. You used to do the whole rap every time you saw a Will Smith movie come on TV. And also, your photo array. That beach shot was from our weekend in Cancun. You must think I’m really dumb.”

“It’s the opposite. But the fact that you did know, and you still came here anyway, means something. It means you wanted to see me.”

“It means I didn’t think you’d actually spend time and money to fly up here just to catfish me and make a fool out of me again ,” she said, her eyes blazing.

“I’d fly anywhere on this planet to be with you. Fuck that, the universe. So here I am. And I need you to listen to what I have to say.”

Vanessa stared back at him, her lips parting softly while confusion clouded her features. She sighed dramatically and huffed a short laugh, shaking her head.

“You know what? You’re gonna keep trying, so go ahead.

Go for it,” she encouraged him with a shrug.

Agitation rolled off her in waves as her dark eyes flashed.

“Let’s hear it, Santino. Shoot your shot.

Get it all off your chest once and for all, and then I’m out.

The judge will sign the divorce decree next time we see him, and that will be that. ”

“I came here to say…I’ll sign.” That stopped her cold.

Vanessa went silent, looking at him with searching eyes as if waiting for a punchline.

He took another bracing deep breath, then exhaled.

“I’ll sign the papers, but you have to make a deal with me first. Like they say, I’m gonna make you an offer you can’t refuse. ”

“What deal?” she asked, her voice still shaking but with a touch less outrage. “If you want out of paying support, I’m cool with that. None of this was ever about money for me.”

“I don’t care about the money either. I never have.

What I want is for you to stay with me here in Montreal for a week.

Be my wife. Give me whatever I ask for. And at the end of the week, if I haven’t changed your mind about the divorce, I’ll sign.

” His gaze dropped to the lush lips that had parted with a soft gasp of a laugh.

“Are you seriously asking me to let you use me like a fucking sex toy in exchange for signing? Like I’m supposed to whore my way out of my marriage? Interesting because your mother initially accused me of gold-digging to get into the family.”

Santino waved that off. “I love my mother, but you know I never gave a single fuck about what she believed when it came to you , tesoro . I knew your heart. I still do.” Her eyes went softer at his words, and he pressed on, encouraged.

“And you’re wrong if you think this is about me wanting a week of non-stop fucking and that’s all.

I mean, yeah, I do want to fuck you. Badly. ”

For a moment, unfiltered lust clouded her gaze. His eyes were pulled to her lips when she licked them, as if already tasting his kisses, tasting other parts of his body. Then she gave herself a little shake, and that desire turned to derision.

“If you just want to get your dick wet, there are less expensive and much easier ways to accomplish that, Santino. Don’t tell me you don’t have several women in your contacts list ready to give you whatever you want.”

Flushing, he felt the old frustration rear its head at her implication that she was just a warm body to him, interchangeable with other women like a spoke in a wheel.

“There is no one else,” he stated in a flat tone.

“I want time with my wife. I want us to have fun together again, not whatever it is we’ve been doing.

And I want to sleep next to my wife, and wake up with you there.

If I’m going to go without that for the rest of my life, I want our last time to be a good memory, not the way we left it. ”

Vanessa shifted in her chair. Maybe he was wrong, but he thought he saw a glimmer of sorrow in those dark velvet eyes.

“But you don’t like me,” she countered. “I don’t understand why you’d suddenly want this after three years of being an absolute asshole toward me unless this is about some other boy taking the toy you didn’t want. ”

“You know why I’ve been that way,” he said, his own voice lowered. “And it wasn’t all me. The last thing I’m expecting is for us to act like none of that happened. That’s not the point of this.”

“What is the point?” she asked, flustered.

“You’re the point. We’re the point. Despite everything, you’re still mine, and I’m here to prove it to you.”

Her eyes glittered at his words with defiance, but something more. “There are names for what you’re doing. Bribery. Coercion. Extortion,” she ticked off one by one.

“Arm-twisting, yeah, I get the point, Professor Donahue,” he said, twisting his lips at her.

Vanessa rolled her eyes, tapping her fingers on the table.

He could see the wheels turning in her head as she considered his offer.

“Just one week. Then we can part ways and I’ll never interfere in your life again. Unless.”

“Unless what?” she challenged him with a raised eyebrow.

“Unless you want to stay my wife. And to be honest, I do think that’s what you want.”

“It’s not,” she said, bristling.

“I’m betting it is. Betting big.”

“Bet all you want, I’m not staying married to you and I’m not fucking you. You can’t force that,” she said. Her voice was low yet fierce.

“ Tesoro , after what happened in that elevator, I know I won’t have to,” he reminded her. The flustered expression on her face was amusing. It was enough to stir his blood and excite him. “You want this dick. You want it every way I can give it to you.”

Her pretty nose flared. “Who says I do?”

“Five grand says you do.” The pulse at her throat fluttered quicker, and he smiled with satisfaction. “Either way, it’s happening. I’m not going down without one last fight.”

She turned her face away, only showing him her profile and her naturally curly lashes while she looked across the café. After a moment, she faced him again.

“Do you have any idea how crazy this sounds?” she asked softly. “How do you know I won’t just get up and leave right now, and have nothing to do with you after the judge says it’s over?”