“I can’t have you squirming in your seat all through dinner,” he scolds, as if I’m the one who did this to myself.

“But everyone’s going there now. Won’t they notice if we’re late?” Leo takes us outside the ballroom and makes an immediate turn, then another.

“Of course they will.” The gold in his eyes flares with anticipation. “Let them.”

Chapter Five

Leo

I can’t wait to fuck my fiancée. Her need comes off her in waves on the way up the stairs. The SUV wasn’t enough for her, and that thought thrills me. It wasn’t enough.

She wants more. From me.

In every way, which is why I’m doing this now.

Haley doesn’t just want fucking, though she craves what I do to her. She wants secrets. She wants to understand everything about me, even the parts of my life I thought I’d never reveal to anyone.

There’s a wing of the mansion she’s never seen. It served as the backdrop to my existence for many years. It didn’t cross my mind that I would bring Haley here until I saw her face by the Christmas tree.

This will be two gifts in one.

The wide hallway is hushed, sound muted by thick carpet runners. We pass by a member of the staff, who’s there to turn away people who aren’t from the family. He nods to us.

Haley’s breathing is much louder than the whisper of the heating system. Up here, the lights have been turned very low. Any guests who manage to escape the notice of the staff member will understand it’s a private space and go back.

Partway down the hall, I point at a door. “Lizzy,” I say.

“Her bedroom?” Haley’s eyes light up, and she parts her lips. I can hear the protest before she makes it. Haley will say I don’t have to do this, because she never wants to hurt me. She is careful with her touch and with everything she does because it is her mission in life not to cause me any more pain.

My mission in life is to give her anything she wants. To give her everything she wants. Everything that’s in my power to give her.

Haley meets my eyes. “I love you, Leo.”

“I have never loved anything more than you,” I tell her. “And yes. This is Lizzy’s bedroom, when she’s not at school.” We’re coming up on another door. “Sophia. Daphne. Carter. Tiernan.” So many Morelli children. So many doors. We reach the last one on this stretch of hallway. “Eva.”

I guide her around the corner and gesture to the far end of the hall, down by itself. “Lucian. Eldest son, biggest room.”

Haley’s eyes follow where I’m pointing, and then she glances at the door directly to our right. “You?”