absolutely zero memories uploaded to the spank-bank."
I laughed and Frankie's brows lifted, his grin growing wider.
Nicoli folded his arms. "You better had. She's had enough men leering at her in her lifetime."
"Firstly, I don't leer. I throw a glance and curl a single finger if I want a girl's interest and they come running. One girl even had an orgasm before she made it to my table in Paulo’s club once. Caused quite a fucking scene when she collapsed to the floor I can tell you. So if I turned on the charm you would be royally fucked, fratello - no offence Winter, but I am devilishly charming and impossible to resist. Plus I’m clearly the best looking brother. It's a plain fact." He grinned in a way that meant I couldn't quite tell if he was joking or not.
I tip-toed up to whisper something to Nicoli, struggling to get my voice to work for Frankie.
Nicoli roared a laugh. "She says, are you sure the girl had an orgasm and didn't just fall over your ego or slip in a pile of the bullshit that was coming out of your mouth?"
Frankie chuckled. "Did she now?" His eyes wheeled onto me and I blushed a little as I taunted him. "Well, fuck, funny and beautiful, why did you agree to be my brother's girlfriend again?" he teased.
Heat flooded my cheeks and I didn't know where to look as Nicoli cleared his throat uncomfortably.
"Woops-a-fucking-daisy, haven't had that conversation then I suppose?" Frankie threw his head back with a laugh. "Well, I’ve gotta go on a job I can’t get out of today, but as soon as I’m done, we’re going to have some serious bonding time, fratello. Sports channels, beers, pool, whatever the fuck you’re into. I just dropped by to let you know there'll be a delivery of clothes for you both soon and a doctor will be stopping by this afternoon to check you over. I’ll see you tonight."
Doctor?
"You couldn't have called with that information?" Nicoli asked as Frankie strode away.
"I don't have a landline here, Nicoli, I'm not a housewife in the nineties. But I will call in future. You both have new phones waiting for you in the lounge.”
“I have a phone,” Nicoli said.
“One that’s at least two centuries old and which you never answer. So now you have a shiny new phone. Enjoy.” Frankie smirked. “I’ll take Tyson with me too, he can have a run and then I’ll use him to scare the assholes I’m meeting with later."
I prodded Nicoli in the side when he didn't thank him and he grunted as he looked to me then sighed.
"Thank you," he called and Frankie laughed loudly again then whistled so Tyson bounded after him.
"Whipped!" he called back before the door sounded and when I glanced at Nicoli, there was a smile playing around his mouth.
He turned to me, sucking on his lower lip as his gaze dropped to my bare legs. "We need to talk, baby doll," he said in gravelly tone.
"About me being your girlfriend?" I asked playfully, my voice loosening with Frankie gone.
"No," he said seriously and my heart jolted. Oh. "Not that I don't want… I mean not that I - not that you-”
I laid a hand on his arm, giving him a look that said he didn't need to explain and he grabbed my hand, lifting it up and pressing a firm kiss to the back of it.
"What I'm trying to say is that the term girlfriend just sounds far too normal for you. If you agreed to taking a place at my side, I'd be fucking humbled beyond words. But I would want to claim you as something far better than a girlfriend. I'd want you to be my goddess, my queen, my savage girl."
"I will always be your savage girl, Nicoli," I said, breathless from his words as my heart ignited and happiness filled every space inside me. I had been shattered, altered, changed by everything I’d been through. I may never fit into normal society again, but it didn't matter with Nicoli. He accepted me as I was, no matter how many scars I had or how little I knew of my past. He wanted this version of me. And I wanted this version of him too. No matter what.
His eyes lit up and he turned away, towing me after him into the lounge and pulling me into his lap as he dropped onto the plush white couch. I curled