money and all the women in the world hadn’t made me happy. So far, there was only one thing that ever made me smile—and I was looking at her. “It’s not just about the money. It’s about the accomplishment. It’s about growing something you created.”
“I understand that, but you’re already on top of the world, Cato. Do you really need to grow it anymore?”
“If you aren’t growing, you’re stagnant. And if you’re stagnant, that’s a red flag.”
“But when you’re a multibillionaire, who cares?”
“It keeps everyone in line.”
“That is way too much work,” she said. “There’s not enough money in the world to make me sacrifice my life like that.”
“But it’s given me the ability to take care of you, to give you a luxurious life that makes you feel safe.”
Instead of being touched by what I said, she shook her head slightly like I’d said the wrong thing. “We could be living at my old place, and that would be just fine. As long as we have food on the table and electricity, our happiness would be exactly the same. You could do your share of the work by keeping me warm at night.”
The memory of her house brought me an unexpected bout of longing. There was something about that cozy house I loved. It was simple, peaceful. My estate was a comfortable palace, but it lacked that quality. “Or I could fix your furnace.”
“Like you know how,” she teased. “And paying someone to fix it doesn’t count.”
“I have more talents besides making money.”
“Like sex?” she asked. “I’ll give you that.”
That was quite a personal comment to make in front of Giovanni, but I didn’t care.
“Back to the point,” she said. “Let’s put up a Christmas tree. That entryway is so tall that we could put up something big with lots of lights and decorations.”
“I don’t have any.”
“Then we’ll go buy them. Come on. Please?”
If this was so important to her, I wouldn’t deny her. “I have work tomorrow.”
“Whatever. Blow it off. When you’re dead, you can’t take that money with you. And your legacy, your daughter, isn’t going to remember how much money you made. She’s going to remember your laugh and your smile. She’s going to remember all the time you spent together. You’ve conquered the business world. Now you need to focus on conquering the personal world.”
We bought the biggest tree we could find. Thirteen feet tall, it was a tree that wouldn’t fit into an average house. We picked out the lights and decorations from a holiday shop then went across the street to get hot chocolate.
She sat across from me at a table by the window, her eyes lit up brighter than the Christmas trees inside the windows of the shops. She had an ethereal glow that had nothing to do with the pregnancy. Her smile was so natural and infectious, bringing a warmth that was hotter than the hot chocolates in our hands.
I’d lost track of what she’d said because I was staring at her so intently. This woman had been the only one in my bed more than half a year. I still had the urge to fuck her in the alleyway, still wanted to hop in with her in the shower, and still wanted to take her missionary so I could watch her face while I fucked her. Now I slept with her every night, and all the cuddling didn’t bother me. I liked feeling her next to me because I knew exactly where she was, that she was safe.
“Cato?”
My eyes focused on the words coming out of her mouth. “Yes?”
“Some guy came up to the window and took our picture with a big camera.” She pointed to the window, which had frost filling up the corners.
“Yeah, they do that.” I hadn’t been photographed in months because I never went out anymore. I went straight home after work, and my property was closed to the public so they couldn’t see Siena inside. Now that we were out and about, shopping for Christmas decorations, it was the perfect opportunity to catch me off guard. “But you knew that already since you stalked me.”
“And you just ignore it?”
I shrugged. “Nothing I can do about it anyway.”
“Couldn’t you threaten to kill anyone who publishes it?”
“It’ll still circulate online. I could take everything down, but having those pictures still helps my image. If anyone wants to know, they’ll see how fascinated the world is with me.”