Destined For You (The Ludovica Siblings #3)

Nineteen | Care

And the sound of his laughter caressed and made a home deep in my heart.

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I got freshened up in a spare bathroom and he was still showering when I stepped inside the walk-in closet, running my hand over his clothes hanging neatly.

I grabbed a pair of black pants and kept them aside. Finding a black shirt, I kept it over the pants.

Today, he will dress according to me.

"What are you doing, wife?" I heard him drawl.

I turned around to face him and my throat went dry at the sight of him leaning against the door frame in just a towel wrapped loosely around his waist and droplets of water falling from his hair.

Okay, I gotta give thanks and credit to my Dad for getting me a husband as hot as him.

Maybe an arranged marriage wasn't such a bad idea after all.

Pushing off the door frame, he stalked to me until he was in my personal space, looming over me.

Grabbing a strand of my hair, he played with it and ran his knuckles down my cheek.

He glanced at the clothes I picked out for him and there was an amused tilt to his lips. "Picking out clothes for me, wife?"

"Yes." My voice came out a little breathy so I quickly cleared my throat. "Yes. I want you to wear this today."

"Just pants and a shirt?"

"No, wait." I picked out a black suit jacket for him and held it to him. "I want you to wear all black today."

"Okay."

Smiling, I moved out of the closet to let him change.

Hardly a minute had passed and he opened the door wearing pants and the shirt with all its buttons undone. "Help me?"

Gulping, I joined him back in the closet. He was perfectly capable of buttoning up his shirt, yet he asked me to.

Licking my lips, I started to slowly button him up from bottom to top, his eyes on me.

As I reached up, I left the top two buttons undone. "Just keep it like this."

"You want me to dress informally?"

"Yes. It looks good."

"Okay." He chuckled softly and I held the suit jacket open for him and he put his hands through it.

I brushed my fingers over the jacket, removing the wrinkles and adjusted his lapels.

I stepped back to admire my work and I smiled proudly because he looked dashing as hell.

His lips twisted up into a smirk. "I am glad you like the view, wifey."

"Well, I dressed you so of course I do. By the way, what time will you come back? The usual?"

"Work these days is not hectic but I am meeting with Anthony today. If you want I can come back home earlier."

"Hmm, I don't like Anthony."

Sighing, he pulled me closer by my waist, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. "I don't like him either. But the deal that I am trying to score with him is extremely important. I wanted to end everything with him just because of how he looked at you but...I can't, I am sorry."

"It's okay. He seems like a dangerous guy though so please be careful with him."

"Worried about me, my little hellion?" He easily diverted the topic.

"No. I am worried about all the hard work I will have to do to find another guy after your demise."

He pinched my waist, leaning down. "What did I say about finding other guys? There will be no other guys."

"That's sad."

His left eye twitched and just to put him out of his misery, I said, "Okay, okay. I won't talk about other guys. Happy?"

A small smile touched his lips. "Only mine." And he punctuated that with a possessive kiss to my forehead.

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Sprawled over the couch in the living room, I watched the TV with half-closed eyes.

It seemed like I had caught the flu, my nose was itching weirdly since morning and now it was running and my body felt exhausted.

I checked the time and waited for Ezekiel to come back home so that I could ask him to pick me up and bring me to bed because I had no energy left at all.

Time slowly trickled by and soon I heard the front door being opened and relief coursed through me.

"Chiara?" He slowly walked to me. "What's wrong?"

"I think...I have a fever..." I trailed off, almost on the verge of falling asleep and now that he was here, I knew he would take care of me.

He was immediately by my side, pressing his palm to my forehead. "You are burning up. I'll call the doctor. Come here."

He placed his laptop bag away and I was picked up in his arms. I snuggled closer to him, enjoying his warmth.

Soon enough, I was placed on our bed and covered with the duvet.

I closed my eyes and a minute later, he put a thermometer in my mouth and called the doctor.

The moment he removed the thermometer, I fell asleep.

Somewhere in between I remember him waking me up and feeding me some soup before I drifted off again.

I woke up once again to me shivering badly and I think I heard him curse and then he was right behind me, joining me inside the duvet and wrapping his arm around me.

I rolled over and buried my face in his chest. "I...I am...sorry...for being...a trouble..." I mumbled.

I gasped when he grasped my chin in between his fingers firmly and lifted my head.

He glared at me. "Don't ever say that again." He looked pissed off. "You will never be a trouble to me, do you understand?"

"But..."

"No buts. I am not caring for you right now just because you are my wife or you are under my roof but because I truly care for you. I really do. And if something were to happen to you..." He shook his head. "I can't even bear the thought of it."

"I think...you... don't hate me...anymore..."

"I think I never did. I always tried to but goddamn it, Chiara, you always managed to soften my heart for you."

Exhausted, I pressed my face into his chest once again. "I never...hated you...too."

He planted a kiss on my hair. "I know."