Free Formidable: Shifters Forever Worlds (Ever After Dark Book 1) by Elle Thorne Page A

heart, and in his life.
    Veila ran up to Gio, her face flushed and lips curved into a wide grin. “Guess what! Just guess!”
    “What’s that, little tigress?” He pulled Veila into his arms, barely able to contain her, wriggling from excitement. He adored his little tiger shifter daughter and wouldn’t want the world to know she had him twisted around her pinky finger.
    He sat her in her seat, pushing the chair in, then held one out for Isabel who took a spot, her scent fragrant from the shower, hair gleaming in the sunlight.
    Vittorio took a seat opposite Veila, to the right of Gio’s chair.
    “You don’t need to hire a nanny! That’s what!”
    Gio glanced at Vittorio who looked at his father and nodded. “Veila’s right. You don’t need to.”
    Gio made a show of taking his time to sit, arranging the napkin in his lap, then cocked his head to the side, wondering what his little ones had been up to. “Is that right? And why not? Will you be caring for yourselves? Teaching yourselves?”
    “No!” Veila shook her head vehemently. “Isabel agreed to stay.”
    Isabel had been lifting a glass of water to her lips. She lowered the glass. “Wait. What? That’s…”
    “You said you would.” Veila pouted.
    “True,” Vittorio agreed. “You did.”
    “I agreed to a visit,” Isabel countered. “Do not try to con me into being your nanny.”
    Gio looked at his son. “You’re trying to con her?”
    “I’m going to be alpha one day,” Vittorio announced. “I don’t need to con anyone. They have to listen to me. And from now on you will call me Vax.” He crossed his arms over his chest.
    Gio frowned at his headstrong son. Movement caught his eye. Isabel was nodding slowly, barely perceptible, giving Gio the clue that he should acquiesce.
    “So, Vax is what you’ll be called?”
    His son looked at him, as if not quite believing that his father would agree to this, then gave a nod.
    “Then Vax it is. Though you know that’s not my preference.”
    Another nod from his son.
    A tiny smile crept to Isabel’s lips, curving them just so. They were still swollen and pink colored, reminding him of their kiss.
    They ate slowly, extending the meal into a long visit with his children. He enjoyed watching the way their faces lit up when they talked to Isabel, how engaged and happy they seemed.
    They dined on light fare, making the conversation noncommittal while Gio couldn’t stop thinking about Isabel. About keeping her there. Keeping her with him. Forever.
    Maybe that’s what prompted him to ask, “How long will you be staying?”
    Isabel gave him a questioning glance, a hint of darkness behind her eyes flared into an amber glow as her tigress surfaced.
    “Go with Uncle Tito. I’ll come find you later,” Gio told his children. He was due a day with them. They’d become strangers to him, he’d been so busy with Tiero corporate interests and shifter business.
    Tito took them by the hand and they walked away.
    “Let’s take a walk.” He led her to the garden in the back.
    Isabel walked next to him, her strides keeping up with his.
    For a long time, they walked in silence, a comfortable serenity between them.
    Finally, Gio cleared his throat. “So back to my unanswered question,” he said, “How long will you be staying?”
    “How long will my invitation be extended?”
    “Indefinitely.” He nodded, remaining cool, though in his chest, his tiger roared with a pleasure that threatened to make Gio’s head explode. “I need to tell you something. Federico called. Your sister’s attempt to save the stonebound lion worked. They are on the way back.”
    “That’s good. I’m sure that Ana’s happy. Though I don’t know how well this will sit with Bruno when he returns. Hopefully, Tino will have cleared out and left before Bruno does come back.”
    “There’s been an issue.”
    Isabel stopped walking. “What sort of issue?”
    “Bruno walked in. Went nuclear on my men. They didn’t know. They