by Penelope Sky
He still didn’t give me an answer.
“I know you said you didn’t want to be involved in anything—”
“I’ll do it. I couldn’t help you before, but I can help with you this. It’s just a conversation, right?”
I stared at the bathroom wall while a feeling of hope exploded inside my chest. “Thank you…so much.”
25
Cato
Bates stepped inside my open door. “Talk to her yet?”
I kept my eyes on my laptop. “You already know the answer.”
“Then let me rephrase it. When are you going to talk to her?”
“Bates.” I said his name in a warning tone. “Just butt out.”
“I’m your brother. It’s my responsibility to make sure you don’t do anything stupid. And that goes both ways.”
“You’re being stupid right now.”
He stepped back into the hall and gestured to someone. “There’s a few people here to see you.”
“Who?”
A tall man with dark brown hair stepped inside. With hazel eyes, tanned skin, and in black jeans and a matching shirt, he looked familiar right away. He was a man in his late fifties, but he moved like he was in his early twenties. He approached my desk, holding my gaze like he wasn’t afraid of me—but he wasn’t hostile either.
Siena walked in behind him, beautiful in a deep blue sundress and a yellow cardigan. Martina wasn’t with her. She looked slightly guilty for ambushing me, but she didn’t apologize for it.
I was angry with her, but it was hard not to love her when she looked so beautiful. Her hair was curled the way I liked, and she wore the bracelet I gave to her for Christmas. She stood beside the man I didn’t know. “Cato, this is Crow Barsetti…a friend of mine.”
Crow didn’t reach out his hand to shake my hand. Most men who stepped into this office immediately kissed my ass, but he didn’t bother with the practice. He gave a slight nod of acknowledgment.
I finally took my eyes off Siena to really look at Crow. “We’ve met before.”
“But it’s been almost ten years.” He lowered himself into the armchair and crossed his legs. “I hear you’re a fan of my wine.”
“I am.” I looked at Siena again, not understanding the purpose of this meeting.
She sat beside him. “You and Crow have a lot in common. I thought he could tell you his life story…and maybe it would resonate with you.”
I remembered she’d mentioned him recently, that he gave up his life in crime for a simple one in the countryside. He did it to protect his family, and now she wanted him to talk me into doing the same thing. The gesture annoyed me. “You think I give a damn what this man has to say? That’s his life—not mine.”
“Could you just listen?” she asked quietly. “It’s the least you could since I saved your life.”
She threw that in my face every chance she got. “Fine. But I want to talk to him alone.”
Siena stiffened at the request. “You can’t hurt him, Cato. Lay a hand on him, and I will take your daughter away.”
I didn’t appreciate the threat. It only escalated my rage. “You must think very little of me to assume I would hurt someone you consider a friend. Seems out of character for a man who retrieved your father’s body so you could bury him properly.” If she wanted to throw shit in my face, I could do the same to her.
Siena gave me a cold look before she walked out.
Now I was left alone with Crow Barsetti, the renowned winemaker who lived farther west in Tuscany than I did. “I know your story. I know you were a powerful arms dealer before the Skull Kings took over. Now you’ve disappeared into the countryside to make wine and spend time with your family. I understand the lesson Siena is trying to teach me.”
“Yet, you refuse to learn it.”
My eyes narrowed on his face, shocked that this man had the balls to speak to me that way.
“I see the way you look at her.” He ignored the glare of rage I threw at him. “It’s the way my son-in-law looks at my daughter, and my son looks at his wife. It’s the way I look at my wife—even though I’ve been married to her for over thirty years. You love her.”
“That’s pretty obvious.”
“But it’s not obvious why you aren’t being the man she deserves. A man can’t say he loves a woman unless he’s willing to give her everything she needs. That’s why a man is so choosy when looking for the right woman. Because a real man knows the sacrifices he’ll have to make once he says those words. We won’t sacrifice just for anyone. Only someone we can’t live without. Siena is clearly that person to you, yet you won’t do the right thing. That’s irresponsible, if you ask me.”
This guy had a lot of nerve. “Siena said you were going to share your life story, not provoke me.”
“You know my life story. You know I sacrificed everything the second my wife became pregnant. I knew we would never be safe until we gave up everything. And we were happy for a long time. When my son grew up, he got involved in the bullshit I tried to protect him from…and then the cycle started all over again. Men are easily attracted to ambition, money, and power—but nothing good ever comes from it. I was exactly the same way when I was your age. All I wanted was pussy, money, and power. But once I met that right woman…it all turned to bullshit. I wouldn’t trade my quiet life in the countryside for all those years of power. Never. It’s hard to make that transition, I understand. But your family will always be at risk until you do. You’re arrogant enough to think you can keep them safe, but you can’t. Someone will outsmart you someday…and you’ll lose everything.”
I loved my daughter so much, and I would die if anything ever happened to her. She couldn’t even talk yet, and I already had a connection with her. When I stopped by Siena’s home to see Martina, I was nearly brought to tears when she was in my arms. She stopped crying the second I held her—and I knew that was because of me.
“Is it really worth the risk, Cato?” This man had walked through the door and immediately patronized me, but there was something about him that prevented me from retaliating. “You miraculously found the woman you love and have a daughter together. Does anything else really matter?”
“You’ve made your point, Crow.”
“I hope I did. Siena is a good kid. She’s been through a lot. I used to be friends with her father, and I saw him make the same mistakes you’re making now. He thought he was invincible…until his luck ran out. You could ask him if he has any regrets…but he’s stuck in a grave with his wife.”
I couldn’t even contemplate the idea of Siena being dead, because it made my hands shake. I loved her more than I loved myself. I loved Martina more than anything else in the world, including Siena.
Crow stared at me for a while. “Money doesn’t matter, Cato. When you’re sitting at the dinner table with your wife and kids…you’ll see that it doesn’t make a difference. Family is the only thing that matters.”
I arrived at Siena’s house later that evening. All the lights were on in the windows, and my men were spread around the perimeter to make sure no one crossed the property line without permission.
My eyes lingered on the front door, and I remembered all the nights I would stop by unannounced. I’d pick the lock and help myself inside like I owned the place—like I owned her. Then I’d take her body well into the night, coming inside her as much as I could because it gave me more pleasure than anything else in life. Her home was cozy and comfortable, possessing a charm my estate could never replicate.
Probably because it was filled with her presence.
I walked up to the door, and instead of letting myself inside, I knocked.
“It’s open,” she called from within.
I stepped inside and heard Siena washing the dishes in the kitchen. The faucet turned off, and she walked back into the living room to greet me. She didn’t seem surprised to see me, like she’d been expecting me all night.
“Where is she?” I wasn’t here for Martina, but I wanted to ask an
yway.
“She’s asleep in her room. You can see her if you want, but try not to wake her up. It took me forever to get her down…”
Because she didn’t like it here. She wanted to see both of us together, to see us happy again. She was just a baby, but she picked up on the moods in the room. I’d promised her I would never leave her, that I would come home every night. I’d already broken that promise.
Siena didn’t come close to me. She purposely kept space between us, like we were strangers rather than lovers. “I’m sorry I asked Crow to stop by. I just thought…maybe he could give you his spin on things.”
“You really want me to quit, then?”
She sighed, like the question pained her. “I just want us to be safe.” Her hand moved over her stomach, just the way she did when she was pregnant. “This is the only way to accomplish that.”
My eyes lingered on her hand, the way she clutched herself.
“I love you.” She said the words with watery eyes. “I miss you. I want us to be a family again. But I can’t risk anything happening to our children. If that ever happened, I would never forgive you…”
I wouldn’t forgive myself. I stepped closer to her, still looking at her stomach. “Baby?”
She lifted her gaze to look at me.
My hand moved over hers as my pulse quickened in my throat. My breath came out shaky as the possibility popped into my mind. “Are you pregnant?”
She didn’t answer, but she didn’t need to. Her watery eyes told me everything.
“We’re having another baby.” Both of my hands moved to her stomach. She was flat like she used to be, but knowing there was more life inside her excited me all over again. “That’s…great.”
“Is it?” she whispered. “We’re having another baby, but we aren’t a family.”
“Of course we’re a family—”
“Not if we’re apart. Not if you won’t do everything you possibly can to protect us. You don’t deserve us if you’re unwilling to do the right thing.” She stepped back so my hands would slip away. More tears emerged from her eyes.
“Siena—”
“I don’t want to hear you talk if you’re just going to say the same thing.”
“I’m not.”
She let out the breath she’d been holding, the hope entering her gaze like a beacon.
I bowed my head as I collected my thoughts, trying to think of a starting point. I lifted my gaze again to look her in the eye. “I told you my company has turned me into a man. It molded me, shaped me. It’s my identity. Without it, I didn’t know what or who I was. I would just be an ordinary man…but then I realized that’s the version of me you love anyway. That without that company, I’m still me. I’m still the powerful, rich man who made his own way in life. Even if I give everything to Bates, it’ll always be part of me. But it’s time to put it up in the past and think about the future. I would be a terrible father if I continued on my same path and assumed there wouldn’t be consequences. I don’t want to be like your father, Siena. I don’t want to make those mistakes…and I won’t.”
She breathed a sigh of relief, her hand moving over her stomach again. “Good…”
“So I’ll give you what you want.”
She wiped her tears away, tears of happiness.
“But I want something in return.”
“Anything,” she whispered. “I’ll give you anything you want, Cato.”
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the ring, the ring I’d wanted her to wear a few weeks ago. Sleek, elegant, and simple, it was perfect for her. I held it up to her, the band squeezed between my thumb and forefinger. “Put this on. Never take it off.” I grabbed her left hand and slipped the ring onto her finger, not waiting for an answer.
She smiled through her tears, her bottom lip quivering. “I promise.” She extended her hand to admire the ring before she moved into my chest and kissed me. Her fingers dug into my hair as she kissed me hard, like she’d been fantasizing about this moment forever. “I know you want to see Martina, but—”
I stripped off my jacket and loosened my tie. “I’ll see her in the morning.”
Her ankles were locked together behind my back as her fingers dug into my hair. She moaned every time I thrust deep inside her, having already reached her climax a minute after we started. “Cato…I love you.”
I was already so hard for her, but now I got a little harder. She was pregnant with our second child, so she became even more irresistible. Now, she was whispering her love for me, saying my name with the kind of sexiness other women couldn’t pull off. “I love you too, baby.” Two weeks had come and gone without this. Two weeks too long. I wanted this every night for the rest of my life, even if I had to give up everything to have it.
She grabbed my ass and pulled me deep inside her. “Come inside me.” She looked into my gaze as she waited, her lips open with her deep breathing. A sex-crazed look was in her eyes, like she wanted to get off on the feeling of my come. “Please…” She guided my strokes, making them smooth and long.
I moved deep inside then released, dumping all of my seed with a groan so loud it would probably wake up Martina. But I didn’t care in that moment. I wanted to fill my woman while she wore my diamond ring on her finger.
“Yes…” Siena squeezed her thighs around my waist as she enjoyed the feeling of my come inside her. “That felt so good.”
I kissed both of her tits before I slowly pulled out of her. I lay beside her, feeling all the stress leave my body now that I was reunited with her. I hadn’t jerked off once because I’d been too depressed. Now we were reunited—in the sexiest way possible.
And we had another baby on the way.
I placed my hand over her flat stomach. She’d just gotten back into shape, but now that belly would get big all over again. The bigger she got, the more it would turn me on. Then we would have two babies crying throughout the night.
I looked forward to it.
We were both hot and sweaty, but that didn’t stop me from holding her. I hiked her leg over my hip so I could bring us close together. My arm clung to her lower back, and I rested my face close to hers.
Now everything felt right.
I was a whole again.
And I didn’t have any regrets about the decision I had made.
“Cato?”
“Yes, baby?”
“When did you want to get married?”
“Honestly, I haven’t put any thought into it at all. Why?”
“Well, I don’t want to be humungous when I get married…”
“What does that mean?” Even when she was eight months pregnant, I hadn’t considered her to be humungous. I considered her to be my beautiful, very pregnant, lady.
“Could we get married soon? Like next week?”
“Is that enough time to plan a wedding?”
“I thought we would just go to the town hall and then have a nice dinner somewhere.”
I always thought women wanted a fancy wedding, especially since I could throw the biggest wedding of the century. “You don’t want a wedding?”
“What for?” she asked. “We aren’t close with that many people. It’s just about us anyway.”
“But you need to get a dress made.”
“I already have a dress.”
“You do?” asked.
“My mama’s.” She looked at my lips as she smiled at me. “I’ve always wanted to wear it.”
It was the sweetest thing I’d ever heard her say. Made me wish I’d met her sooner, that way I could have protected her parents from their untimely deaths. “That’ll be nice.”
“I think so too.”
“But you really want to do something so simple as going to the town hall?”
She shrugged. “I honestly don’t care where we do it, but planning something elaborate seems unnecessary. We already live together and have a daughter together. I care more about being husband and wife than the actual wedding. That’s what I’m excited
for.”
When she painted a picture like that, I knew I wanted it too. “That sounds good to me.”
“So, we’ll go to the town hall than have dinner together.”
“How about we have dinner under the stars like last time?” I asked. “We can have our first dance. Have our privacy. And this time, I don’t have to worry about you rejecting me because you’ll already be my wife.”
She chuckled. “Sounds smart.”
“Then it’s a plan.”
Bates sat across from me, unable to wipe the smirk off his face. “I’m glad you came to your senses.” He signed the sheet then passed it to me.
I clicked my pen then added my signature to the bottom. “Siena is too.”
“Because you were being a huge asshole.” He signed the next paper and handed it over.
“Yes…I’m aware.” I added my signature.
We kept up the system, getting through all the legal documents we needed to sign to get my name off all the official paperwork. I wanted the public to believe I’d really stepped aside, and the best way to do that was to make it official in the eyes of the law.
“You think you can handle all this?” I asked.
Bates scoffed. “I did most of the work anyway.”
I glared at him.
“Okay, maybe I didn’t. But I know I can always call. So, what are your plans? Going to open a new business?”
I shrugged. “I’ve got another baby on the way, so I’ll probably just stay home for a while.”
Bates stopped signing and gave me an incredulous look. “Wait, you guys are having another baby?”
I nodded. “Siena told me last night.”
“No way. Congratulations. Shit, two babies? One right after another?”
“Yep. I want a third, but I don’t think she’ll go for it.”
“Good thing you quit. It would have been impossible to work and have two young kids at home.”
“Siena could have handled it, but I’m glad to be a part of it. I like being a father… It’s nice.”
Bates didn’t tease me for the comment. “I think fatherhood suits you. Our dad was a piece of shit, but you’re father of the year. It’s funny how things work out sometimes.”