by Fiona Murphy
Even though Pop doesn’t have towels, he has enormous bath sheets, it still takes two to lay under Luca to keep the bed from getting wet. It’s close enough to the time his pills should be wearing off that he takes a few more before we begin.
“Why?” I worry he’s in more pain than he’s admitting to and if I shouldn’t do it.
“Because I don’t want you worried you’re hurting me when we’re done and I pull your pussy over me to eat as a thank you.” I shake my head. “And because I need you, mi amore. It’s been three whole days since I tasted you.”
This man. I’m sure as heck not doing that. But I decide not to argue with him. I just won’t go along when he tries it. I sigh all over again at the thought of how there were so many knife wounds over his chest, back, and sides they had simply wrapped the gauze all the way around him rather than covering each wound.
“They barely sting. I promise,” Luca murmurs as he wipes the tears I hadn’t realized had escaped.
Pressing my lips closed, I only nod. Not trusting myself to cry harder if I open them.
As I run the sponge over his stomach, going lower with each swipe, all over again I marvel at how beautiful his body is. Even this part of him that shouldn’t be. He’s hard and as I clean him, I slow to savor the feel of him, the strength of him. Then I give in to need and lick the tip of him weeping with precome. Last night, I’d been so worried about being gentle and more than a little greedy. Today, I take my time with him, teasing him more than I ever have. Running my tongue over every inch of him over and over again until he’s trembling beneath my touch. A growl is my warning before Luca’s hand goes into my hair and takes over, and I glory in the way he commands my body for his pleasure. When he comes with my name on his lips, I’m a conquering queen as I watch his body shudder.
I finish cleaning him with his eyes still closed as he recovers, content with Luca floating on the edge of sleep. Happy I can give him this.
“That smug smile. I love it.” The words are husky with sleep and desire.
“I like taking care of you too,” I admit.
“What I really love is how wet swallowing my cock makes you. I can smell you, Bella, come here.” His hand wraps around my wrist.
I shake my head. With a strength I didn’t think he had, Luca pulls me to him then lifts me up over him just the way he said he would. I’m wearing the pink sundress that I wear often because it’s Luca’s favorite. My panties are torn off me as I catch myself against the headboard.
His groan has me scared it’s of pain, until he licks me. “So fucking wet, I love it. Sweet and pink like cotton candy. I could eat you all day long. That’s it, Bella, give me all of you.”
It doesn’t matter how many times he’s done this, his dirty words of enjoyment have me blushing even as I love the way he devours me as if he were starving. My orgasm hits me with the force of a tidal wave. I cling to the headboard trying not to go under, afraid of falling on him. Luca doesn’t even slow down, and I know it’s going to be one those times where he sends me over and over again until I can barely remember my name, let alone his. And oh god, I’m not wrong. I lose track of time and my sanity as well as count of how many times Luca pushes me over the edge.
I’m a shivering mess when I come to beside Luca without any memory of how it happened. Blinking, I find Luca on his side, watching me. His grin is wicked. My heart thumps painfully. I catch his hand and hold it against my chest. He understands and now his smile is tender. Leaning over, he kisses me gently. I taste myself on his tongue. With Luca I’ve become used to it.
A finger caresses my cheek. “I love you, Bella Sabatini.”
“I love you, Luca Sabatini.”
“Pop just texted he’s back in Chicago. He brought back something for you I asked him to get. It’s not here though. We have to go see it.”
“He texted?”
Luca laughs. “You were a little out of it.” I roll my eyes at his smug grin. “We need to get up and go.”
I shake my head. “Whatever it is can wait. You need to rest still. We can go in a few days.”
He rolls off the bed, then grabs my hand, tugging me after him. “When you see what it is you won’t agree. I’m good. Come on. I’ll let you help me get dressed though.”
Damn it. He has that light in his eyes. I get up and follow him into the walk-in closet. Although he moves slow and every movement is measured, he does better than I expect. The stairs we take very slowly, and I notice his knuckles are white on the banister. Biting my tongue, I simply keep my hand on his other arm as we get to the bottom of the stairs.
Pop is waiting, he shakes his head at Luca.
“I told him it could wait, but he wouldn’t agree.” I sigh.
“I’m fine.” Luca grits out.
“Crap, let me go get your pain pills.” Turning, I run upstairs.
I’m back in only a few minutes to find Christy with Santino and Luca and Pop nowhere in sight. “Where did they go?”
“Car already. How is Luca, really?” she asks.
I shrug. “Better than I thought he would be. But whatever this surprise is should have waited for at least a few days.”
Christy chuckles. “I think it’s worth it. Luca does too. Go on.”
Going outside, I find Luca in the front seat and Pop driving. I get into the backseat and hand Luca his pills with the bottle of water he hadn’t finished from earlier. He takes two then sighs as his head goes back.
It doesn’t take long before we’re pulling up outside a small bungalow with a ramp outside it. “Is it the house?” I’m confused.
Luca gets out, then opens my door. “It’s inside.” We’re walking slowly up the ramp. “Remember how Mundo told you that your mother was killed in a car accident? You found the news article on the accident but nothing on her death. That’s because she didn’t die in the accident.” He stops as we get to the wide porch. “It was a bad accident, she injured her spine and is in a wheelchair. Mundo tried to talk her into telling you she was alive when you went to Dallas, but she was afraid of being a burden on you. She’s inside.”
I’m shaking my head, unable to comprehend what he’s saying. My mom is alive? A wheelchair? I sway, and Luca catches me tight against him.
“I’m right here, mi amore. She took some convincing but Pop says she’s afraid of you. That she thinks you resent her for not saving you from the marriage, from your father.” Eyes wide, I shake my head. I can’t believe she is afraid of me. “You want to go in and tell her that?”
I nod but I don’t move.
His hand goes up my back, soothing, gentle. “You can do it. One foot in front of the other.”
Taking a deep breath, I reach for the door.
It’s really her. Thank god Luca’s arm is still around me; he tightens his grip to keep me standing.
She looks so much older; deep lines of pain and time cover her face I once thought was so beautiful. Her long blonde hair is streaked heavily with gray. “Mama?”
“Bella boo, I’m sorry, baby.” She opens her arms to me and I fall into them.
***
Luca
Watching Bella with her mother makes the pain worth it, although I’m a little worried about how much I really am wishing I hadn’t left my pain pills in the car. It’s been almost three hours since we got here and I’m hurting badly. I sent Pop home after twenty minutes and Bella was only just finally able to stop crying. I probably should have gone with him, but although Bella was happy, she had clung to my hand.
In the end, Bella’s mom, Katherine, had come willingly because Christy talked her into it. It’s clear Katherine is wary of me and Pop as mafia. I also had to bite my lip to keep from laughing when Bella had come close to snapping at her mom for voicing her concern over our relationship. It was a marriage, not a relationship, and Bella was happy and that was all that mattered. Katherine quickly agreed, the moment passed, and I have a feeling she’ll never say anything again.
I’m concerned when Bella re
fuses to discuss the time before she came back to America. But I get it’s for her mom and not because it upsets Bella. It is a little embarrassing when Bella makes me sound like a cross between a superhero and Casanova. I do believe having Katherine here will be the best thing for the both of them. Katherine still clearly loves her daughter very much. It’s a shock when I find out she’s only forty, as she looks much older. Augusto had kidnapped and raped her when she was fifteen years old and held her until she was sixteen.
Katherine only now tells Bella her parents had refused to ever see her again, believing Katherine had chosen to go with Augusto. It seems there were many things Katherine had hidden from Bella to protect her. Today they all came out. It’s painful for the both of them, but I voice the belief it’s best they start new with all of it out in the open, then they can move on.
I share my hope that she’ll come live with us when our home is finished. The carriage house will be a smaller place than this, but it will be functional for her. She’s excited and accepts. Both of them are already talking about the babies.
Just as I’m thinking I can’t take another minute, Bella pulls out her phone and works it for a minute. “I’m sorry. But I’m really tired. I need a nap. I’ll be back soon though, tomorrow. I promise.” She looks to me. “I just texted Pop to come pick us up. I can come back tomorrow?”
“Of course. I’ll have Pop get you a car later today,” I promise her. “I’ll leave you two alone and go wait for Pop.”
Shaking hands with Katherine, I leave them to go stand out on the porch. Pop is pulling up before I have time to wonder where he is. Bella takes my hand and we walk down the ramp.
When I get in the car Pop hands me an open packet of crackers and the pill bottle. I take both. Once we’re home, though, I bypass the stairs for Pop’s office, not ready to go up them until the pills kick in.
I’m not up for the stairs but I’m not able to sit; the wounds across my back are burning. Pop pours me a whiskey I swallow in one go. Both Pop and Bella are watching me with concern. “I’ll be fine. I just need a minute. Thank you, mi amore. I’m sorry you cut your visit short for me.”
Shaking her head, Bella sits. “I’m not sorry. It was a good visit. She was tired too. Thank you for my surprise.”
I nod at Pop. “He and Christy were the ones who brought her back. I thought about waiting until we were more settled but worried you’d be upset I waited so long.”
“I can’t believe she thought I was mad at her. That she was afraid of me. We talked every day for years and she never said a thing.”
“Sometimes we remember things differently from how they happened because of our own fears and guilt. Your mom still carried guilt for not protecting you from what she went through,” Pop murmurs as he sips his whiskey.
Bella nods. “I guess.”
“I need you to get Bella a car, or maybe it should be a minivan already for her and the twins,” I tell Pop.
Pop chuckles. “I can do that. I have a guy who will deliver. What color do you want?” he asks Bella.
She laughs. “I’ve always wanted a red car.”
“Red it is.” He looks to me. “And it’s time to get you upstairs, looks like both the whiskey and pills have hit.”
Bella catches my hand. “I am actually wanting a nap too.”
***
Bella
The next week flies by. Georgia arrives with my clothes from Vegas and Rosie falls in love with her. Thankfully Rosie isn’t allergic and Tony promises her one, once we move out so there aren’t two kittens in the house. Every day after eating breakfast and making sure Luca is settled, I drive to visit my mom. I spend a few hours with her as we plan the carriage house for her. Luca suggests upgrading her from the wheelchair she’s in to an electric one so she can get around easier. Mom tries to say no, but Luca being Luca doesn’t listen. And Mom loves her new chair.
Luca has the wedding moved to Chicago and the planning has to start all over again. It’s fun to do it with Mom, and Christy. This time Luca has more input, although he’s much more interested in planning our honeymoon. A week in Paris, where he’s been told from Pop it will take at least that long to see everything, followed by another week in the south of France in a villa on the beach.
Even though Luca’s getting better every day, he’s still in bed most of the time. Toward the end of the week he is able to come downstairs and have dinner. Santino and Rosie are happy with every minute he spends with them.
It’s another week before the bandages come off and the stiches come out, and I hate the way Luca holds me as I cry. The family doctor suggests a glass eye, but Luca and I share a look before we both shake our head. Instead we choose to go with a plain black patch. I tease Luca he looks like a sexy pirate.
The next day Pop gives the okay for family to visit in a phone call with Cesare, and before he can say another word about the dinner he wanted to make for everyone, Dante and Bethany are ringing the doorbell with their children. Ten minutes later Chloe and Enzo arrive with a cranky baby Valentina who was woken up from her nap. Dominic has food delivered from the club but calls to let us know he needs to run home and help Regina get the girls ready. Almost an hour later Alicia and Cesare arrive with their children. I’m not the only one who thinks Luca looks like a sexy pirate.
I’m shocked when a few days later we come downstairs to find the sellers handing over the keys. They found their house and are able to move sooner than they thought. I might have hugged Luca so hard I made him wince.
It’s hard to listen to Luca and know he’s right that we can’t move in yet. There’s too much work to live through. But the contractor we are working with promises we’ll be moving in within a month—a whole two months ahead of schedule.
Then Luca changes everything by buying the house behind us. He decided he wants us to have a pool here and once he saw how happy my mom was in her house he didn’t want her in the small carriage house after all. The other house is already updated so the changes to make it wheelchair accessible will only take about as long as the updates for our home. Mom tries to argue, especially when Luca talks about adding an elevator but Luca being Luca he wins easily. The updates to her home only take two weeks and the pool is in within just one week.
Three weeks from the time we are handed the keys, we’re able to move in. Our first night in the house Luca demands we christen every room. We’re able to get through the downstairs, but when we get to our room upstairs we are too exhausted to do more than sleep. It’s the best night ever.
When I wake up a few days later, it’s to Luca already dressed and sitting in the chair beside our bed, watching me. Instantly alert, I sit up. For the first time since we left Chicago, there’s that shimmering air of danger around him. Wary, I ask, “What’s the matter?”
He shrugs. “I’m not happy with you right now. In fact the word pissed comes to mind.”
My stomach flips a dozen times. “Why? What did I do?”
“I would say it’s more of what you didn’t do.” Then he gets up and walks out.
“Luca!” I’m out of bed, not even bothering with clothes as I follow him. I barely see him go upstairs. The third floor was updated with a bedroom, a full bath and a half bath, my studio and Luca’s office. I almost trip up the stairs to get to him. I follow him into my studio. Oh, my paintings have arrived from Vegas. He unwrapped them. There are the six I finished and one I was still working on all on display.
One is of Pop’s house, one is of our house, three are of Luca and one is of Luca, Pop, and Dominic. “I don’t understand,” I mumble.
“No, I don’t understand, Bella. What the hell? You are extremely fucking talented. I don’t know a thing about art and I know that. I called Pop over to make sure it wasn’t just me, and he about fucking fell over. How in the hell do you have this talent and you’ve just let it go to waste? Me, the cat, your mom and our family. You give up all your time to everyone else but yourself and creating something this damn good. It’s unaccep
table for you not to do the thing that allows you to express yourself, that gives you joy. If you do that you’re going to wake up one day resenting me and the kids and I—”
I grab him by his shirt and pull him to me. Going up on my tiptoes, I wind my arms around his neck and kiss him with all the love filling me until I can barely breathe from it. It isn’t until I’m dizzy that Luca ends the kiss. “I love you, Luca Sabatini. With every breath in my body, with every beat of my heart. You give me joy. You allow me to express myself in ways I never dreamed possible. Spending time with you, Pop, my mom, and our family is exactly what I want to do. I can’t wait for our babies to get here so we can spend our days with them. This is the life I want.”
Doubt fills his eyes. “Every day you spent time in your studio. You haven’t even come up here since your stuff arrived three days ago.”
“Because in Vegas you were working all the time and I needed something to fill my time. And if you’ll look you’ll see my art was all of you and the life I wanted with you. Now that I have it all the time I’m not dreaming about it; I don’t feel the need to put it to canvas. When I paint, I get lost in the world I’m creating, but now I’m living the world I used to dream of and long for. Sure, I might come up here and work on a canvas from time to time. If I want the time I’ll tell you. But it isn’t necessary for me to be happy anymore. You make me happy.”
His arms come around my middle and I wrap my legs around his waist. He sighs. “I just don’t want you to wake up, ten or twenty years from now, with regret. Because I’m never letting you go. It’s not an option. Do you understand?”
Laughing, I kiss his cheek. “I love you. I have no doubt I won’t regret a minute of our life together,” I promise him.
***
Bella
Luca helps me onto the table. We’ve only been back from our honeymoon for a week, and I’m still not back on Chicago time yet. This appointment feels way too early for me. I’m yawning as the sonographer squirts cold gel on my stomach. Luca had demanded a 3-D sonogram, remembering how hard it was for me to read the black and white one. I blink fast and am awake at the images on the screen.