She blew me away so hard I hadn’t even noticed the pinhole in my condom. When I pulled out that zip lock bag a year ago there was moisture inside. Most of the load that I wanted to deposit in her was still safe and sound, but some had leaked out. I couldn’t even see the hole with my eye, but if I squeezed the condom…sure enough. Defect.
But it was too tiny. Not enough to cause any trouble. I never even worried about it, even though it was the most intense orgasm of my life. Probably the reason my swimmers broke through. They were shot out of a cannon that night.
But there was no point in worrying about that, or ever thinking she could have a place in my world. No way, no how. She didn’t need me and my issues. I couldn’t drop that on her.
But still, I wondered how she was. What was she up to? Was she still working at that tiny little gas station? Was she married now? It happens. Girls get that bad boy dick and they settle down right away. A girl knows when she just got the fuck of her life. Screwed like she’s never going to get screwed again. Plenty of them keep searching for that feeling again. And a whole lot more accept reality and just lock up a solid career focused husband right after. No use torturing themselves. Tuck that memory away forever and start building that family with Mr. Safe and Secure. He’ll never fuck you like I will, but he’ll never ride away into the night on his bike either. Hell, he probably can’t even balance on those weird machines they have at the gym he goes to every night after work, let alone balance a three hundred and sixty four pound motorcycle at over one hundred and fifty miles an hour. Not a chance.
And that’s about the speed I had been going, and why I needed to top up the tank. So Kate’s former gas station it was. I can’t lie. It was going to feel weird walking in there to pay. Remembering everything that went down in there. I’ll have to ask the new worker how she’s doing these days.
CHAPTER 11
Kate
I picked up the cases of Coke from the stockroom and took them out onto the floor. I hated delivery days. They made me so tired. All that lifting and pushing and pulling. The bags of ice for the big freezers were the worst. Holiday weekends? Forget about it. I might as well have been a professional weightlifter. My record was twenty-seven propane tanks in one shift. The shift right before we close for the holidays. How do I celebrate? By going home and passing out. I wish I could enjoy the holidays like the rest of the country, but I’m back in the morning on first shift. I need all the money I can get these days if I’m ever going to get out of here.
And I had to get out of here. Not just this gas station, or this town, but away from everything. This place had too many bad memories and I needed to get as far away from them as possible. But that costs money. Money I don’t have. Money I can’t seem to earn fast enough.
I put the first case in the freezer when the door jingled. Hopefully it’s not the manager. I’m supposed to have everything stocked by this time.
I turned around and walked down the aisle towards the counter. I made my way towards the end and rounded the corner towards the front when I froze mid-step. A sea of emotions swept over me. Bitterness, hurt, anger, confusion, excitement, jealousy.
There he was. All six foot five five of him in the flesh. The man who had saved my life and then proceeded to give me the most passionate night in my entire life. And of course that was followed up by exactly…nothing. I hadn’t heard from or seen him sense. Until now.
“You’ve got a lot of balls showing up here like this.”
He was shocked. I couldn’t tell it if was from my anger or the extra weight I’d put on. What a jerk.
“Kate. You’re still here.”
“Where in the hell did you expect me to be? This is right where you left me, or maybe you forgot. After all, isn’t that how guys like you operate? Hit it and quit it. Wham bam thank you ma’am.”
He looked genuinely sorry. It was a side of him I hadn’t seen before, not even just before he rode off a year ago. I didn’t want to admit it, but it made me feel a bit better. At least he was somewhat human. At least he had a heart of some sort. And my head was telling me to keep ripping into him, but my heart was telling me no. And my eyes couldn’t help but notice that he was still just as sexy as the day he rode in here one year ago. Damn, I hated him right now.
“It wasn’t like that. I mean…”
Now he was pissing me off. How could I forget. I was there. Of course it was like that. “Well then,” I said speaking slowly and with an obviously forced calmness, “why don’t you tell me just exactly how it was?”
“What’s going on? You seem upset.”
“I seem upset! I seem upset! Oooh. How observant you are. You know how upsetting it is to spend months trying to track someone down? Do you know how upsetting it is working two shifts a day month after month after month? Do you know how upsetting it is trying to do everything, all the time, on your own? Do you know how upsetting it is to be stuck in this rinky-dink little one horse town with no hope for the future? Do you? Huh? Do you?”
I started to cry and my breathing shuddered as my head fell towards the floor. He reached in toward me and gently lifted my chin with those rough, calloused, strong hands of his. He looked me in the eye. “If you’re mad at me for the way things turned out, I understand. If I would have known it would have been this bad, I would have acted differently. Can you please just tell me what’s wrong, sweetheart?”
Acted differently? What did he mean by that? Well, I for one was going to start acting like an adult. I was an adult now. An adult with responsibilities, thanks to my behavior. Our behavior.
“I have a son now,” I said. “Your son.”
CHAPTER 12
Vince
What did you say?” Surely, this was a joke. I get it. She’s angry and she’s trying to mess with me.
But this is no laughing matter. And she’s not laughing. Tears are running down her cheeks. This is real.
She has a son. My son.
In my world that’s everything. Family always comes first to me.
I grabbed her by the hips and picked her up in the air. I just stared into her eyes.
She was still sobbing, but she was smiling now.
“We have a fucking son! Yes! My little man.”
I brought her feet back to earth and pulled her in tight. I couldn’t help but notice she had a little more curve in her hip and her breasts and ass were fuller. Damn, she was sexy as hell a year ago, but not she was beyond gorgeous. She was a woman now. My woman now.
“What’s his name?”
“I wanted something classic. Something that might match his father. I choose Dante.”
“Dante. It’s perfect.”
Another tear rolled down her cheek. But these weren’t tears of sadness, these were tears of joy. Our joy.
“I remembered your tattoos. How they looked. I thought you might be Italian, so I wanted something that matched you. When I found Dante I knew it was perfect.”
“I like it.”
“Thanks. Yeah, you kind of came in and out of my life like a ball of fire. It’s kind of a twist on Dante’s work as well.” Kate smiled. “I used to read a lot.”
“Why didn’t you find me? Tell me?”
“You have got to be joking me! Do you know how hard you are to find?” Kate balled up her fists and blew out hard. “I tried so hard to find you. Nobody, and I mean, nobody, knows who you are. I asked all the bikers for months. And, you took the security footage, so there were no pictures to post.”
“I had to.”
“And there is still one little problem…”
All this time and she still didn’t know my name. I extended my hand. “Vince. Sorry this took so long.”
Kate took my hand in her very feminine way. “Vince. It fits.”
I did fit, and Kate and Dante were a perfect fit for me. I didn’t know much about them, but I was ready. I wanted to know everything about them. And not just the normal stuff. Every little strange quirk. The things that made them both unique.
“I want to meet him.”
“You can’t right now.”
“Why not?”
Kate put her hands on her hips and looked at me sideways. “Vince, I’m still at work.”
“I’ll help you. When you’re finished we can go.”
Kate leaned forward and gave me a hug.
“Wanna lift some boxes?”
CHAPTER 13
Kate
I was so excited Vince had come back. Vince. I liked that name. Strong and simple. Just like him. He hadn’t been there when Dante was born, but he was here now. And he said family comes first. In a way I didn’t expect it from a guy like him. A guy who just speeds through life on his motorcycle, but the more I thought about it, it made sense. He told me he was Italian, and I knew they had big families. Or at least that’s what I thought. I just wanted to make sure that he was serious. That he really was going to be here for us.
I could see he was a man who knew what he wanted. He was firm and decisive. He said he was going to be here for us, and I trusted him.
He looked so sexy doing all my work. He told me to just take a break and he’d handle everything. What would normally take me hours, took him minutes. The way his muscles flexed and moved when he lifted boxes. The ease with which he stocked everything. He didn’t even need a ladder for the top shelf. He moved with such speed it was like he was willing my shift to end so he could meet Dante.
CHAPTER 14
Vince
I finished all of Kate’s work as quickly as I could. I was so mad at myself. She had been here all by herself doing everything all alone. That was over. She needed to relax. I was here now. She had a man to take care of her. To take care of everything. After today she just needed to focus on Dante. My woman will never work. Never.
I started to think a little more deeply. How was I going to tell Uncle Tony about this? The mafia isn’t exactly big on surprises, and I know they’d be excited about Kate, but the idea of a baby from a night of passion at a gas station isn’t exactly going to be an easy sell.
And neither is bringing Kate into our operation. Eventually she’ll figure it out, and want to know more. Shit, she might not even want to be involved. She might not want Dante growing up around that. I may not even want Dante around that.
The mafia isn’t exactly something you can just quit. They don’t really accept two week notices. This is going to require skill to navigate successfully.
Kate looked so happy just sitting there up by the register. I had stacked some boxes so she had a place to sit. She laughed when I told her she could go take a nap in the back and I’d get her if anyone came. She said she at least had to be up by the register. That I couldn’t do everything while she just sat around getting paid for it. But that’s exactly what I planned on doing. Everything for my family. And I couldn’t wait to see Dante, but first I had to make a call.
I went out back and pulled out my burner phone.
Uncle Tony’s was angry before I even get a word out.
“What the fuck’s going on?”
“Plus one.” It was code that the delivery would be exactly one day late.
“No, fucking not plus one. Now!”
“Bambino.”
“What the fuck?”
“Me. Padre.”
“Listen you stupid fuck. You are not the fucking padre. Get it done!”
I heard the dial tone.
I expected him to be angry, but after all these years and everything I’ve done for him, especially after what happened between us, I didn’t expect this.
I called Tommy. I told him what happened in as few words as possible. I used code, but he got it right away. He’s my best friend in the world. He’s got my back. He told me to sit tight. He’d send somebody up to finish the delivery. Perfect. I knew I could count on him.
CHAPTER 15
Kate
We’re headed back to my place on Vince’s bike. The last time I was on this bike I was on my back getting the best lay of my life. And unfortunately the last lay of my life.
Since Vince, I haven’t even thought about another man. And when I found out I was pregnant, the thought of sleeping with anyone else never even crossed my mind.
I could barely imagine that Dante was conceived on this bike. It sounds so trashy and so hot at the same time. And now this bike is going to be parked in my driveway, and Vince is going to be parked in my bedroom.
It felt so good to tell my boss I quit. Once he knew I had a baby he just kept piling on the responsibilities, and the hours. He knew I needed the money and couldn’t say no. It’s not like he really gave me the chance anyways. He’d make the schedule without even asking me. Back-to-back shifts followed by opening the next morning seemed to happen every week.
Well, good-bye and good riddance to him. It felt good to have him out of my life.
And even better to have Vince in it. I could feel his eight pack abs as I held on tight behind him. He had given me his helmet and had promised me he would ride slow. We were parents now, we had to think responsibly. It had sounded so sexy when he said it. I can’t believe a guy who looked so bad, could be so good.
I couldn’t wait to see him melt when he saw Dante and how cute he was.
CHAPTER 16
Vince
I wanted to break down the door when we arrived. It didn’t look like it would take much to do it either. I was so angry at myself. Here Kate was, all alone, up in this little shack in the woods. All her money went towards rent, baby food, and child care. Not anymore. The first thing I was going to do was spend some of my hard earned money on a holiday. Just for Kate and I. She deserved it. Damn, did she ever deserve it.
And this house was out of the question. Kate and Dante were moving out this place. They would live with me now, even if I had to buy the three of us a new house. It didn’t matter.
As soon as we made our way inside I saw the babysitter. She was passed out on the couch. Why wasn’t she watching my child? What the fuck?
Kate woke her and gave her her money and she was quickly on her way.
“Where is he?”
“Just in the next room,” Kate said as she pointed at the door.
I slowly opened the door and saw the crib in the corner, by the window.
“He’s beautiful, Kate” I said. She took my hand and kissed my shoulder.
Dante seemed to feel our presence and opened his eyes. He kicked his feet a few times like he’s switching gears on my motorcycle. Then he smiled.
Man, I was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. He looked right at me and smiled. I couldn’t wait to do everything with this little guy. My little guy.
I turned to Kate and put my hand on the side of her face. I pushed her hair back behind her ear and kissed her hard. I was so fucking turned on right now, and there was no stopping me.
CHAPTER 17
Kate
Watching Vince and the way he looked at Dante turned me on so much. I could see in his eyes how much he cared for Dante. How much he already loved him. And when he looked at me, I could see how much he loved us.
But his eyes changed. They turned back to that first night. They were filled with lust and desire.
He pushed my hair out of the way and kissed me hard.
I felt all the blood rush through my body again. It had been a whole year, but it felt like we hadn’t missed a beat.
Vince’s hand found my now larger breast and squeezed hard. His face came crashing down on my chest, his mouth taking in as much of my breast as he could. He pulled back as if angered by the cotton fabric and pulled my shirt up and over my head. I could barely get my hands up in time. The alpha lion was out of its cage and I was about to get eaten.
He grabbed my bra with both hands and pulled. The buckles didn’t have a chance as I heard them snap. My bra slid down and he looked at my exposed shoulders. He reached down gently and slid my bra off my shoulder, exposing my left breast. He breathed out hard and then buried his face in my chest again
. This time taking my flesh in his mouth. I could feel his tongue trace my nipple before sucking and teasing it. I was so hot already I could feel myself about to cum.
I reached down and grabbed his shirt. I try to move it up, but he doesn’t even notice. He was so focused on me, it was like the rest of the world didn’t even matter in that moment.
I run my hand across his abs, and he snapped back to the present. He ripped his shirt up over his head and pulled my panties and pants down to my ankles. He bent down as I pulled out my feet, but he was moving too fast. I tripped and start to fall sideways, but he caught me in his big hand, while his other hand removed my pants. I didn’t think it was possible, but it was like he somehow was even stronger than before.
Bambino: A Secret Baby Mafia Romance (A Man Who Knows What He Wants #4) Page 3