“Boss,” someone called from the doorway to the offices.
“Not now,” I growled.
“Boss, it’s a delivery. You’re gonna want to see it.” Something in his voice convinced me to drop the cowardly motherfucker to the ground and step away as he fell to his knees, doubling over, and trying to suck in air.
Looking at Felix, I jerked my chin in Darby’s direction. “Help him make a decision while I take care of this.”
Felix nodded and I jogged for the door, satisfied with the sound of Darby’s grunts and little girl screams as he incentivized Darby to talk.
Reaching the entrance, I grabbed the envelope my man handed over and ripped it open.
“Motherfucker!” I shouted, throwing the pictures of Gianna with a busted lip and black eye to the ground, and throwing my fist into the cinderblock wall beside me. Pain radiated from the bones all the way up my arm, but I barely noticed it. The pain and fury were the only things keeping my terror at bay.
Whipping back around, I stalked over to Felix and Darby, who lay on the ground in a huddled ball. “Get him up,” I commanded.
Felix lifted him under the arms and helped him get steady on his feet, before moving out of my line of sight. I pulled a pistol from my shoulder holster and pointed it straight at his forehead. “Where is she?”
Darby’s eyes flicked around wildly, before returning to my gaze, and flinching at the barrel of the gun in his face.
“Broo—Brooklyn Heights,” he stuttered, his words choked through the blood and his already swelling face. “The basement of Flannigan’s Pub.” He rattled off an address and Felix got on his cell, calling Devon to relay the info. I put out my free hand, silently demanding the phone.
At the feel of the cool metal object, I brought it to my ear. “She’s been beaten, take Doc. I’ll meet you there,” I said flatly. “And Devon”—I paused—“if you arrive before me, no one touches Pat O’Reilly. Keep him until I get there.”
Devon was silent for a moment, then asked, “And Darby?”
My finger twitched, on purpose, and the quiet ping of a silencer was the only sound as Darby fell to the floor.
“He’s about to take a ride out to the East River. I expect you to come through for me, Devon. Because, as of right now, I haven’t decided whether you’ll be joining him.”
***
I slammed my shoulder into a flimsy wooden door and it splintered apart easily, the broken pieces left on the hinges swinging into the wall.
The tiny room held a small cot and there was a lone figure huddled up in a ball.
“Gianna!” I sprinted to the bed and tried to scoop her limp body into my arms. The moment she felt my touch, she began to struggle violently, her legs kicking out and one arm swinging, while the other stayed curled protectively over her stomach. I was breaking inside as I was forced to restrain her, lowering my head so my lips were near her ear.
“Gianna. Calm down, bellissima,” I said soothingly. “It’s Nic, mia dolce.” I don’t know if it was the words or the sound of my voice, or both, but she suddenly froze, her eyes squeezed tightly shut. I ran a hand over her hair before tracing one finger over her swollen cheekbone. It wasn’t the time to let my rage take over, but I vowed to make whoever inflicted the damage pay.
Her eyes blinked open and my shoulders slumped in relief at the recognition in her green eyes. They filled with tears and I cupped her face gently, kissing each one away as they fell.
“Nic?” she whispered.
“It’s me, mia dolce.” I gathered her up and took her place on the bed, pulling her onto my lap. “I love you. I love you so fucking much,” I murmured as I placed soft kisses over her eyes, cheekbones, and one, very carefully, on her lips.
“Sophia? Allegra?” she asked urgently.
“They are both safe, unharmed. Only worried about you, bellissima.”
“I—I knew you’d come for me,” she cried fervently, burying her face in my neck. “I love you.”
The clearing of a throat drew my attention to the door and my arms instinctively tightened around Gianna.
Devon stood there, his face expressionless as usual. “Pat O’Reilly slipped out before we got here. One of his guys admitted that word of Darby being taken got back to them. Pat’s not as stupid as his son. He knew Darby would crack.”
If I didn’t have Gianna in my arms at that moment, I’d have spent the next one on the phone, informing Brecken his team was one man down. But, even if Gianna was aware of the darker side of my life, I didn’t want her to witness it. She was my first priority.
“Find him,” I gritted out between clenched teeth. He nodded and departed out the door.
I held Gianna close as I got to my feet, then swiftly made my way through the dusty basement. She clung to me, making it easier for me to keep a hand on her head, so her face remained buried under my chin. I didn’t know how she would react to the multiple bodies littering the ground and steps up to the backroom of the pub.
A black Town Car was waiting outside the building and I slid in, settling Gianna on my lap, unwilling to let her go. I placed a hand on her flat belly and pictured her, round with our child and cuddling with our other daughter. It warmed me, helped me to calm my racing heart.
I kissed the top of her head, nuzzling her soft hair before resting my cheek in the same spot.
“I love you, mia dolce,” I crooned. “I promise not to fail you again. I will always protect you and our children. You are everything to me. Everything.”
Chapter 4
Anna
Cradled in Nic’s lap, listening to him murmur sweet nothings in my ear, I let my eyes drift shut. I felt him shift my hair away from my face and kiss my forehead, but I kept them closed. His concern for me was evident in his voice and by the way he touched me. Knowing this strong man had no problem showing me a vulnerable side he kept hidden from everyone else was humbling. Even though I knew he’d come to my rescue, that I was safe, I started to tremble and sob.
“Shhh, bellissima. I’ve got you,” he whispered into my ear.
His soothing words only made me cry harder. I was having a delayed reaction to what I’d experienced and nothing was going to make it stop. I needed to cry it all out. Or at least, that’s what I thought until we pulled up in front of the hospital.
“W-w-what are we doing here?” I hiccupped on a sigh.
Nic’s thumb gently rubbed under my left eye, before hovering over my bottom lip. Even as lightly as he touched me, it hurt and I winced in pain.
“You need to be checked over, mia dolce.”
“I’m fine,” I insisted. “I just want to go home. Please. Everything will be better if I’m home with you.”
The sound of a soft cough from the driver’s seat drew our attention to Felix, who was staring back at us. “Doc made it to the pub shortly after we left. He’s on his way here, but I can let him know to meet us at the house instead.”
I was nodding my head wildly, willing to go along with any plan that meant we could leave without anyone else seeing me. I was bruised and beaten, in pain, dirty and disheveled. I wanted nothing more than to go home and try to pretend this had never happened. If it made me a coward, so be it. But, Nic wasn’t having it. His hand moved to my belly and he glanced down meaningfully, before looking me in the eyes again. “I need you to do this, Gianna. For me and for the baby you’re carrying.”
Tears streamed from my eyes once again, as I admitted my biggest fear aloud. “But what if they have horrible news? I tried to keep our baby safe, Nic. I really did, but what if I failed?”
“None of this is your fault, mia dolce.” He slid his hands upwards, gently cupping my face in his palms. “I won’t have you thinking you’re to blame for any of it.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but he slid his thumb over my lips to stop the flow of words. I winced in pain, and his eyes lit with a mixture of sympathy and fury.
“If there’s something wrong with the pregnancy because of what you endured due
to my failure at protecting you, then we’ll face it together.”
“It wouldn’t be your fault,” I protested.
“Then how can you possibly think it would be yours?”
As much as I wanted to do so, it was impossible to argue with his logic. I sighed and slumped against him in acceptance. Nic gently moved me off his lap, then he and Felix climbed out of the car. Felix opened my door and lingered while Nic lifted me out.
“Doc’s waiting inside. He said he’ll smooth the way, try to limit how many questions are asked. Make sure she gets VIP treatment,” Felix told Nic.
It turned out Doc was a miracle worker. We were ushered up to a private room the minute Nic carried me inside. A nurse followed behind us, turning down the bed, and placing a fluffy robe on top of the mattress.
“Can I take a shower?” I asked her.
“Not yet.” I frowned at her reply, and she rushed to explain further. “It won’t be long, though. The doctor will be in shortly to examine you. As soon as he says it’s okay, I’ll make sure you get a shower.”
Nic helped me out of my clothes, his eyes darkening when he noticed the scrapes and bruises underneath them.
“Merda!” he bit out.
“It’s just a couple scrapes,” I reassured him.
“They will pay for marking your beautiful skin,” he swore.
He had a murderous gleam in his eyes, but I wasn’t able to discuss it further because the doctor walked into the room. He was followed by a shorter, older man who moved quickly to Nic’s side and whispered in his ear. Nic nodded his head in agreement. “Stay, Doc.”
The portly man turned kind eyes to me. “As long as it’s okay with your lovely fiancée as well?”
I wasn’t about to argue after whatever he’d done to ensure I was so well taken care of by the hospital. “Yes, please do.”
The doctor performed his examination of me, taking my vitals and bringing someone in to take blood for lab tests. He also had me wheeled out of the room and taken for a wrist X-ray. Doc stayed with me to ensure a leaded apron and collar were placed over me during the test, to avoid possible radiation exposure in case I was pregnant. Once all the tests were run and my sprained wrist in a brace, they finally let me take a shower. Nic refused to allow one of the nurses to help me, insisting he do it himself.
Stripped down to his boxers, he washed every inch of me. Soft strokes of his hands across my skin wiped away the blood, dirt, and sweat. But, it was the reverence with which he touched me that made me feel clean again.
As soon as my shower was done, Nic bundled me into a pair of emerald green silk pajamas, which had magically appeared in my room. Then he carried me out of the bathroom and gently placed me on the bed. My stomach growled, echoing loudly in the room and making me laugh. Nic didn’t join in, his face darkening once again.
“They didn’t feed you, did they?”
“No,” I admitted softly.
He strode towards the window, looking out while he jabbed at his phone to call someone and barked out orders for them to bring me food. An impossibly long list of my favorite dishes. When he was done, he disconnected the call but didn’t move.
“Don’t you think we should wait for the doctor to say it’s okay for me to eat?” I whispered, hesitant to upset him further.
“You’re hungry,” he replied as he walked back over to me, taking my hand and placing a soft kiss on the back. “It’s something I can fix.”
“No need to worry,” Doc said from the doorway. “Food will be good for her. Everything appears to be normal in the lab results, with the exception of a trace amount of sodium thiopental.”
I felt Nic stiffen next to me, his hand gripping mine more tightly. “They drugged you?”
“Yes.” The thought of it made me rub the spot on my arm where they’d injected me. “After they got me into the car, they shot me up with something.”
“Their choice of which drug to use is unusual, but it’s a lucky one considering you’re pregnant. There’s very little risk to the baby with the dose they gave you.”
“I’m pregnant?” I cried.
“You are,” Doc confirmed. “Your HCG levels are appropriate for someone four weeks pregnant.”
I shook my head, looking up at Nic with wide eyes and blushing wildly. “But that isn’t possible.”
“What isn’t, sweetie?”
Nic growled deep in his throat at Doc calling me sweetie. If I wasn’t so upset and embarrassed about what I needed to say, I might have found it sexy that he was even jealous of an old man.
“I can’t be four weeks pregnant because I only had sex for the first time about two weeks ago.”
“Ahhh,” Doc nodded his head, as though my concern was meaningless. “That actually lines up perfectly since the development of pregnancy is counted from the first day of the woman's last normal menstrual period, even though the development of the fetus doesn’t begin until conception, which is about two weeks later.”
“Oh,” I sighed, understanding dawning. “And the baby’s okay?”
“I’ll monitor you closely, but there’s nothing in the tests to indicate anything but a normal pregnancy,” he assured me.
“Thank you,” I whispered through tears, happy ones this time. The tension I’d been carrying inside eased, and I sagged in Nic’s arms.
“No, thank you,” he corrected.
I smiled up at him blearily. “We’re pregnant,” I whispered in awe.
“I never doubted it for a minute,” he answered arrogantly, turning my tears into laughter just in the nick of time.
“Mommy! You saved me and then Daddy saved you. I knew he would.” Sophia ran into the room and threw herself into my arms, Allegra following behind her, along with several of Nic’s men.
“I did, too,” I murmured into her hair.
My heart melted at hearing her call me “mommy” for the first time, as I listened to her chatter on about watching her favorite movies in a special room her daddy had locked her and Nonna in to make sure they were safe while he rescued me. I looked up at Nic and raised my brow, curious about her description. He smiled mysteriously and shrugged his shoulders. One of my hands stroked her hair as the other rested on my belly. It wouldn’t be long before I’d have two children to love. Nic had done more than save me—he’d given me the family I’d always longed to have.
Chapter 5
Nic
“Nic, please,” Gianna begged, running a hand down my torso and attempting to palm my cock.
“No, bellissima,” I sighed as I caught her hand and brought it to my mouth for a soft kiss. It took everything in me to turn her down. It had been three weeks since I’d brought Gianna home from the hospital, and I’d somehow held off on making love to her so she could recover. I discovered a thread of steel in my control I didn’t know I had. It developed from my fear of losing my sweet Gianna. What if I lost control, got too rough, and hurt her or the baby?
I’d only ever been with one woman, if you could even classify her as a woman. We were teenagers, just kids, and didn’t really know what we were doing. After she had found out she was pregnant, she was filled with resentment toward me. Our relationship, physical or otherwise, ended. Then Sophia was born, and we never saw her again.
The doctor had told me to wait for a couple of weeks before resuming “relations,” his word, with Gianna. I wanted to wait a little longer, just in case. She was still tired and though the bruises had faded, she seemed to drag physically. I was simply going to have to keep replacing the heat of her pussy with the icy cold water in my showers.
We were lying in bed, her soft body draped all over me as I held her close. I brushed some hair away from her face and kissed her forehead. “You’re not well, mia dolce.”
She huffed and shoved away from me, breaking my hold on her and sitting up. “I’m perfectly fine, Nic. Except for my need to be fucked!” she snapped.
My eyebrows shot up into my hairline at her use of such vulgar profanity. I loved how
delicate Gianna was, her innocence, and sweetness. But, I had to admit, when she let out a little bit of the naughty girl inside, it was a complete fucking turn on and my already stiff dick jumped up to salute her. I was going to make it one of my missions to see this temptress more often in the bedroom.
I stifled a laugh, but obviously didn’t do a good enough job because she climbed off the bed and stomped into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. I lay back on the mattress, putting my hands behind my head and trying to talk down my cock.
My ears pricked at a sound from the bathroom, a familiar moan, and I shot up from the bed, racing to the door. Throwing it open, I froze at the sight of Gianna in the shower, with her hand between her legs. Oh, fuck no.
Stalking over, I shoved the door open, snatched her wrist away, and used it to drag her up against my body. Bringing her fingers to my mouth, I licked them clean, eliciting another moan. Satisfied that I’d gotten all of her essence, I gripped both of her wrists and anchored them behind her back.
“No one makes you come but me,” I snarled. “Not even you. Those sounds, your moans and screams of pleasure, they belong to me, Gianna. They are mine and I will not share them.” I stared at her with a hardened gaze, making sure my warning was clear. “If you need a release, you will come to me, or you will wait. Do you understand?”
She considered me thoughtfully for a moment, but then, wisely, yielded with a nod. Her plump lips turned down into a pretty pout and the image of them wrapped around my cock had me so hard up, spots were floating in front of my eyes.
“You’ve been turning me down,” she muttered. It dawned on me then, I’d been so focused on not fucking her that I hadn’t thought to relieve her ache in other ways.
I rested my forehead against hers and sighed. “I’m sorry, mia dolce. It kills me that I’ve left you wanting.” Releasing her hands, I stripped off my soaking wet boxer briefs and threw them on the floor behind me, before I dropped to my knees. I placed a reverent kiss on the place where our baby rested and another on her pubic bone, before wrapping my hands around her hips. I ran my tongue lightly up her pussy lips, from bottom to top. Then moved one hand to rest above and hold them apart. Another lick, this one deeper, and I groaned at the sweet flavor.
Devotion (Mafia Ties #3) Page 2