“Yeah, maybe.” He slides the card back into his wallet and drops his gaze to the floor. “Maybe we’ll come back for it tomorrow.”
Without waiting for me, he spins on his heel and moves through the crowd, heading for the door.
When we reach the sidewalk, I can see the mortification burning in his cheeks. He feels like less than a man because he wasn’t able to buy me something silly that caught my eye in a random store.
I don’t want him to feel bad. That one little moment didn’t change the way I feel about him. I need him to know that.
But as we walk down the road in the direction of the parked car and I try to reach for his hand, he shoves his fingers into his pocket instead.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Sophia
We could have spent the night in Crescent Harbor. Penny had even recommended a nice, cozy inn where we could have stayed. Apparently, the Kingston Family Bed & Breakfast has clean rooms with beautiful views of the harbor, friendly staff and caramelized bacon is on the menu.
Yes, she had me at caramelized bacon.
I would have gladly put the expense on my credit card just so Archie and I could enjoy a real getaway and truly connect as a couple without the pressure of being parents for the night. But after the incident at the jewelry store, his mood was ruined. I could see on his face that he felt completely emasculated because he couldn’t buy me that stupid bracelet. I wish we’d never set foot in that shop.
I don’t care about the things he can’t afford to buy. We’re gonna struggle through this life together because when he’s by my side, that’s when I’m at my best. And I really want to help bring out the best in him, too. If only he’d let me.
But Archibald Jones has this whole laundry list of items that must be ticked off in order for a man to really be a man. He holds himself to an impossibly high standard. All he wants is to be better than his father is. I hate seeing him beat himself up just because he fell short on one count.
Can’t he see how much I love him just the way he is? This relationship—this family—is a big adjustment for all of us. I got used to doing everything on my own for two years. River has only ever had me as a parent figure. Archie was used to wandering around with no commitment. We all need some time to adjust to this new reality. I just wish Archie would cut himself some slack.
The ride back home is quiet. We barely exchange a word. When we pull up in the driveway, Archie holds the passenger side door open for me and follows me into the house.
I need a minute by myself. Some time to get myself together. I need to remind myself that he’s just having a rough night and that tomorrow, everything will be better.
After a quick shower, I tie my wet hair in a bun high on my head and slip into a long T-shirt. I take a deep breath, straighten my shoulders and head for the bedroom.
When I swing the door open, the sight that greets me nearly brings me to my knees.
And I don’t know exactly what it is that steals my breath —the utter humiliation in his eyes or the fact that he’s sitting on the edge of the bed in nothing but his boxers, holding his detached leg in his hand.
He’s never let me see him this way. I stand frozen in the doorway and stare at him. He drops the prosthetic to the floor with a thud. Elbows on his knees, he buries his face in his palms. “This is what you’re getting, Sophia. A broken man. That’s all I fucking am.”
With a knot in my throat, I move slowly across the room. I fall to my knees in front of him. My heart has never pounded this hard.
When he looks down at me, his eyes are red. "I should have never pulled you into this. You deserve so much better than me...and if I weren't so damn selfish, I'd let you go, I'd move out of the way so you could be with a better man, a whole man. But I just want you so much."
“You didn’t pull me into anything,” I say hoarsely. “I want to be with you. You have me. No matter what. I’m with you. I’m here. I love you.”
When I touch my fingers to his chest, he flinches, almost like he might push me away. I won't give up on him so easily, not when he means this much to me.
I press kisses to his torso. I drag my touch down the plains of his chest. My fingers slip into his waistband and he doesn’t try to stop me when I move his boxers down to the floor.
My mouth travels lower on his hot skin. Goosebumps rise up all over his body. My fingers clench on his hips.
“Sophia, you don't have to do this." His voice is raspy, all spiky edges and raw emotion.
I halt my kisses just long enough to ask, "But do you want me to?"
He grips the mattress beside him and squeezes his eyes shut. "Sophia, please. I don't need..." He hates being this vulnerable but right now, he's putty in my hands.
Locking my fingers around his throbbing cock, I stroke him tenderly, ignoring the burn of tears in my eyes. When he feels my lips trailing down his left thigh, brushing across his marred flesh, his body goes as stiff as stone.
He grits out between his teeth. “Your pity blow-jobs won't get us anywhere."
My chest nearly splits apart when he says that. He doesn't get it at all. “This isn’t pity, Archie. This is love.”
“Please, Sophia…” His jaw is tense as he tries to fight the emotions. Tears leak from the corners of his eyes.
I won't let him run. He needs to know that we're in this together. “I love you, Archie. Every bit of you. When I look at you, I don’t see anything missing. When I look at you, I see the man who makes me whole. And I want you just the way you are. I need you just the way you are.”
When my lips wrap around his crown, he releases a strangled noise of pleasure. The sound vibrates in my pussy and I feel myself growing wet.
I swirl my tongue. God—he’s so smooth. I taste the salty tang of his precum and I’m greedy for more. Opening my mouth wider, I swallow his length into my throat and I start bobbing my head. Up and down.
“Fucking hell, Sophia.” His fingers tighten on the edge of the mattress. “You make it feel so good.”
I groan deep in my throat and he feels it. One hand comes to my hair and he curls his fingers at my roots. His hips start to move off the bed. His cock drives further into my throat.
This is heaven. The sounds he’s making. The way he’s touching me. Heat prickles the pit of my belly. I work my lips faster. I suck in my cheeks.
Archie’s body goes tense. His gritty whisper rings out in the quiet room. “I’m about to come, baby. Don’t fucking stop. I’m about to come.”
I suck him harder. Bob my head faster.
He gives up control on a shuddering breath. His head drops back to the pillows on the bed. His shoulders deflate.
Ropes of cum shoot into my mouth and he roars.
He gives himself to me. Completely.
Finally.
Chapter Thirty
Archie
Agata Gallo finally pushes her ornate high-back dining chair away from the table, signaling the end of dinner. I stifle an exhale of relief.
“I hope you liked the eggplant parmesan, Archie.” She says it in a sugary tone that really means, “I don’t give a fuck if you liked the eggplant parmesan, Archie.” She gracefully swoops the empty casserole dish from the gold-veined marble table.
I give her a curt nod. “It was delicious. All of it. Thank you.”
Sophia’s hand smooths over the rigid muscles of my thigh and gives a light squeeze right before she stands and helps her mother carry the dishes to the sink.
This dinner has been a fucking train wreck with the entire Gallo family at the wheel.
Things were tense from the minute I entered the door with Sophia and River. But the awkwardness ramped up tenfold once I overheard Agata telling her daughter to consider giving her ex a second chance. Apparently, the Gallo matriarch is mainly concerned about repairing her social status without giving two shits if it hurts Sophia in the process. Keeping up appearances is numero uno for Agata.
Anyway, Sophia stomped out the idea of a reunion with
Josh by casually informing her family that she loves the fuck out of me and that I—not Josh—am the father of her child.
At that moment, I was sure Nonna Lucia was about to go into cardiac arrest. The old lady took a violent, shuddering breath and immediately pulled out her rosary beads. Then, she started muttering prayers for our condemned souls under her breath.
Sophia’s pregnant sister, Angie, turns to her husband, Ben. “Be right back. I’ve gotta go use the bathroom.”
He gives her an uncomfortable grin. “Hurry back. I miss you already.”
She chuffs out a knowing laugh and whispers by his ear. “Dad’s not so bad, babe. Just…don’t look him straight in the eye. Never look him straight in the eye.” On those words of wisdom, she waddles off.
Okay…that put me right at ease.
Gianni Gallo is sprawled back in his seat at the head of the table. He doesn’t even bother to make small talk. He just sits there, mean-mugging me like a cranky TSA agent who caught me with an oversized tube of toothpaste in my carry-on luggage.
I don’t blame the man. Put yourself in his shoes.
He’s never seen me before in his life. And now here I am, bouncing into his house to announce that I’m the random fucker who knocked up his daughter the night she was supposed to be marrying into one of the upstanding families of Copper Heights. I imagine that any father would flip into pissed-off mode in this situation.
River sits in the high chair next to me, looking like she just escaped a bloodbath. She’s fucking adorable as she struggles to pinch a slippery, tomato sauce covered ravioli between her fingers. When she finally gets it, she smashes the meat-stuffed pasta into her mouth and grins. My chest goes tight and I grin, too. This child is life. Just one look at her and I remember why I’m sitting here, enduring this level of passive-aggressive toxicity in the first place.
I have a family and they’re mine to love and protect. I won’t let some grumpy, old man get in the way of that. Even if he happens to be Sophia’s father.
I feel Gianni’s monster paw on my shoulder. He nods his chin at Ben and then at me before gesturing toward the sliding door leading out to the expansive patio. With an unsmiling expression, he tugs back the lapel of his black sports jacket. My defenses go on high alert. I half-expect him to flash me a pistol. But instead, it’s just an innocuous pack of cigars in the chest pocket of his dress shirt. “Let’s go get some fresh air, gentlemen.”
Sophia glances over at us from the kitchen sink. She groans and rolls her head up toward the ceiling. “Dad…”
He gives his daughter a hard glare. “I’ll play nice,” he promises in a flat tone that convinces absolutely no one.
Sophia’s cousin, Franco, leads the way. Ben and I share a look behind his back then get up from the table. I feel a bit self-conscious about my limp so I linger behind them. When I step outside, I carefully slide the door shut to make sure River stays inside.
Gianni plops down in a lounge chair placed alongside the massive in-ground pool and passes the cigars and lighter around. When everyone’s got their expensive cancer sticks all lit up, the old man glowers at me. "So, let me get this straight—my daughter went to Las Vegas to marry one man but she left Las Vegas forty-eight hours later pregnant by another man?”
Ben winces and throws me a sympathetic look.
I clear my throat and straighten in my seat. “That’s one way to look at it.”
He blurts out a sarcastic laugh. “There are other ways to look at it?”
“Well, you could say that she went to Vegas to marry a man who didn’t love her and while she was there, she met a man who would lay down his life for her.”
At that response, he falls silent. He sucks his cigar between his lips and seems to consider. After a long while, he glances over at me, his expression still as hard as ever. “I’m not trying to be rude. I’m just genuinely trying to understand what the fuck happened.” His face grows red. “Because I could have bought a small island near Nekker and been neighbors with Richard fucking Branson for the amount of money I spent on that wedding.”
My entire left side has been cramping and seizing all day, my frayed nerves screaming for relief. Having this conversation is the last thing I want to be doing.
My response is downright defiant. “I’m sorry the wedding cost you that much money but the way I look at it, you can’t put a price tag on your daughter’s happiness.”
Beside me, Ben makes a noise that tells me I’m walking a fine line and that I’m one misstep away from unleashing the old man’s ire.
Mr. Gallo is a big guy. There’s nothing soft and cuddly about him. But I can tell that he loves his daughters. He just wants to protect them. I can relate to that sentiment.
Maybe I’m coming at him the wrong way. I clear my throat and address him again. More respectfully, this time. “Sir, Sophia made a huge error in judgment when she agreed to marry her ex but it led her to me and you can rest assured that I am the right man for her.”
He considers me carefully for another long beat. I hold his stare despite my discomfort. He points his cigar in my direction. “Y’know, I think I might like you. One day.”
Sounds promising to me.
The old guy glances over his shoulder toward the kitchen to see if the women are paying attention. Then, he rests his elbows on his knees and leans in toward Ben and me. “Let me tell you fellas a story.” Gianni tips his meaty chin up at us. “I have a sister. Marina. You know Marina?” he asks Ben.
“No, sorry. Never met her,” Ben says.
Gianni’s Italian accent comes out, front and center, as he tells the story. “Anyway, that’s not important.” He waves a hand in the air and ashes tumble from his cigar. “Lemme get to the important part. I have this sister, Marina, and she married this punk from Jersey. Raphaelo was his name.”
“My father,” Franco chimes in.
“Yeah, Franco’s bastard father,” Gianni continues. “Anyway, Raphaelo was the world’s dumbest fucker because he thought he could run around on my sister, break her heart, make her cry and all that shit.” His eyes narrow to slits and he lowers his voice so low I feel myself leaning closer to hear him. “I got sick of it.” Then his voice explodes, causing me to jolt in my seat. “That’s why I chopped off his balls!”
I blink, shocked, and Franco nods in confirmation.
“Yes, I chopped off his balls then I put them in a box with a postage stamp and shipped them off to his girlfriend’s shitty, rundown apartment in Three Oaks.” He takes a long puff from his cigar. “Marina was upset—I mean—who can blame her? Raphaelo was her husband.” Gianni’s brows furrow with something that almost resembles regret. “I gotta say it hurts that she doesn’t come to Sunday dinner anymore but the point is, she and Raphaelo are happy now. They bought a house and moved up near the water and they’re happier than they’ve ever been.” Tears glint in the man’s eyes. With his cigar pinched between his lips, he leans back in his seat and smiles wistfully as he reminisces. Then his attention flashes back to me. He lifts one eyebrow. “Now, that’s not a threat…” he assures me with an appeasing hand gesture.
“No, not at all,” Franco echoes.
“…But I just want you to understand that I love my daughters a million times more than I love Marina. So just, keep that in mind. Always.” He sniffs back the remnants of his tears.
Um, okay then…
I glance over at Ben for cues on how to handle this conversation but he’s sprawled back in his chair with his cigar in hand and a faint smile on his lips, face up to the sky, like he’s heard these threats a thousand times before. “Got it, sir.” He says breezily.
I clear my throat and sit upright in my seat. “Mr. Gallo, from the night I met your daughter, there’s been no one else. Not in my heart and not in my bed.” I hold his gaze unflinchingly. “Sophia will always be the only woman for me. And if, for whatever reason, we can’t be together, I’d spend the rest of my life alone because once you get a taste of true love, nothing else in
the world can compare.”
The man watches me, his intent eyes examining my face for any trace of insincerity. He won’t find it.
Once he’s satisfied that I’m being truthful, Gianni turns over his shoulder and yells in the direction of the kitchen. “Agata—we need some beers out here.”
The sliding glass door tears open and the well-dressed woman sticks her head outside, eyes blazing. “I’ll say it again—you need to hire a new butler because that’s definitely not me.” She turns on her heel and stomps back into the kitchen.
The man grunts under his breath as he eases out of his chair. “Women…When you love ‘em, you let ‘em get away with the most dreadful shit.” He saunters in through the door and Agata’s yelp erupts into the air when he slaps the prissy woman on the ass. Hard.
Franco throws us a glare and then gets up and follows his uncle inside.
Ben looks over at me with a chuckle. “You know that story is all bullshit, right?”
I huff under my breath. “Well, damn.”
“Yeah, that’s the ‘scare you straight’ speech he gives me every now and then. Passive aggressive as hell. Harmless, ultimately. Just a reminder to treat his daughter well.”
“I don’t need a reminder,” I chuckle. Loving Sophia is easier than breathing. Nothing comes more naturally to me.
“I couldn’t agree more. Angie is my life. But it makes him feel better to think that he’s controlling the situation with his intimidation bullshit.” Ben shrugs a shoulder.
The sun slowly sets and the sky falls into darkness. Ben tells me about his upcoming promotion at the fire station and I tell him what it’s like to work at the daycare. We get caught up in the conversation. I let my guard down and start to relax.
The next thing I know, there’s a huge splash in the pool. I hear a child’s whimper before the sound gets swallowed up by the water.
The Blue Collar Bachelors Box Set: The Complete Blue Collar Bachelors Series Page 122