by Blue Saffire
“Hey, you,” I answer.
“Are you having a good time,” LaSalle croons.
“Yeah, I am,” I say genuinely.
“Good, so what are you ladies up to?”
“Val and I are sipping some wine and talking,” I say and bite my lip. I don’t like LaSalle’s tone. He sounds like he’s fishing, so I add. “Some of the other girls stopped by, so we’re having girl talk.”
“Mmm, okay, I’ll be home in a few. I want to have dinner with you and the kids,” LaSalle says nonchalantly.
“Okay, I’ll call for a car,” I reply.
I didn’t drive here, under LaSalle’s insistence. I haven’t driven myself anywhere since returning home from the honeymoon. Security has been super tight.
“No need. I have one on the way for you,” he says smoothly. “Love you, see you at home.”
I wrinkle my brows, but reply. “Love you too.”
I hang up and all of the other women in the room are either text messaging or on the phone. Val is the only one not, as she sits looking amused.
Once Paige, the last person to hang up her call, sits, Val laughs. “They’re on to us,” she shrugs.
“From your relaxed state, I’m guessing Uri already knows,” Pam snorts.
“Maybe,” Val sings.
“But he hasn’t told the others,” Marie says, as she bites her lip.
“Nope, not his style,” Val shrugs. “We’ll just have to change things up a bit and throw them back off.”
Paige and Pam burst into laughter next to each other. We all look at them as if they’re crazy. Shannon is the one to speak our thoughts.
“What’s so funny?”
“I bet we can tell who got us caught,” they say in unison, both looking at Rita.
“Whatever,” Rita huffs.
“Nope,” Reese laughs. “The problem here is that you all think those men aren’t paying attention.”
“On second thought, Nico always knows what this one is up to,” Camille teases.
“Mm, no she didn’t come for me. Logan dropped your ass off,” Reese sasses. “Didn’t he?”
We all laugh at that. My phone buzzes again, I shake my head, knowing it’s my car home. I finish my wine and hand out my parting hugs, before making my way home to my suspicious husband.
Things are sure to get interesting.
chapter fourty-Three
New Edition
LaSalle
Another month later…
I stand in the entrance to our new master bathroom watching my wife. She doesn’t even feel me here. That’s one more thing to add to my list.
I’ve been taking note of a few things lately. I just stand and observe. I’m dressed in shorts, a t-shirt, and tennis shoes to go for a run, but after sending the kids off for school, I found Tasha standing here in the bathroom. She’s gripping the counter mumbling to herself.
I smirk. She may not, but I know what the problem is. My eyes roll over her body that’s incased in a pink silk robe. I know she’s completely naked underneath. She overslept this morning and Sammy came running in our bedroom.
She tugged the robe on as Sammy stood whining in the waiting area, as Tasha has taught him to do. We don’t lock the bedroom door for emergencies, but Sammy has come running in nearly getting an eye full. Tasha made sure from that day to sit him down and give him the small boundary.
Between being dazed, waking up late, and Sammy’s whining, Tasha only had time to tighten the belt on her robe and rush into being a mother. I smile as I think those words. Tasha runs my home with so much love.
She shifts at the counter and her ass wiggles beneath the soft fabric. I can’t just watch any longer. I push off the wall and saunter over to her. I wrap my arms around her and reach for her full swollen breasts.
I dip my head to her ear. “I have the answers to your questions,” I whisper as she jumps in my arms, startled.
~B~
Tasha
I sag back into LaSalle, as I will my heart to slow down. He just scared the shit out of me. I was so deep in my thoughts I hadn’t heard him come in. I thought he was going for his morning run after dropping the kids to school.
Sammy was accepted into a gifted program that Brenda raved about. I’ve been missing my little sidekick during the day. This new house is so big and I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do with a few rooms.
My mind registers that LaSalle just said something to me. I crane my neck and look up at him. My brows furrow as I can’t seem to process what he’s just said.
LaSalle squeezes my sensitive breasts and I moan at the sore bite to them. He bends to nip my parted lips. My juices flood my core instantly.
“You’ve never had a child before,” LaSalle says against my lips. “I’ve had three. I know when my woman is carrying my child.”
“What,” I breathe.
LaSalle slides his hands down to the ties of my robe. He releases them and parts the fabric, exposing my bare skin beneath. I shiver a little, but try to stay focused. Something that has not been easy the last few days.
“I’ve been watching you for days. You’ve been sleeping more. Your breasts have been much fuller. You’re unfocused, which is so unlike you,” LaSalle pushes my robe from my shoulders, and nips my shoulder. “And you taste and feel like you are with child. My child.”
“There’s no way you can know that,” I murmur.
“Yes, there is. After I make my pregnant wife scream in ecstasy, I’ll prove it,” he croons.
“Prove it how?” I wrinkle my brows.
“We’re going to go get you a test,” he says before capturing my lips in a deep kiss.
I forget my words as LaSalle fries my last brain cells. I push my fingers into his hair. His lips feel extra satiny this morning, as they slide across mine.
His hands slide down my sides, to my front, caressing my belly softly. I allow his words to finally set in. I’ve been trying to count back and figure out my last cycle all morning. They’ve never been too regular.
Just the thought of him being right makes me want him even more. I lift into him on my toes, tugging his head closer to me. I can feel his erection pressing into me from behind.
“I’m going to love watching you swell with my baby,” LaSalle growls against my lips.
He breaks the kiss and pulls his shirt over his head. With the look, he pins me with as I look over my shoulder, I know not to move. He places his hands on my hips and kneels behind me.
I grip the edge of the counter as his large hands part my cheeks. I’m still looking at him over my shoulder. His grey eyes are burning back at me.
My hold on the counter tightens and I bite my lip as he starts to slowly devour me. It’s the slowest torture I’ve ever been through. My head spins with so many thoughts.
Almost eight months ago, I was hiding in a bathroom watching someone else be pleasured like this, with no idea it could feel this incredible. Now here I am, married to the man who has had my heart all my life. In another eight or nine months, I’ll have this man’s baby.
LaSalle licks me from my clit, all the way to my puckered hole. I squirm and wiggle closer to him. I’m teetering on the edge. Knowing this, he stands to his feet and lifts my right leg onto the counter. In one swift motion, he shoves his running shorts down his hips.
I lick my lips in anticipation. LaSalle grasps my hips and leans in to kiss my lips. He enters me slowly, purposefully.
I reach for the mirror in front of me, panting. LaSalle grabs my jaw and turns my head to face the mirror. He turns my head to look into the mirror.
Our eyes meet in our reflection. “Look,” he breathes in my ear. “Do you see your body changing. That’s our baby doing that.”
I look at myself, truly look, and I can see it. My breasts look fuller as they bounce with the motion of LaSalle rocking into me. My nipples look enlarged. Call me crazy, but I even seem to be glowing at this moment.
“You see it, don’t you?” LaSalle rasps.
“Yes,” I whimper.
He increases his pace, causing my eyes to return to his. The look I find there is so intense, it would scare me, if I didn’t understand this man. His eyes burn with love, desire, possession, and need. More than a need for my body, but a need to protect, a need to be everything I need.
LaSalle reaches to cup my breasts, my back arches. He rolls his hips into me, causing me to feel him all over. My arms are still pressed to the mirror, but they are shaking.
“Our babies are going to be gorgeous. Look at their mother,” he grunts in my ear. “Stop trying to hold back, Baby. Let go.”
My head falls back and I cry out for him. I’m grasping for my release, but it’s just outside of my reach. LaSalle growls, reaching down for my button.
My eyes squeeze shut as he starts to pound into me anew. The sexy slapping of our bodies inundates the room, mingling with my cries and LaSalle’s heavy pants and groans.
“Tasha,” LaSalle bellows, almost like a command for me to come.
My body responds as his seed fills me with heat. I cry out so loudly, I swear the room shakes. LaSalle kisses my forehead.
“Come, you sleep. When I get back, I’ll have a test for you,” he says with a smile in his voice. “Then we can start planning for our little one.”
All I can do is give him a sleepy smile in the mirror. I’m having LaSalle’s baby. I want to pinch myself.
chapter Fourty-Four
Don Locatelli
LaSalle
Three months Later…
“I’m so glad you could all join me here,” I say to the individuals, sitting across the table from me, in one of my Jersey warehouses.
This meeting is personal to me. I could have let someone else handle this, but I’ve not gone soft with my title. Everyone needs to know that. Over the last five months, the bullshit, and these small cries for power have begun to annoy me.
Everyone is trying to expose our weaknesses. So far, we haven’t shown them any. They hit, we hit harder. Things had become quiet, after I let Uri and Val loose on a small Irish sector that wanted to make a play for Logan’s shipping operation.
Massacre is not the word to describe the creepy shit Uri and Val unleashed. Those two are starting to scare me, something very hard to do. Honestly, I think what’s really scaring me is watching my wife’s level of comfort with Val.
I’m beginning to see Morte Nera in Tasha. I can’t explain it. When those two are together, the room shifts. If the children are around, forget it. You can see in their eyes that they’re on alert no matter the situation.
It’s in their eyes, when I watch those two together, I see the potential for trouble. Uri feels the same. We’ve grumbled about it a lot lately.
Which is why I’m here. Loretta Jennings is a problem. Tasha and Val have heard too much. They both know Carlton’s mother has been lurking in the shadows.
I’ve been a gentleman about this. I didn’t want to kill the old bitch, so I’ve just taken care of anyone that has entertained her bullshit. Now, I’m bringing this shit to her face. She wants to play with the men, I’ll let her.
“Are you ready to admit your wife had something to do with my brother’s death?” Gerald, Carlton’s younger brother snarls.
“You and your mother have some seriously false information. I brought you both here to finally straighten this out before someone gets hurt,” I shrug.
“You brought us here because that bitch is pregnant. I’ll make sure she and that baby—,” Loretta’s words are cut off by the sound of my gun going off and her son screaming.
“You see that. That’s what would happen if I or my wife ever decided we wanted to harm your family,” I bellow, pointing my gun at Gerald, who is screaming from a gunshot wound in his shoulder. “We’d come to your fucking door and make that shit happen. Don’t ever fucking threaten my wife or my child.”
Loretta sits in her seat shaking, with wide eyes and trembling lips. I don’t give a shit. I’ve lost my patience. This petty bullshit stops. I have real things to focus on.
“I’m going to clear the air for you. My wife had nothing to do with your son’s death. He almost got her killed with his bullshit, but my wife is as lethal as me. You keep trying to send people for her. She’s going to come for you and I’m going to let her.
“You have no idea who you’re fucking with. When she’s done putting a bullet in your head, I’ll finish off the rest of your family, and you will see us coming. Do you understand?”
“You…you just shot my son,” Loretta gasps.
“You’re motherfucking right, I did,” I seethe. “I’m about to do it again if you don’t speak the fuck up and say you understand. You don’t get any more warnings.”
“I—I, yes, we’ll stop. You don’t have to worry about us,” she says, and nervously licks her lips.
“Good,” I nod and smile wolfishly. “Now, I’m going to be kind and stitch your boy up while you tell me who offered you the money and help to pull these little disturbances off.”
Loretta’s head snaps towards me and fear fills her eyes. I snort and lift my gun at her son’s head. I’m not playing here.
“You think I don’t know someone helped you? Let me inform you of something. You should always do your homework before you enter this world.
“I’m the big bad wolf around here. Whoever you’ve been dealing with is my bitch. You don’t know and won’t meet another like me. So, whatever fear you have of them, increase that by ten thousand. That’s how much you need to fear me,” I hiss.
“Mom, just tell this crazy bastard what he wants to know,” Gerald cries out.
“Okay,” she breathes.
I snap my fingers for my bag and get to work on Gerald’s shoulder. Loretta wastes no time spilling it all. I nod at her words and take it all in. I look at Logan a few times, as I try to hold in my anger.
“Is that all?” I ask once Loretta stops talking.
“Yes,” she nods frantically. “I didn’t leave anything out.”
“Good,” I smile. I reach in my pocket and pull out a switchblade. I stab it into the stitches I just finished placing in Gerald’s shoulder, reopening them.
Gerald scream in agony and I put him out of his misery with a bullet to his head. Loretta screams her head off.
“Why,” she shrills.
“You sent men to kill my wife. You’ve been a pain in my fucking ass. My children lost their mother because you sent men that distracted us from saving her. I told you. Research who you’re fucking with before stepping into the belly of the beast.”
“But,” Loretta squawks.
“Val,” I call. Valentina steps out in a black dress and red heels. Her black bag, that I don’t even want to know what’s in, is at her side. A smile on her red lips. “I told you. You would know when we come for you. This is my wife’s best friend. She’s going to step in since my wife is too pregnant to serve your ass herself. Goodnight, Mrs. Jennings.”
I turn and leave Val to the task she and Tasha begged me for. See, I told you. I had to put an end to this. Those two have been plotting. I had no question.
chapter fourty-Five
Protector
Tasha
“But what’s going on,” I say into the phone. “Kurtrina, I haven’t seen you in months. Where are you?”
“I’m safe. Don’t worry about me. How’s the baby?” she replies.
“The baby’s fine. We got to see him yesterday,” I say excitedly, before realizing she’s trying to throw me off. “He would love to have his auntie here to talk to him.”
I haven’t seen my sister in months. She just up and ran off. I know she was messed up behind what happened to her bodyguard and friend. I just didn’t think she would up and leave though.
She barely answers any of our calls. Czar hates that shit. He’s about to call her ass on her crap, but he seems distracted. So, I decided to call today and see if I could get some answers.
“I wish, Sis. I promise. I
’m figuring shit out. I’ll be there for you as soon as I can,” Kurtrina sighs.
“Kurtrina,” I huff. But my words are cut off, as LaSalle walks into the bedroom. “Listen, I’ll call you later. Answer, okay?”
“If I can, sure, I will,” Kurtrina sighs.
I sigh at her cryptic answer. I don’t have time to pry further. LaSalle is moving like a panther with purpose. He grabs the chair from the new vanity he just had installed for me. Sitting it beside the bed, he sits and leans forward towards me.
“Alright, Baby Sis,” I reply.
I disconnect the call and LaSalle tosses a phone on the bed next to me. I pick up the phone and look down at the screen. I flip through the pictures, before looking up to look my husband in the eyes.
“It’s done. Now you can stop worrying about it,” LaSalle says firmly.
I look back down at the pictures. Loretta Jennings is barely recognizable, but I know it’s her. The pictures should turn my stomach, but as my son moves inside me, I can’t find it in me to feel anything but relief and satisfaction. Bitch had it coming.
“I wasn’t worried. I just don’t like loose ends,” I shrug.
LaSalle pins me with a glare. “I don’t leave loose ends. I knew every move she was making. You and Val have been up to something for a while. All of you women have. I hope this puts a stop to it.”
“We’ve been planning for the baby,” I say innocently.
LaSalle lifts from his chair and gets nose to nose with me. “You know how people know us from the rest of the world?”
“What do you mean?”
“Us, Baby, the killers. They know us because it’s in our eyes. I’ve been watching yours. You’re up to something, stop, now,” he says the last word forcefully.
I kiss his lips and reach for his hand, pulling it to my swollen belly. “He’s been moving since you started talking,” I say softly. “Come, talk to us.”
LaSalle’s eyes light up, as our son kicks him. He presses his lips at me, but kicks his shoes off and climbs in bed beside me. LaSalle looks at Sammy who’s already fast asleep at my side. He dips his head to kiss Sammy’s soft hair.