The covers bunched up in her hands as her head thrust back. “You’re the devil. That really, really tickles.”
“Andi, Andi, Andi…” I licked the inside of her thigh. “…you taste so soft.”
“Mmm…” Her body arched.
My mouth inched higher.
Every muscle tensed.
“Shh…” I blew across her skin. “Enjoy this. I know I am.”
“Sergio,” she panted, “hurry up before I kill you.”
“Please, I hid all the knives.” My mouth licked at her core.
A yelp and then, “You’re evil.”
“I’m your husband.” I sucked until she squirmed. “Your fault.”
No more words, just panting and cursing.
Andi fisted my hair into her hands and tugged my head up then slammed her mouth against mine.
I rolled onto my back as she straddled me. “You were going too slow.”
“Oh?” I choked out a laugh then stopped when she slowly lowered herself onto my body, inch by aggravating inch.
“Who’s laughing now?”
I lifted her up, then slowly down. “Not me.”
She gasped. “Me either.”
“Faster.”
I tsked. “Slower.”
“Damn you, Sergio!”
“Let me enjoy this.” I rolled my hips.
She cursed again, her nails making permanent marks on my chest as she pushed against me, her way of trying to go faster.
“You feel amazing.” Her eyes closed.
I moved faster. She kept my same tempo and then threw her head back, her hair flying across her shoulders, whipping my hands where they were placed against her skin, causing such an erotic sensation and vision I had to grit my teeth to keep from finishing.
“Let go,” I said through clenched teeth.
“If I let go…” She blinked open her eyes.
And I knew the truth; it was just another moment passed, another second closer to the end, which is why she wanted fast. Because she wouldn’t have to think. With a growl, I pulled out and tossed her onto her stomach and covered her with my body, with my warmth, my strength. I gripped her hands and slowly inched into her then moved.
Seconds went by.
Minutes.
Hours?
Who knew?
It was a moment that didn’t need definition, that just was — perfection as I felt her body tense then ease under mine, as I followed and experienced such completion at our joining that I knew I could follow her into heaven and know—
—I’d done good.
I’d done good by her.
By me.
And I’d accomplished what I’d been set on Earth to do.
Love Andi.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Andi
”DUDE!” TEX STOOD FROM THE TABLE and stretched. “You look like you got some last night. Well done, Andi. Always get yours, that’s what I say.”
“Oh is it?” Mo countered from her end of the table. “Is that what you always say, baby?”
“I sense a fight.” I held up my hands. “Don’t put me in the middle of your drama. I’m too small.”
“Please.” Sergio snorted and met us with a bowl of popcorn. “You pack a punch and stole Tex’s gun right out of his hands.”
“Oh?” Mo’s eyebrows shot up. “Baby, you didn’t tell me that. Had something in your eye, did ya?”
Tex shot me a glare. “Whatever happened to you being my bitch, and I’m your bro, and you don’t go blabbing to my wife?”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Sergio grinned and tossed a piece of popcorn into his mouth. “I was unaware of the rules.”
“Rules.” Mo flashed a smile. “Who likes those?”
“Nixon.” Trace waltzed into the room. “Dibs on popcorn — oh, you know what would be great?”
All eyes fell to her. For the past week, since my return from the hospital Trace had been eating peanut butter like it was going out of style and chomping down on every piece of fruit in the house; she was constantly eating, and I do mean constantly. It was weird, though a bit hilarious, considering Sergio had finally sent his housekeeper out to get groceries on account that Trace and Bee had eaten everyone out of—
“Holy crap!” I jumped out of my chair and covered my mouth with my hands. “Trace!”
She frowned, reaching a fist into the popcorn and stuffing it into her mouth.
I shook my head. “You’re pregnant.”
She paled.
Tex burst out laughing. “Nixon, you dirty dog…”
“Huh?” Nixon walked into the kitchen, a gun in hand
Seriously, did the guy ever turn it off? Or put it away? Probably why Trace was preggers. I smirked at my own joke.
“Why am I dirty?”
“Trace!” Mo pointed an accusing finger in Trace’s direction. “You got your wife pregnant. Well done, evil twin. Well done.”
Nixon’s face broke out into a smile. “Oh…” He winked at Tex. “…that.”
Popcorn fell out of Trace’s hand as she started counting on her fingers.
“Six weeks,” Nixon said, looking bored.
Trace’s eyes widened.
Nixon shrugged. “What? I know your cycle better than you do. You’re about six weeks along. I was waiting for you to say something, thought maybe you didn’t know.” His grin was shameless. “Apparently, someone’s been distracted.”
Trace launched herself at Nixon, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Nixon kissed her across the mouth. “I honestly thought you were just waiting to tell me until you were further along — until you knew. Don’t girls do that?”
“No…” Phoenix stumbled into the room, his eyes tired. “…they tell you right away and then cause you to freak out at the exact same time they find out, making you lose sleep and wonder if your child is going to inherit the same awful tendencies to stay up ALL THE NIGHT LONG!”
“Just me?” Tex frowned. “Or did Phoenix just say ‘all the night long’? Like he was born in the eighteen hundreds.”
“Coffee,” Phoenix croaked.
“Bee not sleeping well?” I guessed.
Phoenix shot me a glare. “Insomnia. Which means I don’t sleep either. Which means nobody’s happy.”
Bee entered the kitchen humming.
“Ha, someone’s happy.” I pointed.
Phoenix sighed and glanced at Sergio. “Tell me you have coffee, man, or else I’m heading to Starbucks, and nobody wants to see me drive into a tree because I can’t keep my eyes open.”
“Same cupboard.” Sergio pointed.
Phoenix mumbled a “Thank God” into the air and started making coffee.
Nixon was still kissing Trace.
“Get a room,” I called.
Trace blushed and pulled away from her husband. “Sorry, I just… this is crazy, right? Me and Bee at the same time.”
“Same time what?” Bee said mid-mouthful of popcorn.
“I think I’m pregnant.” Trace bit down on her lower lip. “I mean I—”
“YES!” Bee jumped into the air. “I was wondering if you’d be next, though I honestly thought my brother’s sperm would have found their way to Mo. Weird… must be slow swimmers.”
“Now see here,” Tex said in a booming voice as he stood. “My swimmers are just fine, and please, don’t think about them, or talk about them, or—”
Bee waved him off. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
Tex turned bright red. “You aren’t seeing jack shit.”
“Chill.” Bee rolled her eyes. “I meant the pregnancy, bro. I don’t actually want to see it.” She scrunched up her nose. “This conversation just took a turn for the worse.”
Sergio snorted. “Good thing Chase isn’t here.”
“Ladies, I have arrived,” Chase announced from the bottom of the stairs. “Who’s the siren that made the call, because I could have sworn I heard my name.”
“Tex.”
I nodded. “He needs reassurance his swimmers aren’t crap.”
“Tex swims just fine.” Chase nodded his head then tilted it. “Wait, are we talking swimming or…” He swallowed then grinned. “swimming.”
“Oh, good Lord.” Tex hung his head. “Trace is pregnant!”
“What?!” Chase’s eyes widened. “No way! Who’s the father?”
Nixon growled.
Chase inched past him and pulled Trace in for a giant hug, lifting her off the ground. “Just kidding.” He kissed her cheek. “Congrats, Trace… I can’t wait to be the godfather.”
Nixon let out a groan.
Chase shrugged and wrapped his arm around Trace. “It only makes sense,” he whispered in Trace’s ear. “Go ahead. Tell him.”
“Er…” Trace giggled. “…it really does, Nixon.”
“Family’s fun.” Tex chuckled. “Don’t you think, Serg?”
Sergio had been pretty quiet. I expected him to be scowling; instead, he was laughing, his face bright, happy. My stomach clenched. I wanted him to be like that forever — and I had no way of securing his happiness, except for the plan I’d put into motion, the plan I wasn’t even sure he would go along with.
It was a long shot.
But it was all I had.
“Nixon…” Sergio tossed some popcorn into his mouth. “…just think how much fun it will be to have Chase as the godfather…”
“Hey…” Trace looked around the room. “…where’s Mil?”
“Movie.” Chase released Trace and opened his arms. “She felt like we should have a movie night to celebrate a week since Andi and Serg have been home — oh, and the fact that nobody’s been shot at.”
“Throw a damn parade.” Frank entered the kitchen, wine glass in hand. “Sergio, a word?”
Sergio’s smile fell.
Damn.
“Sure.” He cleared his throat. “No problem.”
“Phoenix…” Frank nodded. “…you too.”
Why did it feel like the parent had just come into the room only to end all the fun?
“Let’s go.” Tex helped me up from my chair. “Time for the movie.”
Sergio walked over to me and kissed my head. “I’ll be right in. Save me a seat.”
“‘Kay.” I gripped his hand then released it and followed Tex out, but I didn’t miss Phoenix’s morose expression or the look of confusion on Sergio’s. I had a sneaking suspicion my plan was already getting set into motion.
Not by way of me.
But by way of Luca.
Someone who wasn’t even living anymore — carrying out his wishes.
Funny, we’d soon have that in common.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Sergio
FRANK POURED EACH OF US A GLASS of wine.
We drank wine all the time—it was like water; if you weren’t drinking it, you were either dead or dead. Seriously. Every other occasion called for it.
So I shouldn’t have been suspicious, and I wouldn’t have been — had Frank not asked Phoenix to stay as well.
Two bosses and me.
It wasn’t good news.
But would it be bad? What could be worse than what I’d already experienced or what I was currently experiencing?
Frank cleared his throat and slid the wine toward me slowly. His frosted black and gray hair looked more dominant in the light, casting a glow across his sharp features. I imagined around thirty years ago he probably could have given all of us guys a run for our money in the looks and all around muscle department. But now he just had the look of the patriarch of a very old and very organized business.
He swirled the wine in his glass then took a long sip. “Have you read your black folder?
I suppressed a groan. “No. And I don’t think I will.”
Phoenix tensed next to me.
I wasn’t sure why.
What the hell was so important about that damn folder?
“You should,” he encouraged. “Luca kept great tabs on not only you but some other key players in our… family.”
“I see what you’re doing.” I toyed with the stem of my wine glass. “But it won’t work. I’m curious but not so curious that I feel like reading about all the horrible things I’ve done — the horrible things I’m capable of.”
“Like you should talk,” Phoenix said under his breath.
I shot him a guilty look.
Phoenix scratched his head and leaned back. He looked less tired than he had a few minutes ago. “Look, it would be in your best interest to read it.”
I glanced between the two of them. They’d never been on the same team. Hell, the more I thought about it, they were basically natural enemies. Phoenix had tried to rape Trace; granted, that seemed like a million lifetimes ago, but Phoenix was basically the big bad wolf, the monster, the loose cannon. Out of all of us, he’s the one I’d say who was around two seconds away from losing his shit and just bombing the house because he felt like it. It made no sense.
“What’s going on here?” I leaned forward. How had I missed this? The way Frank looked at Phoenix, the way Phoenix almost… cowered in Frank’s presence — not that he was intimidated, but that he was uncomfortable with the weight of his own knowledge.
“Luca knew everything about everyone,” Phoenix said slowly. “Everything. And Sergio… it’s hard to explain, but it’s almost like he took every possible scenario that could have happened in our family and planned for it.”
I snorted. “What? So now he’s a ghost? Freaking psychic? Controlling the family from the grave?”
Frank gulped and looked down at the table. “You know nothing, and you’ll continue to be in the dark until you read the folder, the one Luca specifically left for you, about you, with instructions only you can carry out.”
I met Frank’s gaze, my gaze unwavering, giving nothing away. “And what if I burn it? What happens then?”
Frank licked his lips and cracked a smile. “I imagine my brother even planned for that outcome as well. His mind worked in very mysterious ways.”
Phoenix tapped his fingers against the wood table. “Sergio, we still need you. That’s what this is about. We need you in this family. Don’t check out. Not yet.”
“Yet,” I repeated.
Frank’s eyes were kind when he said, “She will die.”
I averted my gaze. “I know.”
“And when she does…” His voice was soft, reassuring. “…we will still need you, Sergio. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
I snorted. “Don’t go off and shooting myself in the face? Is that what you’re saying?” I shook my head. “Well, let me put your mind at ease. I would never do that. Ever. Andi would be ashamed of me if I did, and I live for that woman.” My voice shook. “I’m a man because of her, and I’ll be damned if I take the coward’s way out because I can’t live without her.”
Frank stared long and hard at me, his blue eyes piercing, his body taut. “Fine,” he finally said. “Good.” Standing, he gave me another once-over and said again, “Read the folder, Sergio, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised… or burn it. Either way, life… it is meant to be lived, it is meant to be felt, regardless of how painful or sorrowful the journey.”
I nodded and whispered, “It’s not how you start.”
Frank smiled softly. “Son, it’s how you finish.”
“A beautiful ending.” I repeated what Andi and I had said.
“Yes,” he agreed, “it is.”
Frank walked slowly out of the room; his footsteps echoed for a good while before they disappeared, leaving just me and Phoenix at the table.
“I have to say something.” Phoenix’s eyes were glassy with tears. “And I’m sorry if I’m being that guy right now, but I have to say it.”
“What?” I’d never in my life seen Phoenix show emotion, not really, not in the way he was showing now, like any second he was going to break down and sob all over the table. “What’s wrong?”
“I’ve never…” He
shook his head as tears filled his eyes. “…respected a man as much as I respect you, right now, in this moment.”
I swallowed the knot in my throat. “Oh yeah? Why?”
“Because I see it, Sergio. I feel it. I know it. What it’s like to be saved, to have someone see you for you, not just what you want people to see. But who grasps the innermost parts of your darkness and calls bullshit on your own insecurities, who takes you for who you are and says its okay. I know.” He licked his lips and looked down at the table. “I know it, probably better than most, and now, so do you. She’s dying, man, and I can’t… my brain can’t comprehend the gravity or the depth of the sorrow you feel, and I can’t help you — none of us can — and it’s choking to watch, to live through, so I can’t imagine being you, I can’t imagine being her, and because of that, I respect you so much that now, right here, right now, I vow to do my damnedest to help you when this is done. I’ll get your ass out of bed when it seems too hard. I’ll shoot you in the ass if you don’t eat. I’ll do what I can because I owe you at least that much for showing me what it’s really like to be selfless — to love.”
I had no words.
So, for the first time since my promise to Andi, I let it go. I collapsed against my enemy — the one guy I probably hated just as much as Tex.
And I cried.
Big heaving sobs wracked my body.
And Phoenix De Lange of all people…
Held me.
And told me it was going to be okay.
I just wish I believed him.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
Andi
THIS WAS FAMILY. IT WAS DISORGANIZED, messy, chaotic, hilarious, heartbreaking—it was perfect.
Trace had quickly decided that we didn’t need a movie but a karaoke night.
Nixon was not amused.
And watching Trace try to get Nixon to sing Frozen’s “Let it Go” was officially going down in my all-time favorite moments. He looked livid, yet he was up there, clutching the microphone with a death grip while Trace danced around him.
Awesome.
I clapped.
Tex kept booing.
And Chase kept asking Nixon to take off his shirt.
Elude (Eagle Elite #6) Page 24