by Chelle Bliss
I can’t help but laugh. At least I only have one daughter to worry about, unlike Joe.
“At least most of the people in our area know me and my buddies, and they’re scared shitless. But most times, boys aren’t thinking with their heads.”
“We never do,” I say, feeling my stomach flip, thinking about what lies ahead of me.
15
Tilly
Angelo collapses into a chair near the bed, tipping his head back and closing his eyes. “Such a long day,” he says softly as I climb into his lap. His hands move to my hips, his fingers digging into my skin through my dress.
I press my hands against his chest, loving the feel of his warmth and the steady beat of his heart under my palms. “Are you ready to go to bed, husband?” I love how the word slides off my tongue.
His hands find my ass and squeeze. He lifts his head, gazing at me with needy eyes. “I’m tired, but I’m hungry, wife.”
A shiver runs down my spine as his fingers tighten against my skin. I lean forward, running my tongue along the stubble under his jaw. “What would satisfy you?” I murmur against his skin.
He curls his fingers, bunching the fabric of my dress, and baring my thighs. “Only you,” he whispers in my ear, and goose bumps break out across my skin.
I scoot forward, rubbing my panty-covered pussy against his denim-clad cock. “You want my mouth?” I ask, staring into his greedy eyes as I run my tongue along my lip.
His gaze dips, following the trail of my tongue as he tightens his fingers, pulling my body closer. “I want that beautiful cunt.”
God. I love when the man talks dirty to me. Cunt is a word that used to make my stomach turn, but damn it, when he says it that way and with the need in his voice, it makes my body throb to be filled.
I dip my head, bringing my lips close to his. “And what do I get?”
“Anything you want, sweetheart.”
I smile as my lips press against his, softly at first, as my fingers find the button on his jeans. He slides his hand up my back, fisting it in my hair as he deepens the kiss. Our tongues tangle together, dancing in unison in our mouths. I’m drunk on lust and love, wanting nothing more than for my husband to fuck me.
I work my fingers feverishly at his zipper, and he lifts us both, our mouths never leaving each other. As I yank the sides of his jeans down, exposing his beautiful, hard cock, he moans against my lips and slips his hand under my dress. I gasp as his fingertip grazes my clit so lightly, my body moves forward, begging for more.
“My panties,” I pant into his mouth.
Without a verbal response, he pulls the thin material to the side and lifts his hips, touching his hardness to my wetness. “Fuck me,” he demands.
I do not argue. I want him. The stolen glances across the yard and watching his skin glisten in the waning sunlight filled my entire body with need.
Lowering myself onto him, I close my eyes, and take his mouth with a hunger I haven’t felt before. Maybe it’s the fear of whatever the men have planned that drives me as I rise and fall, spearing myself on his hard shaft over and over again until we’re trembling and covered in sweat.
I lean back, staring into his eyes with him buried deep inside me. “I know what I want.”
His eyes blaze. “What do you want?”
“I gave you my cunt. Now I want your promise.”
Fuck. I feel so naughty and powerful in this moment. After a short conversation with Izzy, I knew how I’d get Angelo to do what I wanted. Part of me felt guilty, but right now, in this moment, the feeling has vanished.
“Anything,” he grits out, trying to lift me, but I clamp my legs around his thighs to keep myself there.
“Whatever you have planned, you’ll cancel.”
He lifts an eyebrow as a slow smile slides across his lips. “You’re using sex as a weapon now?”
“Not a weapon, baby.” I smirk, rolling my hips forward until he grits his teeth. “You promised me anything, and if you want me to ride your cock some more, giving you what you crave, you’ll promise me.”
“Or what?” he asks as he brushes his thumb across my nipple, causing my core to spasm.
“I’ll go to sleep, leaving you here with your hard cock to finish yourself.”
This is all kinds of wrong. I know it is. I shouldn’t be doing this, but I know I have to. I’m kind of high on the power. I’ll beg for forgiveness later when whatever danger has passed, but for now, I’ll do what I must to keep my husband safe and at my side.
He cups my breast in his hand, but his eyes never leave mine. “Are you scared?”
I nod slowly. “I’ve lost one man. I won’t lose another,” I say honestly.
“Sweetheart,” he says softly as his hand slides up my dress, finding my neck. “I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do. I never want you to have the fear and sadness you felt before. I’ll tell Morgan and the guys I can’t go with them. Nothing is more important than you, my sweet Tilly.”
I stare at him for a moment, blinking a few times as my eyes hold his. That was entirely too easy.
“Not because you’d leave me here to finish myself off, as you say, but because I want a happy wife and a long life with you.”
“You promise you won’t go.”
“I promise,” he tells me without blinking before pulling my face down to his and capturing my mouth in a deep and demanding kiss.
I move my hips, taking him deeper and harder than before. Within minutes, we’re panting and moaning our ecstasy. My body is sated, and my mind is at peace.
Angelo slides his arm around me, his cock still buried deep inside me when he whispers, “Don’t do that again.”
“Or what?” I whisper back against his neck.
He lets out a heavy sigh. “I shouldn’t let you hang out with Izzy anymore. She’s a problem.”
“How do you know it was her?” I ask, smiling against his skin.
“She’s trouble and has been since she was a little girl. You’re too sweet to think of something like that on your own, baby.”
I want to argue, but he’s right. I never would’ve thought about or had the courage to use the thing he wanted most in that moment against him to get my way.
“I’m not the same woman you met.”
“You’re a Gallo now,” he says as he strokes my spine with his thumb. “The women in my family are strong and cunning, but I like you soft and sweet.”
“I’m still soft and sweet.”
Angelo’s body shakes with laughter. “You weren’t.”
I push myself upward to look at Angelo. “What were you guys planning?”
He shrugs. “Nothing too dangerous. He needed help tracking someone down.”
“Too dangerous?”
He smiles at my questioning of his word choice. “Morgan would go in alone, but he wanted backup in case something went down.”
“And by something going down, you mean…”
“In case he got hurt or the guy was able to get away. Morgan’s been away from the city for a while. I was just going to help him track the guy. Nothing more, sweetheart. The other guys would’ve handled the rest.”
“I was married to a man who thought it was his duty to save the world, Angelo. And I buried him. I won’t bury you too.”
He moves his hands to my face, cupping my cheeks in his palms. “It was a dumbass move not talking to you about it first. I’m sorry.” He pulls my forehead to his, and I close my eyes as he continues. “You know how important my family is to me. When they ask for help, it’s hard for me to say no.”
He’s right. Family is everything, and now I’m part of this family. He wouldn’t be putting himself at risk for nameless and faceless people, but for his own blood. My own blood.
“You can help if you want.” I take a deep breath, hoping like hell I don’t regret those words later. “As long as you promise me you’ll be careful.”
He lifts my head, and our eyes meet. “I’ll help him find the man, but I
won’t go in after him. I won’t put myself in danger for you and our children.”
There’s a warmth in my chest from his words, especially how he refers to Brax and Tate as ours. That’s the thing about this man. There hasn’t been a day when I’ve felt like an outsider. He’s embraced me completely, and so have the children. His family has been beyond amazing, loving, and everything I could have dreamed of.
I lean forward and kiss his soft, warm lips. “Okay,” I whisper.
He rises to his feet as I wrap my legs around his waist. “Now that you’ve had your fun, woman, I think it’s time for me to remind you who’s really in charge.”
I giggle as he tosses me onto the bed and stands near the foot, staring down at me. “It’s still me,” I tease because if there’s one thing I’ve learned around the Gallo women, it’s that they rule the roost.
Angelo smiles and grabs my ankles so fast, I don’t have time to react before he pulls me toward him. “I’m pretty sure I am, baby, but think whatever you want if it makes you happy.”
“You make me happy,” I say, letting my eyes travel up his body. “Now, get naked and fuck me again.” I smirk.
He reaches back with one hand, pulling his shirt up and off before tossing it to the floor. “Your wish is my command,” he says as he yanks off his jeans and kicks them somewhere to the side.
My mouth instantly goes dry at the sight of my naked husband. I don’t care who’s in charge at this point. All I’m thinking about is the fact that he’s staring at me like I’m prey, and I like it.
16
Angelo
“I have news.” Morgan sits down on a barstool, followed by my cousins.
I grab a few glasses and place them on top of the bar, staring at the guys as they sit in a row. “What’s the news?” I ask as I start to fill the glasses with beer, figuring whatever news he has will probably require a drink or ten.
Morgan doesn’t waste a moment and grabs the beer as soon as I set it in front of him. He guzzles half the glass, and James is giving him the side-eye, noticing Morgan’s unease. “Okay, so Quintin called me,” Morgan says as he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Who’s Quintin?” James asks, turning his attention to his beer.
“We go way back. We enlisted in boot camp together, but his life took a different path from mine after serving. I reenlisted while Quintin went on a downward spiral.”
“And he’s a good source, how?” Thomas asks.
“No matter what shit went down in the last ten years, I know he’ll always have my back just as he did when we served together.”
I lean forward, tossing a towel over my shoulder, and stare Morgan straight in the eyes. “And by downward spiral, I assume you mean he got into some legal trouble?”
He nods. “A bit, but nothing major. He has his finger on the pulse of the neighborhood where our guy is supposedly hiding out.”
Joe leans forward, staring down the row of men toward Morgan. “You going to dance around the shit all day, or are you going to tell us what you’ve learned?”
“Quintin said he’s in a house and has paid local gang members to protect him.” Morgan shrugs and lifts the glass to his lips. “It just made things a little more complicated.”
“A little?” I raise an eyebrow.
“We’ve dealt with gang members our entire lives,” Morgan says, like it’s really not a big fucking deal.
I tap the bar in front of him, feeling like I need to impart some Chicago wisdom to my older, but not wiser cousin. “This isn’t the Chicago you grew up in, Morgan. Shit’s gone crazy since you left. There’s constant death and chaos on the streets.”
“Then it’s a no?” he asks before letting out a heavy sigh.
“It’s a dumbass move. We all have more money than we can spend in a lifetime, but I’m not getting my ass shot just to grab some asshole white-collar criminal with gang members surrounding him. It’s not worth it,” Mike says, making all the sense in the world. “Even if we live, Mia would fucking have my balls, bruh.”
“Anyone want in on this?” Morgan asks, looking from left to right but getting no response. “Fine. We’ll pass.”
Thomas pushes his beer mug forward and turns to Morgan. “I’ll give the information to my friends in the marshals’ office. Let them handle the shit. They have an arsenal behind them—and the law.”
“That’ll work. Then what the fuck are we going to do here for three more days?” Morgan asks like he’s in the middle of fucking nowhere.
“I don’t know. Eat, drink, fuck, and enjoy life a little bit,” I offer with a shitty smirk because there’s more to life than trying to get yourself killed.
This is where my cousins and I differ. I like the mundane. I enjoy a night at home or dinner with my family more than I care for the chase or danger. Morgan seems to crave shit that isn’t healthy, but that isn’t entirely new.
Maybe it was losing Marissa that made me realize the preciousness of life. It taught me to soak in the small moments, the times others would find boring, and revel in the calm.
“The parents have the kids busy all week. We should take advantage of the time away and the little bit of extra freedom,” Anthony says as he pushes his empty beer glass forward. “I, for one, plan to squeeze every bit of fun out of this week as possible.”
“Well, what do you want to do tonight?”
“Fuck,” Anthony hisses and pulls at his hair. “I don’t know. I feel so fucking old now.”
Joe elbows him in the ribs. “You are old, you dumb fuck.”
“We’re all old,” Anthony grumbles. “What the fuck happened to us?”
“We grew up. Shit isn’t all it’s cracked up to be either,” Thomas says. “Have kids, they said. It’ll be fun, they said. Biggest lie ever.”
“Dude, you have a boy. Shut the fuck up with your bullshit,” Joe says through gritted teeth. “I have daughters to worry about.”
“Sucks to be you.” Thomas smiles.
“Eh, I already have my bail money set aside for Lily’s first date,” Mike adds with a shrug of one shoulder. “I’ve accepted that I need to scare the piss out of the first one, and word will spread like wildfire.”
“Some little shit keeps calling the house for Tamara.” Anthony closes his eyes like he’s in pain. “I won’t even feel bad for scaring the life out of him if he shows up at my doorstep.”
“It’s only the beginning,” Joe tells them before he takes a swig of his beer. “Shit gets worse.”
“Izzy had all of us looking after her, but our girls don’t have four badass brothers to deal with and protect her,” Mike grumbles.
“I don’t think Izzy would look at it that way,” James adds. “She said you were all a pain in the ass.”
“Still are.” Anthony raises his glass. “But she wouldn’t have us any other way.”
“I think she’d have a different opinion.” James laughs. “She says you guys ruined her teenage years.”
Joe laughs. “That was our job, and we took that shit very seriously.”
“What’s so funny?” Ma asks as she walks down the steps with Tate and Brax at her side.
“Nothing, Aunt Betty,” Joe says as he looks at my two kids.
Ma raises an eyebrow. “Who wants to go to the zoo with us?”
Tate screeches, and Brax jumps up and down, filled with so much excitement. Tate runs behind the bar and clings to my leg. “Daddy, do you want to come?”
I kneel down, holding my little girl close. “Baby, I have to work, but I’m sure Grandma will spoil you.”
“I’m getting a cupcake from Mom first,” she says, and damn it, if my eyes don’t start filling with tears.
“It’s a hard pass,” Mike tells her, ignoring the fact that I’m crying like a pussy. “There’s enough animals around here to keep me entertained.”
“Just don’t get yourselves in trouble, boys. I remember how you used to be when you were young,” she says, giving us all a look I saw a hundred
times growing up.
“Ma, we were ten. I think we have a little more sense now,” I tell her.
She chuckles. “Men never have sense, and by the time they do, they’re too old to put it to any use.”
“She’s rough,” Anthony whispers against his glass.
“She’s the only one who would put up with Santino’s shit all these years,” Joe adds, but speaking so quietly, my mother doesn’t hear over Brax running in circles, squealing like a monkey.
“Well, we’re off.” She turns toward the staircase. “Tino, are you coming or what?”
My father’s footsteps are heavy but slow on the stairs. “I’m coming, woman. Calm yourself.”
There’s silence in the room because everyone knows Betty Gallo doesn’t put up with being talked to like that, even from my father.
Her lips are twisted as his feet touch the dark tile floor of the bar. “Baby,” he says and tries to wrap his arm around her, but she moves out of his reach.
“We’re off. Don’t get in too much trouble today.”
“Bye, Daddy,” Tate calls out before running out the front door and turning toward Tilly’s cupcake shop.
“I don’t know how you did it, Angelo. I can’t imagine raising two kids without Mia,” Mike says as soon as the kids and my parents are out of the bar.
I shrug. “You don’t really have a choice, but it wasn’t easy. I had my head up my own ass, consumed by grief for a long time, but somehow, we made it through it.”
“It didn’t get lost on me that Tate called Tilly Mom. How do you feel about that?” Joe asks.
“It’s bittersweet, but as long as my kids are happy, I’m happy. Tilly loves them as if they’re her own.”
“Going to have more?” Thomas asks.
For some reason, I feel like I’m being interrogated. No longer are they hurling insults back and forth; now they’re all focused on me and volleying questions back and forth.
“Whatever Tilly wants.”
I’d have half a dozen kids if it made Tilly happy. Whatever the woman wants, she’ll get. Putting up with me isn’t easy and becoming part of my family, one she didn’t help create, is something I’ll always be thankful for.