by A. Hargrove
“Ew! It's not that bad but between me and you, Evan is more than ready for this to end. He's ready for boob time again.”
“Why are men so boob crazy? I don't get it.” I really didn't. They had boobs too. Was it just because ours were bigger?
“Yeah, I don't either. I get the other bits, but boobs are overrated.”
“Especially when you have baboobies like I do. Mine get in the way more than they don't.”
“Baboobies are a pain. Mine are jugs with this breastfeeding and I can't wait for them to shrink.”
“Uh, Sylls, what if they don't?”
“HUH? You can't be serious? I'll get a shrink job if they don't. They're watermelons, Pipe. I hate 'em.”
“Now you know how I feel all the time.”
“No, mine are twice as big as yours.”
“Oh, my God. Send me a pic.”
“No!”
“Come on, Sylls. I'd do it for you.”
“I am not sending you a boob pic.”
“Wait. You don't think I'm asking for a naked boob pic, do you?” Then I howled. “Oh, my God. I meant just a chest shot, for fuck's sake.”
She snorted and we both cracked up for God knows how long.
Then one of the mighty mites screamed in the background. “Uh oh. Sounds like one of them needs a boob!”
“Nah, they probably pooped though. I gotta run. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
I got off without more Alessandro questions, so I was proud. My dad was even getting impatient with me. I didn't blame him. I'd want more information too. But what more could I give? I'd already told everyone about the university policy and that he was a professor and all.
They still didn't believe we were only friends. Who knew what the hell we were? I was totally into Gabriele but very worried about what would happen to him after I went back to the states. Worrying about it wouldn’t do him or me any good. It was Alessandro's place to figure that one out.
On Saturday, I met Emma at a local restaurant for dinner. After we ate, we went to my favorite pub where a lot of the grad students hung out. That's when she sprung it on me.
“I hate to even mention this.” She hadn't been acting herself all evening and when I asked her what the problem was, she avoided me. Until now.
“What?”
“Your little fucker will most likely be getting out.”
“WHAT?” I screamed. It wasn't a fun scream so lots of heads snapped to attention and stared.
“Hush down.” When nothing else followed, they turned away and minded their own business.
“What the hell, Emma.” My gut twisted with fear. Abject solid fear. Her words impacted me so forcefully, I wanted to run straight home and hide under my bed like five-year-old Piper would've done.
“Yeah, well, none of the women we brought in from the rape cases could positively ID him. He was damn smart, Piper. Much smarter than any of us gave him credit for. None of his victims ever got a clear look at his face.”
“But what about DNA?”
“Nothing. He'd put wool gloves on his victims, hence, no fingernail scrapings. He'd wear a condom, so we came up with nothing there either. His victims said he wore leather gloves and a hat or ski mask so we have zero on him. The only things we have are the two text messages. My boss is so pissed off right now.”
“You mean Thornton?”
“Yeah.”
“But he held me at knifepoint and was going to slit my throat.”
“His story is you tried to kill him first, but we know it's rubbish. Piper, we are on your side, and doing all we can. I just thought you should know.”
This was unbelievable. I had to stay here until March. It was only November. What should I do?
“Emma, you'll phone me as soon as he's released, yeah?”
“Yeah, but what are you going to do?” She eyed me suspiciously.
“I don't know.” I dropped my head onto my hands. It throbbed like crazy as though that little fucker was inside of it with a hammer.
No sleep came that night. Every tiny noise made me jump out of bed and hide in the closet, like that would do any good. I was going to move out of here, as much as I hated it. But staying here and freaking out every night was not conducive to normal living.
Alessandro noticed my distress immediately the next day. After Gabriele gave me his latest drawing, and hugged on my legs for all of five minutes, alternating between telling me about his latest girlfriend, Tessa, he ran out to play footie, as he called it.
“What happened?” Alessandro asked as soon as the coast was clear.
I told him and then mentioned I was going to move.
“Yes, upstairs. We have the extra room, Piper, and you'll be safer than ever here.”
“Alessandro, that's a very bad idea.”
“We've already discussed this. You can set up a post box for your mail, and no one, other than Emma and the police, will know. For security purposes, the police would never disclose your address to anyone. You'll be fine otherwise.”
“Honestly, it would alleviate the stress of having him coming back to find me. But what about you?” I wanted the air cleared between us before I took this step.
“Me?”
“Yes, you. We'll be living under the same roof.” I wanted to add dummy but refrained.
One hand waved through the air. “It'll be fine. Gabriele will love it.”
“That's not what I asked.” I stared pointedly at him.
“Right, then. It will be different, I'll admit.”
“And?”
“But I'm sure I can adjust.”
“I've only been to Gabriele's room. What about the bathrooms. How many?”
A soft chuckle filled the air. Why did he do that? It left me with goosebumps on my arms.
“You'll have your own, so don't worry. I won't be pounding on your door to get out so I can have my few minutes, if that's what you're asking.” His knowing wink had me laughing in return.
“That makes it more comfortable.” It would be awkward sharing a bathroom with him. What if I had to poop and he needed to go right after me? Ugh, the thought made my face heat up.
“Now what?”
“No-nothing,” I stuttered.
“Don't lie to me. If we're going to make this work, we have to be honest with each other.”
“Really, it was nothing. It had to do with the bathroom.”
He took my wrist between his thumb and finger and asked, “Was it something to do with showering?” Now his sexy smirk had me clenching my thighs.
“No! It wasn't that.”
“Then what?”
“Why are you so stinking persistent?”
The hand that held my wrist brought it up. “Because I am. Now tell me or I won't let you go.”
Jesus. “You ...I...I'm just glad we don't have to share a bathroom. That's all!” I huffed. “Now will you let me go?”
“That's not an answer. I want to know the real one.” He still held my wrist in the air.
“What if I have to poop and you came in right afterward?” I blurted out.
He gazed at me for a whole second, then broke into the loudest most obnoxious laugh I'd ever heard in my entire life. That included my sister, Sylvie, who pig-snorted when she laughed. And throughout the entire episode, he still held my wrist, dammit. I wanted to run and hide, but couldn't, because he had an ironclad grip on me.
When he stopped, I said in the most snarky tone I could manage, “Are you happy now?”
Then he laughed again, the rat! “That was priceless, Piper. Oh, God.” He breathed in. “You are really funny. Has anyone ever told you that?”
I scowled. “I wasn't trying to be funny. But yes, people have told me that, thank you very much.”
He pinched my cheek, like I'd seen him do to Gabriele countless times. What the eff!
“Now that we have the um, bathroom situation taken care of, it's settled. Why don't we start now? We can go to your place so you can
pack a bag for the week and next weekend we can get the rest of your things.” He frowned.
“What now? Did my pooping scare you?”
His frown reversed as his mouth curved in the opposite direction. “No, but do you have a lease?”
“Yes, but I'm hoping under the circumstances he lets me out of it. He has updated the security system and it's top notch, but it's not enough for me.”
Alessandro slanted his head. “Is he a wine drinker?”
“I wouldn't know. The most conversation I've had with him was when all this happened.” I pointed to my face, since it was still fifty shades of purple. “Why?”
“I can send him a case of our best, which should make him very happy if he knows anything about wines.”
“I can ask.”
Turned out, he was. But it hadn't been necessary. Under the circumstances, he was glad I was moving out. After the incident, he wanted someone else in there, someone who wasn't being stalked by a crazy person who might be released from jail soon.
Beginning that night, I moved in with Alessandro, but it was more like living with Gabriele. He was giddy over having a new roommate.
When we went to my place to pack, he asked at least a hundred questions. “Why do you have this? What's this for. Who are these people? Are you going to bring this? Do you want this pillow? Can I carry this for you? How many shoes do you have?” I was a total shoe whore, no doubt about it.
Alessandro stepped in. “Gabriele, one day, when you are much older, you will find that women like shoes much more than men do.”
“Why Papa?”
“I don't know, but they do.”
“It's because we have a lot of different kinds of outfits to wear that need different kinds of shoes, squirt.”
He gave no response but helped me pack my shoes into a large crate I'd bought when I first moved here. Alessandro carried it out while Gabriele and I still worked inside. I was loading more clothes into a suitcase when Gabriele opened my nightstand and asked, “Piper, are you taking these too?” I watched in horror as he reached inside to grab the two vibrators I kept in there.
Chapter Twenty
Alessandro
When Piper yelled Gabriele's name, my heart came to a screeching halt. I ran full speed into her bedroom, just in time to see my son’s fingers release what appeared to be a sex toy.
“What happened?” My voice boomed throughout the room.
Gabriele's eyes filled with tears while Piper ran over to the nightstand and slammed the drawer closed. “It was nothing. He startled me and I scared him in return.” Guilt was written all over her.
I immediately picked him up to inspect him. When your child almost dies, you go into overdrive every time you think he's been injured. She touched my son's face. “I'm sorry, squirt. I didn't mean to scare you.”
He ran his sleeve under his nose and buried his head into my neck. Our eyes caught and embarrassment coated her skin in the form of a bright pink flush. I didn't want her to be upset over this. I also didn't want my son seeing her wicked toys. The best thing for them would be a make-up session so I handed him over to her. She smiled her thanks.
“Hey. I'm extra sorry I scared you. Are you angry with me?”
“No. I don't like to be scared.”
“Guess what? Neither do I and that's why I'm coming to live with you because I'm scared living here alone. Is that okay? That I'm coming to live with you?”
He nodded.
“What happens if I snore real loud and the walls shake?”
His head popped up and a grin peeked out. “You don't snore.”
“How do you know?”
“Only real old people like my nonne and nonni snore. Your hair isn't white so you're not old enough to snore.”
“I see. But I might snore anyway. And if I do, and the roof rumbles, will you still want me living with you?”
He pinched his bottom lip. “Papa, what if the roof rumbles? Will Piper wake me up?”
“She might.”
His grin spread and his teeth appeared. “Then I'll run into your room and throw socks at you.”
“Socks? Why socks?”
He shrugged. “I don't know. You probably don't have any balls in your room and a shoe might hurt.”
“Ahh. Good idea. I'll show you my sock drawer then.”
He squiggled out of her arms and asked, “Is that a bad place?”
“What place?” she asked.
He pointed to the nightstand. She caught my eye and I bit my lip to hold back a chuckle.
“Not exactly bad, but it has some things in it that I don't want disturbed.”
“You mean like lizards and worms?”
Was she ever digging herself into a bigger hole.
“Um, not lizards and worms, no. But other things,” she said.
“What kinds of other things?”
“Just things that little boys wouldn't like.”
“Grown-up things then?”
“Yes! Grown-up things.” She smiled.
“Why didn't you say so? I thought I saw a toy in there, so that's why I asked.”
“All right. Now that we have this settled, why don't we finish up here. I'm getting hungry.” And just for proof, my stomach rumbled.
“Ha, Papa has a noisy tummy.”
I ruffled up his hair. “That's why I want to get something to eat.”
We packed the rest of her things and when Gabriele wasn't looking, I motioned with my head toward her drawer and waggled my brows.
“Yeah, I can get that later,” she said, rushing out of the room.
I was very curious about what was in there so after the two of them walked out, I took a quick peek inside. Piper had not one, but two vibrators. She liked her orgasms. I didn't have time to check which kind they were, only that she had two and I shut the drawer and grabbed the two heavy suitcases, rolling them both to the car.
She locked up behind me and we drove back to the house. After we unloaded, we went and grabbed a bite to eat. Everyone voted on going to a pub where we all ordered fish and chips.
“I've totally fallen in love with this,” she said.
“So have I. I wasn't a huge fan of fried fish before I lived here.”
Gabriele watched us. “Papa, what's fried?”
“It's this.” I showed him. “You know how we make fish and it doesn't have crunchy stuff on the outside? That's because it's not fried.”
“I like fried too.”
“You like everything, meatball.”
“I'm not a meatball.” His giggles filled me with more joy than I could ever describe. When I looked away from him, Piper had her phone out, aimed at the two of us.
“I hope you don't mind, but I took some pictures of you two. You both had an indescribably happy look on your face. See?”
She handed me her phone and the photo was actually great. “Can you send that to me?”
“Sure.”
“Papa, can I see?”
I showed it to him.
“You two are so much alike.”
“We are. Look, Papa, we have the same hair.”
“We do?” He loved to point things out to me.
“Yes. See?”
I allowed him to show me and when I went to hand Piper her phone back, our hands brushed across one another's. Hers was silk to my sand. I watched her mouth curve into a soft grin and a warm glow burned inside of me. I had to shut this down. There was no place in my life for warmth from a woman, especially one who was living with us.
Gabriele took up most of the conversation as we ate. I had to tell him to stop talking and start eating or his dinner wouldn't be fit to eat. He didn't understand what that meant, so Piper explained.
“Do you like to eat socks?”
“That's silly, Piper.”
“You won't think so if you don't eat now, because that's what your fish will taste like soon.”
His eyes grew as he stared at her. Then he went to town, shoveling his fish into his mouth
. Apparently, socks were not a desirable menu item.
By the time we made it home, it was bath and bedtime.
“Papa, can Piper read my story tonight?”
“You'll have to ask her.”
“Piper, do you know how to read?”
Hiding a smile, she said, “I sure do.”
“Will you read my bedtime story to me?”
“As long as it's not about lizards or worms.”
“Okay.”
Gabriele marched upstairs to take his bath with me following. As he was getting into the tub, he asked, “Papa, why doesn't Piper want a story about lizards or worms?”
“I don't know. You'll have to ask her.”
“Okay. I hope she doesn't snore.”
“You shouldn't worry about that.”
“Papa, do you think she'll let me sleep with her some time?”
That's something I'd like to know. “You'll have to ask her that too.”
“But if she snores, I won't sleep.”
“That's right.”
“Papa, do you think Piper is bellissima? I think she's prettier than all the girls in my class.”
“Yes, I do.”
“If you don't marry her, do you think she'll marry me?”
“Maybe. But you'll have to ask her that yourself.”
“I'm glad she's here. Aren't you?”
“Yes, Gabriele, I'm glad. Now let me rinse your hair. Close your eyes.”
When he was rinsed off, he asked, “Do you think she'll like me better now that I'm clean?”
This kid and his questions. “I think she'll adore you.”
“Can I ask her?”
“You can ask her anything you want.”
“I love you, Papa.”
“Gabriele, I love you more than my own heart.”
“Me too.” He pursed his lips for a kiss. Then I wondered how long these days would last because God knew I'd miss them when he had grown too old for kisses for his Papa.
Chapter Twenty-One
Piper
Reading Gabriele a story was too cute. But when he asked me if I liked him better now that he was clean and if I would marry him, I almost cried. My emotions choked me so that I couldn't speak.