Packing Heat: A Bad Boy Secret Baby Romance (Barone Crime Family)

by B. B. Hamel

  “We’re done with them,” I said. “We’re leaving.”

  “What?”

  I looked at her. “I can’t make you come, but I want you to.”

  “Come where?”

  “I don’t know, but I have money. A lot of money. I can get us new identities. We can start over.”

  “This is insane.”

  “We’re not safe here. We’ll never be safe here. The Spiders, the mob, someone will try to hurt us sooner or later. But if we leave right now and never come back, the chaos will shield us. They’ll think we died or something worse. We can start again.”

  She stared at me, taken aback, shocked. I couldn’t believe I was willing to leave the mob for her, but it was the truth.

  “I don’t know,” she said.

  “I love you. I need you. Come with me. This is real.”

  She bit her lip. “I love you too.”

  I knew it. I felt it. I needed it.

  I kissed her, and she kissed me back.

  After a time, maybe years, I couldn’t tell, we stopped. I put the car in drive.

  I took her hand. I pulled out.

  I loved her. It was real. I knew it was real, and I knew I had loved her from the very start, but now we had said it. Somehow, saying it out loud made it all the more real, made it somehow actual.

  I would give up anything for her. I would do anything for her. I didn’t care if she was pregnant or not. It really had never mattered, although I wanted it to be true.

  She was mine. She made me a better man, and I knew I was doing the right thing.

  I could give them a real life.

  I was going to give them a real life.

  Far away, someplace where nobody could touch us. Just me and Cassidy and our baby, together against the world.

  That was all I ever needed.

  33

  Cassidy

  One Year Later

  I took a deep breath, looking off into the distance. The mountains loomed there, beautiful and imposing, never moving, never shifting. They were one of the two constants in my life.

  Rafa was the other constant.

  I loved Colorado. I had never thought I would, but for some reason it really agreed with me. Maybe it was the thinner air, or maybe it was something else, but I loved it.

  “Cassidy!”

  I walked to the edge of the steps. “Yeah?”

  “Come here!”

  I walked downstairs, smiling to myself. I had gotten a moment to myself for the first time in so long, and now Rafa had to call me downstairs.

  Not that I minded. He was on baby duty, and he was an amazing father. I loved being around him and little Jonathan.

  “Look!” I stepped into the kitchen just as Rafa lifted Jonathan into the air. The baby laughed and spread his arms out like an airplane, and Rafa laughed.

  I couldn’t help but laugh too. He looked just like a little baby airplane.

  Rafa lowered him down, laughing and tickling Jonathan.

  I had never in my entire life imagined that Rafa, this enormous, terrifying, tattooed mafia man, would turn to absolute mush around a baby. But as soon as Jonathan was born, that was exactly what had happened.

  We didn’t hear much about the mob after we left. There were rumors that some important people in the mafia had died, but nothing that was absolutely true. There weren’t many people talking about a Chicago crime family out in Colorado anyway.

  Which was exactly how we liked it.

  The Spiders never contacted me. They never got in touch with me after I left, and I assumed that was on purpose. Rafa had bought us new identities as we traveled, and we ended up in Boulder, Colorado.

  Rafa was a car salesman. It was totally bizarre seeing him go to a normal job, but he did it. He said he’d love to go back to cracking skulls if he could, but he had to provide for his family. So instead, he was making sales and moving up in the business.

  As for me, I was still a journalist. I was taking side jobs writing for local papers and slowly building up a portfolio. I had taken a while off to concentrate on Jonathan, but I was slowly getting back into it.

  The baby yawned, and I reached for him. Rafa smiled and handed him off.

  “You want to play airplane?” he asked me.

  “No thanks. I want to put the baby to sleep.”

  He sighed. “Yes, please. I need some adult time.”

  “I know,” I said, smiling. “Come on, you.”

  I carried the baby upstairs in my arms. I managed to get him down to sleep after only a few minutes of fussing, which was basically a miracle.

  Back downstairs, Rafa was sitting on the couch, sipping some whisky.

  “Bring that pretty ass over here,” he said.

  I walked over, smiling. He grabbed me and pulled me down into his lap, and he kissed me.

  I kissed him back, good and long.

  I loved this man. Even after the baby, he was still incredible to me. He made my body feel things I had never imagined, and we were only just getting started.

  “Listen,” he said. “I want another one.”

  “Another one?”

  “Baby.”

  I laughed. “No.”

  “Come on.” He kissed me again. “It’s so fun to make them.”

  “Yeah, but it’s not fun to have them.”

  “You know you want another.”

  I sighed. “I do want a bigger family.”

  “Well okay then. Let’s get to work.”

  “But two kids out of wedlock? My parents would faint.”

  “Fortunately, your parents think you’re dead.”

  I frowned. I hated that part of our lives. We hadn’t been able to tell anyone when we left, and I had left behind everyone I knew.

  He kissed me. “Sorry. Bad joke.”

  “It’s okay.”

  “Can I make it up to you?”

  “You can.”

  “Good.” I thought he was going to kiss me again. Instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring.

  I stared at it. “What is that?”

  “It’s an engagement ring. Marry me.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “I’m serious.”

  “I thought it would bring too much attention to us.”

  “Fuck it. I want you. Let’s make it official.”

  “Yes,” I said. “Of course.”

  He put the ring on my finger, and I kissed him, kissed him hard and long.

  It was exactly what I needed. Maybe not what I ever imagined, but it was what I needed. I had my baby, I had my husband, I had my life. I felt complete and at peace for the first time in a very, very long time.

  With Rafa, I knew everything was going to be good. He held me, kissed me, did things that no other man could do.

  He took whatever might be missing inside me, gave it shape, and gave it to me.

  He fixed me, righted me, and I couldn’t do this without him.

  THANK YOU!

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  Want more sexy alphas and hot sports romances? Try Long: A Secret Baby Sports Romance!

  I’m having that cocky jock’s baby, but he won’t have me.

  Gibson Evans is the best college football quarterback in the country. He’s tall, broad, tattooed, and so incredibly handsome.

  And he got me p
regnant. It was supposed to be just one night, but a broken condom changed all of our plans forever.

  People treat him like a hero, but I think he’s a total prick. Gibson gets whatever he wants, and now suddenly he wants me.

  But I have enough to deal with. I have to stop daydreaming about his hands between my thighs and concentrate on having this baby while still managing to graduate on time.

  He wants to make a deal. If I promise to spend time with him, he’ll help me with my final biology research. That means an entire semester of studying Gibson’s body.

  I’m not sure I can do this. One second I can’t stand to be around him, and the next I’m touching his ripped muscles and trying to suppress my excitement.

  I’m terrified he’ll ruin everything if I let this become more than just work.

  Click here to read it now on Amazon

  Free with Kindle Unlimited!

  Love badass alpha mobsters? Try Bastard’s Baby, another exciting installment in the Barone Crime Family series!

  I had that bastard’s baby and now I need his help.

  Vince Mori is my enemy. He’s an infamous Italian mobster, all ripped muscles and dangerous tattoos. He’s a cocky a**hole, and for just one night that was exactly what I was looking for. He was a wild ride, a way to rebel against my strict family.

  And he doesn’t know that he’s the father of my baby.

  I’m the daughter of one of the most feared Russian mob bosses in the city. When I give birth to my baby boy Alexei, my father wants to tear my child away from me.

  I won’t let that happen. They may be my family, but I’ll do whatever it takes to keep my baby.

  The Russians are at war with the Italians, but I know Vince is my only chance. When I run away from home and ask him for help, I’m risking my life to save my son.

  Vince is everything I’m supposed to hate, but secretly can’t get enough of. He’s only interested in teasing me mercilessly with his dirty mouth and frustrating grin.

  Now I’m trapped in the Italian mob’s mansion, living next door to my baby’s father. I need their protection, but the war is escalating faster every day.

  If the cocky jerk Vince Mori can’t learn what it means to be a father, I might be totally screwed.

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  Free with Kindle Unlimited!

  SEALed Bride

  Prologue

  The lights flashed as he put his hand on the small of my back.

  Tingles ran up my spine.

  “Smile real pretty,” he whispered in my ear. “I need to show you off.”

  I glanced at him and felt that familiar thrill run through me, a mixture of fear and lust.

  “Go ahead,” he said. “Show them that pretty ass of yours.”

  He twirled me around in front of the cameras. My short dress barely concealed my ass, and the reporters all laughed.

  He was handsome, charming, and the darling of paparazzi and serious journalists alike.

  And he was also deadly as hell.

  Later, back in the hotel room we were forced to share, he stripped off his shirt and poured himself a drink. “You did good today,” he said. “Wife.”

  I stared at his muscular body, at the scars from a hundred battles dotting his chest and stomach, at the tattoos that snaked up along his skin. His crooked grin drove me crazy, and I knew exactly what he was thinking.

  “Your turn,” he said. “Take that dress off.”

  I had to resist him.

  He was an asshole, crude, rude, violent, and dangerous.

  And I was only in it for the money.

  “Don’t be shy. We have this big bed. I might as well work that sweet pussy of yours for a few hours while we’re here.”

  I had to resist him.

  Even if it was getting harder every day we were together.

  In front of the cameras. At lavish dinners, expensive parties.

  “That fucking body of yours drives me insane,” he said, crossing the room toward me. “I’ll have you begging my name by the end of this night.”

  I shook my head. I was only in it for the money. I had to keep telling myself that. It was just business between us, a way for him to fix his image and a way for me to help my family.

  “You know you want this cock deep between those pretty legs,” he whispered.

  Rude. Crude. And absolutely correct.

  I was totally screwed.

  1

  Selena

  I didn’t know anything about the military.

  As far as I was concerned, military guys existed only in the movies and on TV. I mean, I understood that our troops were living and dying every day for our freedom, but I didn’t really know any of them. They were just abstract people in my mind.

  Until I got the assignment that changed everything.

  I stood in line nervously. The campus bookstore was an absolute madhouse. I’d been in there hundreds of times, but I’d never seen it so full before. The place was pretty big with a second floor balcony that wrapped around the main first floor, and there were people on almost every square inch. That was how famous he'd become over the last few month.

  I chewed my lip nervously. It seemed like the majority of people waiting to get their copy of Death From Below: The Story of An American Hero were women, and young women. There were a few macho-looking guys in camouflage shorts who were sporting beer bellies, but they were the outliers.

  No, it was pretty obvious by now who the main target audience was.

  It wasn’t like I didn’t get it. I had eyes, after all. He was tall, muscular, and handsome as hell. Women practically threw themselves at him, and for pretty good reason.

  But he was just so arrogant. In every interview I’d seen him do, he had this cocky smile, this swagger about him. Sure, the book was amazing, and if it was even half true, then the man was incredible, but still. He acted like he was the best thing in the entire world, and it drove me insane.

  I stood around impatiently, my copy of Death From Below dangling loosely in my hand, my notebook in my other. If I hadn’t been assigned to try to get an interview with him, or at least to get a quote from him, by my paper, well, I’d be anywhere but that line.

  “Isn’t he so cute?” the girl standing in front of me whispered. She was wearing Ugg boots, black tights, a short skirt, and a top that was way too revealing for a bookstore.

  “Cute?” her friend answered. “He’s a freaking hunk. I’d let him do anything to me.”

  “Lisa! You’re so bad.”

  “What? Wouldn’t you? I bet he could make me feel things I’ve never dreamed about.”

  “Oh my god!”

  I frowned, looking away, trying to tune them out. I wanted to pretend like they were an anomaly, but the truth was, most of the women in that line were thinking the same thing.

  Slowly I got closer and closer to him, and I found myself suddenly nervous. I was only a few spots away, and I could see him clearly from where I was standing. Sure, he was surrounded by a bunch of people, probably bodyguards and publicists, but they seemed to fade into the background around him.

  Nash Bell, Navy SEAL, American hero, and probably the hottest thing around at the moment. His mega bestselling book about his time in the military was being optioned for a movie, and everyone wanted a piece of him

  Including, apparently, every woman within a twenty-block radius.

  I watched him talk to his fans, smiling at them, cracking jokes. He seemed somehow both bored and totally engaged with every person that came near him. It was almost magnetic the way he spoke and looked at everyone, even if he was just asking their name and writing in their book.

  I inched my way forward, more and more nervous with each step. I didn’t understand why, since I had no real interest in this man. He was just an assignment, just one more topic I needed to write about. But for some reason, he was intimidating. I’d gotten my books signed by other famous people, even spoken to a few for interviews, but I had never felt s
o strange before meeting someone.

  And then it was my turn. Nash Bell looked up at me and smiled. My stomach twisted itself into knots.

  “Don’t be shy, girl,” he said, grinning. “Come over here.”

  I walked over, frowning at him. “Uh, hi. My name is Selena Wood. I’m a journalist for the Penn Daily, the student newspaper here at the University of Pennsylvania.”

  He nodded. “Okay, Selena. Want me to sign your book?”

  I put it down on the table. “I was hoping I could get an interview with you, Mr. Bell.”

  He flinched. “Call me Nash.” He looked back up at me, cocking his head to the side. “Now, why would I give you an interview?”

  I paused. “It’d be good exposure. Every student here reads it.”

  His smile curled into a suggestive grin. “You’re going to give me exposure, Selena?”

  “My newspaper will,” I said quickly. “We can do it later, or even just a few quick questions right now.”

  He paused for a second, staring at me. I suddenly felt completely alone in that huge room, like I was the only person he had any interest in. It was almost exhilarating the way his attention suddenly honed in on me and made me feel so absolutely looked at.

  “You want to do it later? I’m not sure you could handle me, Selena.”

  “The interview, I meant,” I said quickly, blushing deeply. “Sorry. I meant the interview.”

  He laughed, shaking his head. “I know what you meant. I like your dirty mind though.”

  “So, uh, any interest?”

  He stared at me for another second and then motioned for me to come closer. I leaned in toward him. “Are you sure you want to be alone with me?” he said softly.