Dangerous Beauty: Part Three: This is War

by Hardin, Michelle

  They laughed as they resumed making the new plans for the future security changes. They were just nearing the end and wrapping up when a light tap sounded on his office door. Nathan and the four others in the room looked at the door together. A second after the knock sounded, Carter walked in.

  “Hello,” she sang. “Stop your secret meeting. I’m coming in.”

  Nathan smiled as the others chuckled. Carter opened the door and entered the room fully with a cherry wood picnic basket that had a pink rose coming out of the side. She looked so fucking adorable. She wore a gorgeous little white and pink flared dress that showed off her rounded belly perfectly, matching bright pink flats, a beautiful diamond necklace around her neck, and her long hair was tied up into a ponytail with a white ribbon falling on each side.

  Nathan stood to his feet when she entered and his men followed suit.

  “Good afternoon, Mrs. Salerno,” they greeted.

  Carter’s smile was bright, warm, and welcoming. “Hi. I’m glad all of you arrived back safely.”

  The men nodded and said thank you.

  Carter then looked over to Nathan. “I’ve come to force the underboss to stop working on a Saturday,” she said with a playful glare. “It’s family day, Underboss. You promised. There are consequences for going against your wife’s wishes.” She strolled over to him and he leaned forward, placing a kiss on her lips.

  “I haven’t been in here that long,” he said through a chuckle. “There is still plenty of day left.”

  She gripped the front of his shirt gently. “This meeting ends now, underboss. Kyle and our special guest will be arriving any minute.” She turned to the men with an exaggerated sad sigh. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to give you all the rest the day off.” She shrugged.

  A fake sadness fell over their faces as they voiced sad oh no’s and damns.

  “All right, shut up,” Nathan joked. “I’m not that bad.”

  Carter poked her lips out in a pout. “Of course you’re not, bubby.” She gave him a kiss, then turned to his men with a smile. “Luckily your underboss is married to an amazing woman that cares for and appreciates his dedicated men.” She walked over to her basket and handed it to Ryan. “Some goodies for the drive back. Don’t forget to sing my praises to everyone at S.O.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Salerno” Ryan said, giving her a quick hug and a light peck on the cheek. “We’re glad you’re home safe. Laci wanted me to tell you hello, and congratulations.”

  Carter had met Ryan’s wife when she’d attended Angelo’s fundraiser for the senator with him a while back. Ryan was seated a table behind them, and Carter and his wife had hit it off the moment the men had introduced them.

  Carter smiled excitedly. “Congratulations to you two as well! Tell Laci I said thanks for the invite to the baby shower. I rsvp’d this morning.”

  Ryan smiled. “Excellent. I’ll arrange your security that day personally. It will be pleasure having you, thank you.”

  “Thank you for inviting me. Your wife is the sweetest woman. I adore her, and your daughter.”

  Ryan and Carter continued chatting as Nathan finished giving a few more instructions to the other men. Nathan was thankful for Ryan providing Carter with the distraction while he finished a bit more work before Carter stopped talking and cleared out the office.

  When it was just her and Nathan, she sat on the edge of the desk with a soft smile on her face.

  Nathan finished putting away a few papers then sat in his chair. “You have become quite the underboss’s wife, Carterina Salerno. I assure you that you are the only Mafia wife that gives a shit about anything other than spending the money their husbands’ make. I’ve never met one wife of a don, or an underboss, that would be kind enough to pack a picnic basket for her husband’s men. You are truly one of a kind.”

  She walked over to him, straddled his lap, and kissed his cheek. “Those men protect you, Nathan Salerno, they protect our family. They fight for you, and gave you and your father their loyalty. Money only ensures so much, honey. Men don’t put their lives at risk for a man they don’t love and truly respect, and they won’t protect a family to the best of their abilities if they don’t care about the family they’re protecting. We show them we care by showing our appreciation. They show us by giving their all to their jobs.”

  Nathan had to smile. “That is what my mother taught me.”

  She leaned in closer to his lips and kissed him. “Like I’ve said numerous times. Your mother was a very intelligent woman, Mr. Salerno.”

  He brought one hand up and cupped her face. “You make me fall in love with you all over again, every single day, Mrs. Salerno.”

  “I know. I’m just so damn perfect, aren’t I?” she giggled.

  Nathan chuckled. “Who’s the arrogant one now?”

  “Will you just kiss me, please? You know where this is going. Give me my kiss, bubby.”

  Never one to disappoint, Nathan captured her lips with his. When his tongue sought entrance into her mouth, she opened to him immediately. He moaned when he tasted a delectable sweetness on her tongue and deepened the kiss.

  “What is that?” he asked in a breathy whisper. He cupped her face and kissed her harder. Whatever the hell it was, it was turning him on, and made him want her even more.

  “Ice cream,” she moaned. “I had a craving, so I made some.”

  That, combined with the natural taste of his wife, sent Nathan into overdrive. Suddenly he was ready to finish what she’d started this morning when she’d woken him up the way she had.

  Slowly, his hands glided up her smooth thighs and disappeared beneath her dress.

  “Nathan,” she whispered. “We have so many guest coming to our house today for lunch and those greedy hands of yours are under my dress?”

  Nathan smiled slyly against her lips just as his thumbs slid under the rim of her panties. She inhaled a slow, shaky breath and gripped his shoulders.

  “Nathan,” she sighed. “My mother, Cesare, Kyle, and Sofia will be here soon.”

  He gave her a slow, gentle kiss on her soft lips and smiled. “Must it always be, ‘No, Nathan, we can’t,’ before it turns into, ‘Yes, yes … please don’t stop’.” Parting the lips of her slick flesh, Nathan pressed his thumb to her clit.

  She gasped and gripped on to his shirt. “Oh God,” she moaned.

  Nathan chuckled. “It is Nathan, baby, not God. Say make me come, Nathan.”

  “Make me come, Nathan …”

  Nathan let out a low grunt. There was nothing sexier to him than Carter’s obedience during sex. It never ceased to turn him on. “Make me come, Nathan … what?” he asked her as he slowed the motion of his thumb. It may make him a sick bastard, but he loved to hear her beg for it.

  Whimpering, she pressed closer to him. “Please,” she begged.

  Nathan could barely contain the rush of excitement that rushed through his body. The desperate plea in her voice pleased the sadistic bastard inside of him that yearned to see her wanton for him, but he didn’t stop. He continued to torture her until she was nearly to the point of tears and on the brink of release, begging him to fuck her.

  Standing from the chair with her in his arms, Nathan sat her on the surface of his desk and pushed the shit behind her to the side. Carter balanced on her hands as she lifted her hips, allowing him to slip her panties off. He tossed them aside before he went to work on releasing the belt of his pants.

  Carter bit down on her bottom lip as he locked her heated gaze to his and lowered the straps of her dress, revealing her perfectly round breasts. Nathan’s eyes locked to them as he watched her lie back on his desk and arch her back high. She brought her hands to her breasts, caressing them, then she lightly pinched her hard, dark-chocolate nipples.

  Yeah, they were going to be in here for a while …

  ~*~

  Gabriel, Dante, and Mickey sat at the island in the kitchen, eating the appetizers Carter had prepared as they waited for the rest of th
e family to arrive for Sofia’s welcome lunch when Robert and Angelo walked into the kitchen.

  Gabriel turned when he heard them enter. They were talking to each other in hushed tones. Gabriel was sure they were discussing Silas, as everyone had been for the past two weeks. He sighed and shook his head. He sort of wished they’d all just let it go and move on. Silas wasn’t going to do anything anytime soon. Gabriel knew his father. This was the way Silas worked. He liked to play games, make people go crazy anticipating his next attack. The best thing to do when dealing with Silas’s shit was to just keep an eye out and move on with your life. Gabriel had tried to tell everyone these exact words, but no one had listened except Nathan.

  “Welcome, Angelo, Robert,” Gabriel said, getting their attention. They both looked up from their conversation and over to him. “Ready to meet Kyle’s daughter? I hope you brought gifts. Carter sent out the mass text.”

  Angelo nodded. “I brought a few. How are you, Gabriel?” He walked forward and gave Gabriel a pat on the back, before reaching over to grab one of the remaining appetizers. “Mmm,” he moaned. “Very good. Your daughter is a wonderful cook, Robert.”

  Robert walked over and took the seat next to Gabriel. “She always has been.” He reach for an appetizer as he continued speaking. “She’s always wanted a big family to cook for, and now she has it. She’s gotten better over the years. I don’t remember her food being as good as it is now.”

  He popped the appetizer in his mouth, and locked eyes with him. Robert reached forward and pinched his nose just because he knew how much Gabriel hated when he did that shit. Gabriel jerked his face away and shot him a glare.

  Robert chuckled. “Where’s your mother? Have she and Cesare arrived yet?”

  Angelo snorted derisively. “That’s still going on? I thought it’d be over by now.”

  Gabriel caught Mickey discreetly roll his eyes and turn away, seemingly annoyed by Angelo’s bitter words. Everyone in the kitchen probably wanted to say something to the big boss, but none of them really could. They were either avoiding conflict because they were working for or with the guy, or they were afraid to talk to a mafia boss in such an ill manner.

  Gabriel smirked. Good thing I’m neither.

  Gabriel nodded to Robert and answered, “No, Robert. They haven’t arrived yet.” Then he turned to Angelo and … well … “Don’t be a bitter giant, mate. It’s not really an attractive quality for a man your age.”

  All went silent in the room, but the smile remained on Gabriel’s face.

  “A man my age?” he asked sternly. “I beg your pardon, young man, I am not bitter.”

  Gabriel chuckled. “Don’t be both bitter and a liar, sir.” The man’s expression quickly became a glare. “Yes they are still together and happier than ever. Maybe when she gets here you will get to see how my mother looks when she’s happy … you know, because you’ve probably never seen it, since she wasn’t happy with you.”

  Robert chuckled as he stuffed another appetizer in his mouth. “Damn,” he said with a mouthful of food, “he got you on that one, Angelo.”

  Angelo’s jaw ticked and he exhaled a long breath. “Do you have a problem with me?”

  “I do,” Gabriel replied.

  “You dislike me?”

  “You got it.”

  His nostrils flared in annoyance. “Do you mind if I asked why you dislike me so?”

  Gabriel shrugged. “Sure, if you want. I find you to be too avaricious. You are a selfish, greedy man, and you will most likely be that way for the remainder of your life,” he said honestly. “My father always accused me of the same thing once. He said to me …” He repeated the words Silas used to say to him when he was a child, then translated. “That means, Gabriel, my son, you mustn’t ever be too avaricious. Greed is a poison. A consumer of the weak. An avaricious man spends his life in pursuit of everything, but always loses in the end. For what is the point of having everything when you lose the one thing that made everything worth having? It’s all just meaningless after that.” He pointed to Angelo. “You are the classic example of a man that set out in pursuit of everything, but forgot why he wanted it in the first place. So forgive me if I dislike you because of this. I was taught that such greed is the mark of a weak man, and I disapprove.”

  Angelo stared at him a moment, and then cocked his head to the side. “You are a brave young man, Gabriel Stone. Do you truly feel safe enough to call a man like me such a name as weak? Do you not fear the consequence of your words?”

  “As much as I’d like it to be, Stone that is not my name. I go by my father’s name. Not because I love him, but because I refuse to give him the power of taking away my identity. My name is Gabriel Silvanus Steele, and do you truly feel safe enough to threaten a man like me the way you have just done so? Do you not fear the consequence of your words? Threaten me all you want Angelo Salerno. I’ve faced far more frightening men than you, and one of those men was my father.”

  Angelo glared at him for another moment before his features softened and he chuckled. “Damn,” he laughed, shaking his head. “You may dislike me, young man, but I have just become your biggest fan. It’s been a long time since a man has talked to me in such a manner, and you actually managed to say something useful.” He slapped Gabriel on the back and continued to eat appetizers. “I will not give you the satisfaction of the hostile reaction you seek from me, young man. Try as you might to get in my head, you will never succeed at manipulating me. I am not this weak minded man you speak of.”

  Gabriel arched an eyebrow at the man’s words. “Hmm…” He was surprised. “Are you sure? I basically just told you off in front of men that work for you. Shouldn’t you be beating me up right now Mr. Italian Mafia boss?”

  “I am a forty-seven year old man Gabriel Steele. I am not an idiot. Beating you would be an easy task, but one that would also be unwise and juvenile. I am not unwise nor am I juvenile. Then there’s your mother …”

  Robert burst into laughter. “There we go,” he laughed. “Anastacia Stone would break your neck if he ever laid one finger on her son. And she’d break mine if I didn’t stop you …”

  “And let’s not forget little Anastacia,” Angelo added through laughter.

  Gabriel frowned as he looked between the chuckling bastards.

  Angelo gave his shoulder another pat. “Like I said, I’m not unwise. I think I’ll avoid the wrath of the Stone women, thank you …”

  “I never thought I’d see the day” Robert chuckled. “Don Angelo Salerno afraid of two small women.”

  “Would you go up against them?” Angelo asked Robert.

  Robert shook his head firmly. “Fuck no.”

  The answer seemed to amuse Angelo greatly.

  Gabriel rolled his eyes. They were both so fucking annoying.

  Suddenly, the sound of a playful, deep male voice and soft, feminine giggles caught their attention.

  “Nathan Salerno, you better be good,” she giggled. “I’m warning you, Mr. Salerno, if you so much as take a call—”

  “Mmm,” he growled. “Yes, ma’am. You know how much I love it when you threaten me baby. Don’t turn me on right before we have guests over. Save it for tonight.”

  She laughed. “I haven’t worn you out yet?”

  “Hell no, woman!”

  “Well let’s see what I can pull out of my sleeve later on tonight, shall we?”

  They walked into view of everyone right as Carter palmed Nathan’s ass with a slap and her other hand rested atop her adorable, round twin baby’s bump. When they looked up and saw the full kitchen they both laughed.

  “Oh my God, hi,” Carter said with a bright smile. “You guys made it on time!”

  “Good afternoon, Pop, Robert,” Nathan greeted with a smile equally as bright.

  They were the epitome of a picture-perfect, deliriously happy couple.

  Carter went to her father first, and jumped into his arms. “Daddy!”

  He happily welcomed her. “How’
s my baby girl?” he asked, hugging her close.

  “I’m perfect, Daddy. How was your trip?”

  They pulled back after giving each other light kisses on the cheek. Robert had gone on a very secretive trip three days ago. Well, maybe not so secretive. They all knew what he was doing. The man had an addiction; he’d needed a fix, and Angelo had given it to him.

  Robert kissed Carter’s forehead. “My trip was wonderful, baby girl. Just what Daddy needed.”

  Carter touched his face gently. “Good,” she said with light laughter in her voice.

  When they parted, Carter went straight to her Angelo while Robert turned a glare to Nathan and shook his hand. Gabriel had to chuckle at that.

  ~*~

  It wasn’t long before Anastacia and Cesare finally arrived, and Carter had never seen her mother so … bright. Literally, Anastacia was glowing. She and Cesare had called out for everyone when they’d first entered the house, and when they finally made it to the kitchen Carter was pretty sure Daddy Angelo was ready to pass out.

  She looked amazing. She wore a bright strapless, yellow maxi dress that fell all the way to the floor. Her hair was in a mess of thick curls—a style Carter had never seen her wear it in before—and she had an incredibly beautiful diamond necklace around her neck that Carter just knew was from Cesare.

  “Mom!” Carter and Gabriel exclaimed, walking to hug her.

  Anastacia released Cesare’s hand and received them both with a soft laugh. “My babies!” She kissed them both on the forehead. “I missed you two so much.”

  “How was your trip?” Gabriel asked.

  Anastacia smiled brightly. “It was perfect. Exactly what I needed.”

  “You look positively dazzling, Mother,” Gabriel said as he placed a kiss on her cheek.

  “Thank you, baby. You must tell me how your first week of school went.”

  “You know I will.” With a parting kiss, Gabriel went greet Cesare, leaving Anastacia with Carter.

  Carter hugged her mother tightly. “You look amazing, Mama. You’re glowing.”

  Anastacia placed her hand on Carter’s slightly rounded belly. “Carterina, you are showing,” she exclaimed happily. “Are you feeling better now, baby girl?”