by A. K. Evans
At that, Lorenzo captured my mouth and kissed me. It was a hard, closed-mouth kiss, but I was close to declaring that there was more passion and feeling in this kiss than any other kiss we’d shared before it.
After what we’d experienced that day, knowing what Lorenzo had lived through as a child, and the kiss we just shared, I needed to tell him something. We had just barely separated our mouths when I stressed, “You should know that the person I saw today…you could never be him. That’s not you; it never will be.”
He touched his mouth to mine in response and returned, “I’m beginning to believe that’s the truth, Jolie. Thank you for pushing me to see that.”
I smiled and felt my body warm. My man was finally, finally starting to see what everyone else saw in him. I couldn’t have been more proud of him for believing the truth about himself.
“Wait there,” he instructed, pulling back from me. “I’ll come around to help you out.”
“Okay.”
Lorenzo turned off the truck, came around to help me out, and walked beside me into Michael’s house, where we found our puppy waiting for us.
Michael and Lena confirmed that Lorenzo and I were both alright and the four of us spent the time together, trying to find ways to focus on anything but what had happened earlier in the day. Luckily, Ollie’s playful demeanor helped to lighten the mood and cut the tension.
An hour later, Rocco arrived.
The moment he walked in, he knew something was wrong.
“What happened?” he asked immediately.
Silence filled the room briefly before Lena spoke up, “Rocky, darling, something bad happened today.”
“Did he die?” Rocco returned.
I froze and felt Lorenzo’s body go solid beside me.
Nobody replied.
Rocco searched our faces and came to his own conclusion. “He’s dead.”
“Rocky,” Lorenzo finally said.
Rocco shook his head and wondered, “Why did you say something bad happened, Mom?”
“Rocky,” Lorenzo said again, firmly this time.
When Rocco’s eyes came to him, Lorenzo explained, “He showed up at Mom’s house and attacked her and Jolie today.”
Lorenzo then went on to explain to his brother everything that had happened. Lena chimed in every so often with tidbits of what occurred. When they’d given him the full story, he looked at me and asked, “Were you hurt?”
I shook my head, “I was a little roughed up, but I’m alright.”
Rocco didn’t like hearing that because his face turned scary angry. Somehow, though, he quickly pushed past whatever he was feeling and turned his attention to his mother. “Did he hurt you?”
“Only when I saw him try to take away the one thing that brought my boy back to life,” she replied.
A lump formed in my throat hearing her admission.
“You killed him?” Rocco asked, even though he already knew that she had.
Suddenly, I was worried that he didn’t feel so good about how things had turned out. Lena seemed to be a little concerned as well because she answered cautiously, “It was either that or watch him kill Lorenzo. That wasn’t an option for me.”
Rocco remained silent. His eyes moved over everyone in the room. We stayed quiet, allowing him to have the time to process everything he’d just been told. Then, he moved to his mother and held his hand out to her. When she placed her hand in his, he pulled her toward him, wrapped his arms tight around her, and declared, “I’m so fucking proud of you for standing up to him and protecting my brother.”
A sob escaped her as her knees buckled. Rocco held on tight to his mom as the rest of us watched. Tears were pouring down my face, Michael seemed relieved that Rocco was handling the news well, and Lorenzo was clenching his jaw. I figured that breaking down wasn’t really his thing, but I knew he was feeling deeply moved by the scene unfolding in front of him.
When Rocco and Lena had separated, Lorenzo spoke up. His voice was thick as he asked, “Are you sure you’re alright, Rocky? It’s not easy stuff to swallow.”
Rocco turned to his brother and stressed, “Enzo, he’s gone. You don’t have to keep trying to protect me. I’m good.”
“He wasn’t nice, but he was still your father,” Lorenzo noted.
“No, he wasn’t. I’ve got his DNA, but that’s it. He wasn’t anything to me other than that. I don’t miss him. I haven’t ever missed him and I don’t feel sorry that he’s gone. Right now, I pity him. I pity him for everything he missed out on and everything he’ll miss out on down the road. The two of us growing up, making something of ourselves, that’s on us and Mom. He didn’t do that. My hockey? That’s on me. And you and Mom pushing and supporting me. He missed out on everything I’ve accomplished in my life. He’s going to miss out on what you’ll accomplish in your life. The careers we have, the wives we’ll eventually have, the babies we’ll ultimately make. I pity him for that. In all of this, all I miss is the idea of a father I never had, but definitely not the one that I did.”
And those words did it.
At least for me.
I was pretty sure everyone else felt it, too. It was clear that despite a rough childhood, Rocco hadn’t been so negatively impacted by who his father was, not anymore anyway. He had been through what he had and, in the end, could see the bigger picture.
For whatever reason, Vincent Mancini did what he did to his wife and his children, but he ultimately did it to himself. He took away his own happiness and the right to a good life. It seemed Rocco had learned that a long time ago. I had a feeling it completely hit Lorenzo tonight. Lena, I believe, found it somewhere in between the time Rocco got there and Lorenzo did.
Oblivious to the heaviness in the air, Ollie bounced right over to Rocco’s feet and distracted everyone. Rocco looked down and asked, “Who’s this?”
I stood and moved toward Ollie. Bending down, I picked him up and introduced him. “Rocco, this is your nephew, Oliver. Ollie, meet your uncle Rocco.”
Rocco’s eyes came to mine and his face softened. Putting one arm around my shoulder and a hand on Ollie’s head, he marveled, “I’m an uncle.”
I grinned.
Rocco looked to Lorenzo, who was now standing next to us. His hand left Ollie’s head, wrapped around his brother, and pulled him close. “Love you, Enzo.”
Lorenzo hugged him back and replied, “Love you too, Rocky.”
Just then, Ollie started barking. I laughed inwardly and watched as Rocco and Lorenzo separated. They gave each other a look of approval before Rocco turned his attention to Ollie and took him out of my arms.
“What’s the problem, little guy?” he wondered, holding Ollie up in front of him.
I didn’t get to see Ollie’s response, though, because Lorenzo had pulled me into his arms and squeezed me tight. It was a little while before he let me go.
One month later
“Boss,” I moaned.
I was on a downward glide, my body positioned over Lorenzo’s with my hands planted on his chest, and I was seconds away from coming. Lorenzo knew it and reached up to curl his hand behind my head. He tugged me toward him and I went, my body powerless to fight him.
My mouth hit his, our tongues instantly colliding, while he kept one hand behind my head and the other arm wrapped tight around my waist.
Then, he powered into me. Lorenzo didn’t relent. He continued to thrust into me, one stroke after another until my body tensed, pleasure shot through me, and I moaned into his mouth.
He slowly worked me through my orgasm before flipping me to my back and somehow managing to bring it home for me again at the same time his orgasm tore through him.
After we’d come down and our breathing had mostly returned to normal, I teased, “You always take over.”
“What?” he asked.
“I get myself so close and then you suddenly take over,” I explained.
“Baby, there’s only so much torture a man can take,” he reasoned.
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br /> My head jerked back. “Torture?”
He gave me an incredulous look before he returned, “You were on top of me moaning with your hands everywhere on you and then everywhere on me. It was all good until you got close. It’s always all good until you get close. Then, you stop moving your hips. I needed the movement and knew you’d get off on me taking over, so I did what I had to do.”
I sighed, “I’m just saying it would be nice for you to let me bring it home occasionally.”
“Jolie, you have brought it home many times, but this wasn’t one of them. For crying out loud, you came once on top, I flipped you over and you came again a second time, right on the heels of the first. Are you really complaining right now?”
I rolled my eyes at him because I had no other rebuttal.
“Right, we’ll let that go,” Lorenzo started. “So, confirming the game plan for today, you’re working and then you’ve got girls’ night, right?”
I nodded. “Yep. I’ve got to do my part to help out Kendall and Ava.”
“Help them out?”
“They’re still single,” I stated, expecting this would give him all the explanation he needed. When he didn’t respond, I went on, “There’s nothing wrong with being single if that’s what you want. Ava is on the prowl, though I’m not sure she’s currently looking for something long-term. Kendall, on the other hand, is actively looking for something permanent. She wants to fall in love.”
“She will,” he began. “When the time is right, it’ll happen for her.”
I sighed. “I want her to be happy. Now that I’ve found you and know just how wonderful and fulfilling it is to fall in love, I want her to have the same thing.”
Lorenzo’s face softened as he gave my hip a gentle squeeze. “Love you, Jolie,” he said softly.
Cuddling deeper into him, pressing my face to his throat, I returned, “Love you too, big guy.” I kissed his neck and confirmed, “Ollie’s going with you today, right?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re sure they won’t mind that he’s there while you’re out working in the field?” I wondered.
Lorenzo laughed. “Baby, they love him there. I swear, it’s like he’s become the official Cunningham Security mascot.”
Now it was my turn to laugh. “He’s hardly intimidating,” I scoffed. “He doesn’t exactly fit the profile of a security dog.”
His voice went soft and he assured me, “He’s got the heart. That’s all the matters.”
I loved that he saw Ollie that way.
And it was as though the little pup knew we were talking about him because he started barking at us.
“Looks like it’s time to get up and get the day started. I’ll take him out; you can hit the shower first,” Lorenzo instructed as he sat up in the bed.
I got up with him, bent down to scratch behind Ollie’s ears, and moved to the bathroom to shower.
While I was there, I thought about how much had happened over the last month. Miraculously, the days following the incident at Lena’s house with Vinny weren’t as bad as I had originally thought they’d be given everything that had happened.
We made it through the holidays and they were still filled with lots of love and laughter. Lorenzo and I spent a lot of time with his mom, Rocco, and Michael at Michael’s house. He’d been wonderful with her, and I knew Lorenzo approved of how well Michael was taking care of her.
Even now, weeks later, he hadn’t faltered and still made her well-being his top priority. Lena had experienced some anxiety about returning to her house, as was expected, and he insisted she stay with him. Just a few days ago, Lena shared with Lorenzo and me that Michael had asked her to officially move in with him. She was relieved, knowing that going back to the place where she killed her ex-husband wouldn’t have been easy, and she and Michael decided to take steps to get her place cleaned out and put on the market. Lorenzo and I offered to help in any way that we could, so a week ago, the four of us went back into the house for the first time since that night and helped her pack her things. We got it all done within two and a half days. Lorenzo and Michael did the heavy-lifting of furniture, while Lena and I packed up her clothing, kitchen, dining room, and decorative items.
On the legal front, things worked out for Lena just as everyone had assumed they would. No charges were brought against her given she’d acted out of self-defense. While it had been suggested this would be the case, it had taken its toll on Lorenzo. It wasn’t until they’d officially made a statement that she wouldn’t be charged that I saw some of the tension leave him. My heart hurt to see him so worried, and I was overjoyed when he was finally able to let go of the anxiety.
Then, there was my situation.
Lorenzo had assumed that the hit-and-run was connected to his father. He believed that the woman they apprehended was working for his father. Prior to Vinny showing up at Lena’s house two days before Christmas, that woman wasn’t talking. She’d kept quiet.
Several days after the incident occurred, Lorenzo got a call from Detective Jackson Baines. The hit-and-run suspect was informed of Vinny’s death. Now that they had a link, they brought this information to her and gave her one last chance to come out with the truth. Realizing her time was running out before they’d put it all together, she came clean.
Apparently, Vinny had continued to keep tabs on Lena and his children after they’d left him years ago. Since Lorenzo was still a kid at the time, he never would have known that there was someone following them. He didn’t possess the skills he had now to know what to look for.
Over the years, Vinny watched as his sons grew up to be successful men. He’d been following Rocco’s hockey career and knew that Lorenzo was working for a private investigation and security company.
Lorenzo asked Detective Baines if the woman had told them why Vinny suddenly decided to make a move after all these years. She didn’t know the whole story, but evidently, the woman told them Vinny had shared something about seeing Lorenzo on television with a woman.
That woman was me.
We only figured this out after it was explained that it was at a recent hockey game where we were seen on television. I hadn’t known about it, but once we learned the truth, I remembered that I’d set the DVR to record the game that night. We went back and watched the game and, sure enough, after one of Rocco’s goals that night, the camera had landed on Lorenzo and me celebrating. The announcers had identified Lorenzo as Rocco’s brother and, based on how friendly we were, it was evident to them that Lorenzo and I were together. Anyone watching would have been able to see that.
Unfortunately, even though we now knew that Vinny had been the one behind the hit-and-run, we had no other answers. Melinda didn’t know what his motivation was, or if she did, she wasn’t telling anyone. Sadly, it was one of those things we’d likely never have an answer for. It left Lorenzo unsettled and a bit angry initially, but he eventually began to accept what he couldn’t do anything about.
On those thoughts, realizing that we were finally at a place where we’d likely not see any more craziness, I finished up in the shower and got out. Once I was ready, I made my way downstairs to start breakfast while Lorenzo hopped in the shower.
He had already taken care of giving Ollie his breakfast, so I dove in and made ours. After we finished breakfast, I kissed Lorenzo and Ollie goodbye and we both went our separate ways.
I was finally back at Serenity. It felt so good to be working again. When I called and told them to start booking my schedule in January, I also told them to keep it light for the first couple weeks. I didn’t want to overdo it and set myself back. I’d been feeling really good and thought it would be better to ease myself back to work. I was no longer in any pain, hadn’t experienced any headaches, and with each day that passed, I was feeling stronger.
Today was the first day I was going to be working a longer shift and I was looking forward to it. Two hours after I’d made love with Lorenzo that morning, I walked into work.
&
nbsp; “Hey, Jojo,” Amy greeted me. She was standing behind Niki at the reception desk, reviewing her schedule for the day.
“Morning, Amy,” I replied before directing my attention to Niki. “Hey, Niki!”
Niki offered me a smile in return.
I opened the door leading from the reception area deeper into the spa. When I entered the employee lounge, I found Ava, Ethan, and Trudi there. I barely got through the door when Ethan walked over and engulfed me in a hug.
“It’s so good to see you back here, Jojo,” he sighed.
“Thanks, Ethan. It feels great to be back,” I admitted.
While I’d been back at work for a couple weeks now, with the shorter shifts, I hadn’t managed to see all of my co-workers since the accident. Ethan was one of them.
Eventually, he stopped squeezing me so tight, dropped his arms, and stepped back.
“I’m thinking we need to have another group bonding session real soon,” Trudi declared.
“Totally,” Ava agreed. “It’s been a few months and since the last one, so I’d say we’re overdue at this point.”
“What are we overdue for?” Jenny asked as she entered the room.
Turning toward her, Ava replied, “A group bonding session.”
Putting her things down, she offered, “I’ll get the girls out front to get it set up.”
“Just make sure they choose somewhere other than Carter’s for this one,” I pleaded.
“So noted.”
At that, Jenny walked out followed by Trudi and Ethan leaving me standing there with my best friend.
“Ready for tonight?” I wondered.
“Try and stop me,” she returned.
I laughed. “I promise to do my best to get you taken care of tonight. Both you and Kendall. I think you’ll be the easy one to get squared away. It’s Kendall that’s going to be a problem.”
“Why’s that?”
“She isn’t just looking for a break from her vibrator,” I began. “She wants to get rid of it permanently.”
“Jojo, your first appointment is here.”
I turned around and saw Michaela had popped her head in so she could alert me to my client’s arrival.