Knocked Up by the Beast: A Mafia Romance (Kingdoms Book 1)

by Aria R. Blue

  My life has changed so much in less than a year.

  I got what I always wanted—love.

  It wasn’t without complications. There are more unanswered questions than ever.

  I have more to lose than ever before.

  I have more love than ever before.

  Zelda, the red-haired witch, was right about many things.

  My world had changed.

  Leo is the end of the old me. He’s the beginning of the woman I am today.

  Not because he forced me to change who I was. Rather, I had to let go of some parts of me so I could love him better.

  The blue-eyed man—my father, was a traitor. We still don’t know who paid him to steal the Rose. The Russians and the Italians both denied it. Leo thinks that there’s another enemy in the dark—a problem for another day, we decided.

  Everything I saw and experienced in Chicago has shaken me to the core.

  But I know that as long as I have Leo by my side, he’s going to keep me safe.

  Because that’s what he is.

  My lion. My protector. My king.

  45

  Belle

  6 months later

  * * *

  Heat rises up my face. “You invited him without asking me?”

  “You might feel differently about this ten, twenty years from now, Belle,” Leo answers.

  “He’s a traitor,” I spit out. “He doesn’t deserve to be here.”

  “This is your day, baby,” he says. “Nobody is going to take it away from you. Even him. He’s not even going to walk you down the aisle. He’ll just be there for the wedding pictures. Okay?”

  I take a deep breath, and try to see it from his perspective.

  Leo has been through things in life. He’s had his own share of troubles and failures, and he’s learned from them.

  Being estranged from his father all those years is something he regrets. He doesn’t want me to make the same mistakes as him.

  His father had abandoned him. Mine betrayed me.

  Which is worse?

  “I don’t feel like doing any forgiving today,” I say honestly.

  “And you don’t have to,” he says, shaking his head. “You know more than anybody else how I feel about your father. I knew what he was from the beginning. This isn’t about him at all. It’s about you.”

  I glance over at the wedding venue.

  It’s an explosion of arctic white.

  Scattered throughout it are pops of muted colors—baby blue hydrangeas, white candles with tips of sunset orange, soft pink curtains.

  Luna wanted to recreate our date night from my birthday.

  We never got to fully enjoy that night by the waterfalls, so she wanted our wedding to have a similar theme.

  Ivy was the one who planned it all out, perfecting every minute detail.

  And the result is breathtaking, especially in the early morning light.

  I can feel his eyes on me.

  “What?” I whisper, not turning to him.

  He grabs my shoulders, and pulls me into his body. “I was just wondering what would have become of me if I hadn’t met you.”

  I kiss his chest. “I’m grateful for having you in my life too, Leo.”

  He shakes his head. “You’ve given me so much, Belle. More than you can ever imagine. Your love, the light you bring into my life, the children you gifted me. I’m in awe of you every single day.”

  I thread my fingers through his hair, and step up to my tip-toes.

  He welcomes me with his lips, kissing me like we’re about to say goodbye.

  His hands go straight to my ass, kneading them as he growls into my mouth.

  “Save some of that energy for our honeymoon,” I smile. We’re leaving tonight—to a private island in Greece.

  “There’s always more for you, baby,” he growls, tugging on my lower lip with his teeth.

  I pull away with a gasp. “Ivy. She…she has a schedule. I have a massage scheduled right now.”

  “Who’s touching you?” Leo growls, wrapping his arm firmly around my waist.

  “Professionals,” I say, laughing at his possessive nature.

  It’s way more intense now that we’re among other people, but something about it makes me feel so desired.

  “By the way, I still have this,” I say, pulling out his black mask from my bag. “You can wear it for the ceremony if you want to.”

  “I thought you hated it,” he says, tracing the inner edge of his mask. The one he wouldn’t have gone anywhere without a few months ago.

  “I only hated it because you were trying to hide underneath it,” I say, reaching my hand up to caress his cheek. “But you’ve accepted yourself for who you are now. So it doesn’t matter if you choose to wear this or not.”

  “You totally have a thing for the mask don’t you,” he says, tipping my chin up.

  Something simmers low in my core—the kind of desire only he can summon from me.

  “Maybe I do,” I say.

  I’m almost ready.

  In less than an hour, Leo is going to be my husband.

  I look at myself in the mirror, trying to blink the tears away.

  Ivy custom-made the wedding dress for me—her very first piece.

  When she presented it to me, she said that she didn’t expect me to wear it if I didn’t want to.

  I’m not going to lie—when I first saw it in the box, all I saw was a giant poofy chiffon skirt staring back at me.

  But when I actually tried it on…it was a whole different story.

  At first glance, the one-shoulder white dress is conservative. But the plunging bodice amplifies my curves. It’s a complete contrast to the playful skirt that takes up so much space.

  I’m swimming in white.

  The jewelry is minimal—simple pearl drop earrings and nothing else.

  Julie wanted to try something different with my hair. She took my straight tresses and added a bounce to them, making it frame my face in waves now.

  Luna did my makeup, going for the natural look—nude lips and dewy skin.

  We’re alone in the room now as she tucks a diamond-studded hair comb behind my left ear. Her eyes are on my hair, but her mind is far away.

  She’s been quiet all day.

  “You’re distracted,” I comment.

  Luna shakes her black mane, and bites down on her lip. “It’s nothing.”

  I wait for her to speak.

  Her golden eyes ripple like sand dunes in a windy desert. “It’s not that I don’t want to tell you. But today’s your day, and-“

  “Oh, trust me,” I say, thinking about Papa. “I could use a good distraction.”

  She swallows. “I got a message. From Nico. He…he said that he won’t be bothering me again.”

  “Oh,” I say, not sure whether that’s something to celebrate. “That’s what you wanted, right?”

  “I’m still married to him, Belle. I didn’t go to the court because then I would have to tell him about our child. And for the last two years, he’s always been chasing me. Always been trying to reach out to me in some way or the other. Now…he won’t be doing that anymore.”

  I still remember that energy that existed between them. “It made you feel like you were still connected to him in some way.”

  She sucks in a breath, and draws her dark eyebrows together. “Yeah. It wasn’t until he said that he won’t bother me again that I realized something very important, Belle. I…I still care for him. Not just like a wife, but also as a…friend. He was my best friend.”

  For not the first time, I wonder what Nico had done that severed a love such as this. That made a good woman walk away, and never look back.

  Until now, that is.

  Her voice trembles as she speaks. “He’s hurting. There are so many people who hate him now, and I’m afraid of what that’s going to do to him. Because…he’s human too. He needs love.”

  This is the side of her that she hides from everybody. She stil
l holds tenderness and love for him in her heart.

  “Do you still love him?”

  “It won’t change what he did,” she answers, shaking her head vehemently. More to herself than to me. “He has a good heart, but he chooses to act like a monster.”

  “It’s not something you can ever forgive?” I ask gently.

  She opens her mouth, about to say something when the door flies open. Both of us turn.

  My sisters.

  Both are dressed in their dark bridesmaid gowns—black bodies, grey skirts, and long ivory gloves. Ivy and Luna are dressed in the same gowns too—all of them Ivy’s own creation.

  “Belle, you look so pretty I think I’m going to cry,” Julie squeals, coming over to hug me.

  Hazel joins the hug. “You look beautiful, Belle.”

  I catch a glimpse of the four of us in the mirror. Their grey gowns highlight the white of my own.

  We have more in common than I had realized.

  Every single one of us has hurt in our hearts. We don’t bury it or run from it. Instead, we’ve made it a part of who we are.

  Julie.

  She doesn’t paint anymore, but she’s volunteering with the local police force. She wanted to be a part of it after she found out about Kane Cavenagh, and how he went against his oath to uphold the law.

  Hazel.

  We still don’t know the reason why she didn’t speak for two years, but she’s back to being herself.

  Luna.

  She tries so hard to deny the love she has for her husband. She denies herself love, but spreads hers so freely—to her kids and to the people she cares about.

  And Ivy.

  The sweet girl was betrayed by people she considered family. But she’s going to claim her throne in that kingdom of wings and violence anyway.

  That’s the beauty of a woman’s heart.

  It finds its way to love even after going through the worst.

  It repairs and mends itself in due time, seeking to spread joy and happiness to everyone it encounters.

  It loves easily and it loves hard. Even after it’s been damaged. Sometimes, especially after it’s been damaged.

  I think about that as I’m escorted to the wedding ceremony.

  My father is sitting among the attendees, but it’s my sisters who’re going to walk me down the aisle.

  A live orchestra plays romantic music. The sweet scent of lily of the valley permeates the air.

  My eyes burn and my breaths become rasps.

  The closer I get to where I know everyone is waiting for me, the harder it gets to breathe.

  This is something I wasn’t expecting.

  Until this point, all I felt was pure joy about getting married to Leo. I never thought I’d feel nervous on my own wedding day.

  But oh, the nervousness is there all right.

  I fight the panic rising up my throat, and force myself to put one foot in front of the other. My eyes are trained on my ballet flats, and the rich white rug they sink into.

  “Look up,” Hazel whispers in my ear.

  I do.

  And I see him.

  My breath catches in my throat.

  Our eyes lock from across the distance.

  Everybody else disappears. Everything else falls away.

  The flowers, the centerpieces, the music, the cloudless blue sky, the people. All of it blurs as my vision focuses on him.

  We’re the only two people who exist.

  Him and I.

  His eyes hold mine, before drifting to the curls in my hair and my white wedding dress. When his eyes find mine again, there’s a shine to them that wasn’t there before.

  My heart sings louder than the music around me.

  In that moment, I know.

  I know that today is the first beautiful day of many we’re going to spend together.

  As partners. In everything to come.

  Epilogue- Belle

  He brought me to a place where the nights compete with the mornings to see which is the most beautiful.

  Greece.

  We’re sitting on a rooftop restaurant facing the azure sea.

  The sun has made its descent, blazing the sky in rich hues of orange and pink.

  Yellow streetlights flicker on.

  Ancient mountains sprawl for miles, and the Mediterranean Sea stretches across the landscape. The whitewashed houses are a blinding shade of white in the hot sun, but they’re equally charming when the sun is replaced by the night stars.

  My husband sits in front of me, typing something into his laptop.

  I drink a cup of coffee as I watch him work.

  A plate of amygdalotas, almond cookies, sits between us. I’ve polished off most of them by now. I can’t get enough of the food here.

  “Leo?”

  He looks up from his laptop. “Hmm?”

  “I’m happy,” I say. “Not because you brought me here, but because you’re here.”

  I thought moving to a different place would ease that restlessness in my heart, but what my heart desired most wasn’t something so trivial.

  It was him.

  All of that restlessness and desire led me to him.

  My husband.

  He leans over the table now, his large body easily covering the distance between us.

  I part my lips, thinking he’s going to kiss me.

  But he grabs my lower lip between his teeth and tugs it into his mouth. When he lets go of me, he’s chewing cookie crumbs.

  An elderly couple passes us by.

  The man is walking with the help of a cane, but he holds his wife like it’s his privilege. She catches Leo’s ‘kiss’, and grins at me knowingly.

  I smile back even as my neck becomes hot.

  “There’s a platter of cookies right in front of you,” I say, my tongue darting out to lick where his mouth was moments ago.

  “It’s not my fault everything tastes better from your lips,” he says, his gaze dropping there.

  A flash of last night passes through my mind, making a surge of need spread in my core.

  “Let’s go back to the room,” I say, standing up.

  He holds up a finger, still typing something into his laptop.

  “Just a minute,” he says, tilting his head.

  The last rays of the sun hit him just right.

  His tan skin glows, like he’s been living under the blinding Greek sun all this time.

  The sight of my man like this—when he’s concentrating so hard on something while looking fine as hell…it only makes my need for him worse.

  I shrug off my cardigan, and lean over the table. My hair falls forward, framing my face as I gaze up at him.

  He slowly blinks before his attention shifts from his laptop to me.

  I see the blue and the black in his eyes shift roles as his desire for me magnifies.

  I’m biting down on my lower lip as I give him an eyeful of my breasts. His eyes remain on my face though. And slowly, ever so slowly, they drift down to my lips, and then to my neck, before making it to my body.

  I shiver under the intensity of his gaze.

  “You won’t believe how wet I am for you,” I breathe.

  That’s all it takes.

  We don’t even make it to the hotel room.

  He pulls me into an abandoned alleyway, and bunches my dress up.

  “Can’t go five minutes without a cock inside you, can you girl?” he grunts, digging his fingers into my hips and he drags my body up the wall.

  “Leo-“ The protest dies on my lips when I feel his fingers gripping my inner thighs. I clench my legs together.

  “Wider, baby,” he says. “Give yourself to me.”

  Give. I give to him what’s always been his to take.

  Since that moment he made a promise never to touch me. Since the moment he left me with his mother’s diamond around my neck.

  I open myself up right before he’s about to pry my thighs apart.

  Leo is not one to waste time.
<
br />   He cups my breasts from over my dress right as he impales me with every inch of his cock.

  “I told myself that I’d treat you with more respect once you were my wife,” he grunts, his face buried in my neck. “But your juicy little cunt is evil. It tempts me to sin. It makes me want to take you in dark alleys with your skirt bunched around your hips and your legs wrapped around me. To make you my pretty little slut.”

  “Fuck, Leo.” The sun might have set, but all I see is bright white light behind my eyelids.

  “Look at the way those tits bounce for me,” he growls, pumping harder and harder into me. My breasts drag up and down his body with every thrust. It hurts, but it hurts so good. “They like putting on a show for me, driving me to madness.”

  To entice him even more, I reach down and undo a few buttons, giving him more access.

  With a swipe of his hand, he rips the front of my dress. The buttons fall with a clatter on the cobblestone street.

  It makes my pussy clench around his shaft.

  My bare breasts are his to feast on now. He lifts one into his mouth as he massages the other. The gentleness with which he handles my breasts is a complete contrast to the way he’s taking my pussy.

  “This is how bad girls get fucked,” he says, drilling into me relentlessly with brutal force. “You’re a walking temptation, Belle. Tempting me until all of my violent tendencies come out like this.”

  “I like it though,” I gasp, wrapping my legs tighter around his hips.

  We’re fused together now—one.

  “I know you do, baby. I know you do,” he says, stealing my breath away with a kiss, hitting that spot deep inside me with slow powerful thrusts.

  I shatter.

  He swallows my moans, before pulling out of me.

  I wrap a quivering hand around his girth and rub my hand up and down his length.

  He’s so thick that the tips of my fingers don’t touch. I add my other hand. “It’s a miracle that you don’t break me in half.”

  “It’s a miracle that I even fit inside you,” he grunts.

  I drop to my knees, and take the tip of his cock inside my mouth.

  His hands fist in my hair, and his head drops back. I watch the thick column of his throat as he growls my name.