by Sadie Jacks
“You said you have Amara’s birth certificate,” Nico said.
Daphne nodded again. “Yes, it’s in the file. I would start there. See if they have actual birth records or if the certificate has been manufactured as well.”
Mas snarled softly. “I cannot submit to DNA testing.” He looked at his family.
“We can send it to a private lab,” Daphne said. “As long as the lab is reputable and the results come back to my office unopened, then your DNA would never be part of a database.” Her cheeks colored. “If that was your true concern.”
Mas nodded. Blew out a breath. “Yes. That was my worry. Thank you for helping again.” He laid a hand to his chest, bowed his head slightly.
Turo looked at Ryker. “Do you think Nik would be willing to help?”
Ryker shrugged. “That will be a Nik question. I don’t own her. Although I’m sure she wouldn’t have an issue accepting the job, I certainly won’t be doing so on her behalf. I can call her though.”
Turo smiled, got to his feet. “I can call her.” He walked down the hall and disappeared.
“Could Jessa do the draw for the DNA?” I asked. “Might as well see about keeping it in the family as much as possible.”
Daphne shook her head. “In this case, an unaffiliated third party is going to be the best bet so no one can later contest the results. But I do have a lab we can use. Very reputable, very trustworthy. Been in business for over seventy-five years. They recently moved into DNA assays with the big ‘who are my people’ craze.”
Mas nodded. “Yes. If you will give me the information, I will submit a sample immediately.”
Daphne nodded. She grabbed her portfolio from her bag. Flinging it open, she scribbled down a few lines of words. “Call and ask for Martha. She’ll get you set up at the soonest possible time.”
Mas rose once more to his feet and took the paper Daphne offered. “Grazie.”
“Prego,” Daphne replied with a slight grin.
“Ah! I knew I liked you,” Momma said with a huge grin.
Daphne laughed. “That’s about the extent of my Italian.”
“A little is more than enough.” Momma waved away Daphne’s statement.
My belly grumbled, drawing every single person’s attention. My cheeks went red. “Sorry.” I curled my arms over my midsection.
Tali, quiet and observant through all of this, glared up at Ryker. “You don’t feed my girl?”
Ryker snorted. “I feed her, but it’s not real—”
I slammed my elbow back into his belly. Glared up at him.
Everyone laughed.
Ryker chuckled, rubbed a hand over his own stomach. “I was going to stay, it’s not really been in our schedule today. We’ve been at the DA’s office since we left the hospital.” He leaned down, kissed my head. “I can see if anyone’s open for takeout or delivery.”
Momma snorted. “No. I will make dinner. Come, Papa. We need to feed our brood of babies.” She pushed to her feet, helped pull Papa to his and walked into the kitchen area like they owned the home.
Ryker whispered, “Are they going to disown me once they see I don’t really have any food in here?”
I snorted. “Maybe. Or stock your shelves. One of the two.”
Momma looked through each shelf, peered in the fridge. With a glare over her shoulder at my man, she pulled her phone from her pocket. “Raphael, you must go back to the lofts and bring food. Ryker needs to stock his pantry, his woman is hungry. And we all know what happens when our Willow gets the munchies.”
The room burst into laughter.
I couldn’t even be mad. It was only the truth.
Chapter 18 – Ryker
Everyone was squished around my kitchen island. We men were all standing as the women took the four available barstools while we enjoyed another home cooked meal courtesy of Momma and Papa Amatucci. I was willing to front the money to give them their own restaurant. Or just become my personal chefs.
“Maria, Angelo, this was the best meal I’ve had in ages. Thank you so much for letting me join you,” my mom said as the Amatucci kids cleared the table. She patted her belly. “My husband is going to be so jealous.”
Momma’s eyes widened. “You must take a plate to him.” She rose from her barstool and bustled around my kitchen. I was fairly certain she knew it better than I did and I’d lived here for the past five years.
Mom came over, brushed a kiss to my cheek. “I’m going to steal your girl for a moment.” She looked at Willow who nodded. They both moved over to the elevators.
I kept an eye on them as I helped clear away the remaining plates and glasses from the improvised table. My mom had her hand on Willow’s arm. She was rubbing it in light circles, her face wreathed in pain.
Willow shook her head, patted Mom’s hand.
My mom, in a rare show of physical affection, hauled Willow into her arms. Curled around her like I was prone to doing.
I caught myself before I stormed over there. Demanded to know what was wrong.
“Hey, Tom, want to hand me the last glass?” Tali said as she snapped a towel in my direction.
What? I turned to her. “Tom?”
“As in Peeping. Keep your nose to yourself, fratello. And give me the fricking glass or you can hand wash that one after I start the dishwasher.” Tali made ‘gimme’ motions.
I handed her the snifter. “And I’m not a Peeping Tom. I’m just…keeping an eye out.”
Tali snorted as she rinsed the cup and settled it in an open spot in the dishwasher’s top drawer. “Right. And I’m actually a blonde.” She flicked a lock of her long dark hair out of her way.
I sighed. “Why do you not like me?”
She blinked a couple times. “Who says I don’t like you?”
I snorted. “Most of our interactions end with you either threatening me with physical harm or making gun fingers at me. You’re also incredibly sarcastic. I just want to make sure we’re good.”
She rocked back on her heels, studied me for long moments. “I’ve met men like you. Powerful men who think the world owes them something.”
I opened my mouth.
She held up a finger. “I know now that you’re not like that. That you actually have a good heart. And that you’re ridiculously in love with my sister from a monster mister.”
I closed my mouth. Nodded. “But the sarcasm?”
She shrugged. “You’ll notice I treat my biological brothers the same way.” She smiled at me and left the kitchen area.
I smiled. I guess she really did like me then. “My only sibling is at least half my age and has lived in the hospital most of her life,” I said.
My words drew Tali to a stop. She turned, looked at me. One of her dark brows rose. “And?”
“I might not be a good brother, so I’ll expect you to whip me into shape if it becomes necessary.”
Her smile was gorgeous. “Now that, I can do.” She leaned down, picked up her purse. “Sorry we took up your entire evening. I know you two probably had something else planned after all the fun of today.”
I nodded. “Where were you in all of the excitement?”
She smiled. “Family stuff.” She winked.
I nodded again. “Did it end in a way that agreed with you?”
Her chuckle shot from her mouth as if it surprised her. “You could definitely say I was pleased with how it ended up.”
I shuddered. “Yup, I see the difference now.”
She raised her elegant brow again.
“Feel free to shower me in sarcasm. Your falsely happy voice is much scarier.”
She chuckled again. “I’m not falsely happy, sport.”
“Even worse,” I said with a laugh.
Mom and Willow were done with their hug-fest and had broken apart. More of the Amatucci family was gathered by the elevators. I walked over with Tali.
Everyone gave Willow hugs as they left. They shook my mom’s hand with promises to talk to her soon. Tali was the las
t to leave. The elevator was too full of her family to ride down with them.
“You’re still coming tomor—” Willow leaned back, grabbed my wrist to look at my watch, “tonight, right?”
Tali smiled. “Of course, I’m coming. I’ll even bring the liquor.”
Willow smiled. “Make sure you bring a bag full of staples. I haven’t baked anything in for-freaking-ever. I’m going to bake all the soldiers some cookies and cupcakes.”
Tali squealed like a teenage girl. “Yes! I’ve been dying for some double chocolate chip mint cookies.” She clapped her hands together as she danced on her toes. “I’ll tell the other girls to bring their favorite recipes.”
Willow stepped up to Tali. She gently grasped her friend’s cheeks between her palms. “You know the way to my heart.”
Tali stilled, put her hands on Willow’s waist. “As long as I can get into your pants, I’ll be in heaven.”
“Aaaand time for Tali to leave now,” I pulled her fingers off my woman. “No one gets in her pants but me.”
Both women bent in half laughing.
I waited in mild discomfort for one of them to explain their innuendo. I pulled Willow against my front. Nestled my semi in the crack of her ass.
“I wear a bigger size than she does. As long as she can fit into my pants by the end of the night, she’ll be in food heaven,” Willow finally explained.
“Oh. Yes. Laugh. Ha. Ha. Ha. You women are scary together. Tali, go home.” I shooed her away.
Her laughter increased as I pushed the button to call the elevator again. “Oh man, that was a solid sibling reaction. Nailed it, bro.” She wiped her eyes. “Laugh, ha, ha, ha, indeed.”
Another babble of giggles spilled from her throat as the elevator dinged.
“You good to get home by yourself?” I asked her as I ushered her into the cabled car.
She waved that away. “Yes, fratello.” She patted her purse. “I’m always good.”
“See you in a handful of hours, T,” Willow called.
Tali waved, blew her a kiss. She turned to me. “Fratello.” She dipped her chin.
“Sorella.” I nodded as the doors closed.
“Awww, you guys are so cute,” Willow said in an annoying sing-song voice.
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, a litter of baby puppies, that’s us.” I slid my arm around her shoulders, turned her in the direction of the bedroom. “Time for sleep.”
She nodded. “My leg aches tonight so I must really need some sleep.”
I pulled her up into my arms for the last few steps to the bedroom. “Do you need to brush your teeth or clear off your makeup?”
She laughed. “I could brush, but that would require me to be conscious. So let’s scrap that tonight. Just don’t get sassy if I have dragon breath in the morning. As to the makeup, I’m not sure if you remember, but we slept in a bunker last night. My nightly routine—and morning routine—was severely interrupted. I’m not wearing any makeup.”
I looked down at her face. “I guess you’re just naturally beautiful then.” I kissed her, long and slow.
Her lips tipped up against mine as I pulled back. “Good answer, hero.”
I got most of our clothes off, the covers pulled back, both of us into bed, and the lights off in short order. We both dropped into sleep almost as soon as our heads hit the pillows.
Chapter 19 – Willow
My eyelids fluttered open as my body made its need to relieve itself an annoyance I could no longer sublimate. I glared at the ceiling. Cursed my body for needing to pee and interrupt one of the best nights of sleep I’d had in ages.
Ryker came out of the bathroom in a cloud of steam. A gray towel was hooked at his hips as stray beads of water slid down the ladder of his abs. A different part of my body woke up, chased away the urgency to pee.
“Good morning, hero,” I said, my voice froggy.
He smiled. “Sweet fuck. That’s it. We’re getting married as soon as possible. One, I need to wake up to you every. Single. Morning. And two, Momma threatened me.”
I chuckled. “As long as Momma’s threats are number two.”
He leaned down, caged my head between his hands. “Momma’s threats aren’t even a factor for me. I just figured I should mention them in the interest of full disclosure. You, cupcake, are all the reason I need.” He pressed his mouth to mine.
Minty freshness invaded my senses. I sighed.
He backed up. “I love you. With all my heart. All my soul.”
I smiled.
“But you need to brush your teeth.”
He danced out of the way of my lashing foot.
“Jerk! I said no making remarks!” I slapped a hand over my mouth. Glared at him. His laugh was a beautiful thing in the morning. I stood in the bathroom doorway. “It’s a good thing I want to wake up to you every morning.” With that, I spun around and slammed the door shut.
Rushing to the double vanity that spanned an entire wall, I dug through all of my stuff until I found my toothbrush. Squirting some paste on the bristles, I stuffed it in my mouth and started scrubbing. Dragon breath.
What a turd.
I leaned over, spat. My body sent a five-alarm bell ringing through my mind. I cupped some water up, swished and spat again, then rushed to the toilet. I was just thankful Ryker didn’t have to help me with this part like at the beginning of our relationship.
I finished up, washed my hands. When I finally looked in the mirror, I studied my reflection. The skin under my eyes wasn’t baggy or purple. I looked well rested and refreshed. Amazing what good sleep and an awesome mattress will do for a girl. Not that I was going to tell Ryker that. He’d complained about my mattress.
I walked back out into the bedroom. He was sitting on the bed, putting his shoes on. Jeans and a soft heathered green t-shirt that made his eyes practically glow covered the long expanse of his body. I wiped at my chin to make sure I wasn’t drooling.
“Day off?” I asked as I got back onto the bed and crawled behind him. I draped my arms over his shoulders, pressed my nose into his neck and inhaled.
He chuckled softly. “If you think I’m going to leave you here alone on your first day of living here, you’re sadly mistaken. I wanted to take you on a tour of the building. Get you an access card for the Towers. Introduce you to my personal staff so they’ll know your face.” He looked at me over his shoulder. “Sound okay to you?”
I nodded. “As long as I can take you to my bakery. I really need to get back into the groove. See which appointments I’ve completely screwed up and which ones I might be able to salvage.”
He nodded. “Works for me. You remember that I had two chefs step in and cover last week, right?”
I nodded. “And I can’t thank you enough for doing that. But I also just want to walk around my space. Get reacquainted with it. Say hi to my mixer. Warm up my oven.”
He chuckled. “Only if you make me some cupcakes.”
I bit his ear. “I don’t need to bake cupcakes. I’ve got you.”
He turned fully, trapped me against his body. “Wait. Are you saying you baked me cupcakes because you were horny?”
Heat rushed my cheeks. I nodded. “Before you, any urges I had were easily solved with baking.”
“So the day you brought me cupcakes…” his voice trailed off.
I nodded again. “Had you not treated me with kid gloves, you probably would have gotten laid.”
He groaned, dropped his head to my chest. After a minute, he lifted his head, shook it. “You know what? No. I’m glad we ended up here, like this. I’m sorry for the heartache I caused you, but I wouldn’t change how we got here.” He grimaced. “Well, minus the whole kidnapping, torture, running off the road, blackmailing parts.”
I laughed.
“But other than those,” he pressed his mouth to mine. “I’m glad I screwed it up. Glad you called me on my shit. You’re the only woman who's gotten under my skin. The only one to touch my heart.”
I wrapped
my arms around his shoulders, drew him closer to me. I wiggled around, spread my knees so I could cradle him against me. I wrapped my legs up around his hips. Groaned as he palmed a breast, pinched my nipple.
“Willow,” he said before he slid his hands down to the hem of my tank and pulled it off me. He peppered kisses over my chest. Up my neck. Bit my lower lip before sucking it into his mouth.
I rocked against the hardness of him. Every single part of him was hard. His thighs. His abs. His dick. His arms. He was a mountain of granite with a heart of squishy marshmallow. He was mine.
Something buzzed against my pelvis.
We both groaned.
“Don’t answer it,” I said around kisses over his cheeks, his chin, his eyes. “If we ignore it, maybe they’ll leave us alone.”
He chuckled as he dipped his head and took my nipple in his mouth.
The phone stopped buzzing.
Then started up immediately again.
I fell back against the bed. Knew I wasn’t going to win the war for his attention this time. He pressed his hips into my core as he fished for his phone in the pocket.
I moaned and grinded my pussy against his abs.
His smile was dark and sexy. “Hold that thought, cupcake. I’ll get rid of whoever this is.” He grabbed the phone and held it to his ear. “What?”
“I’ve got news on Willow’s parents. You free?” Nik said.
Ryker looked down at me, raised his eyebrows in question.
I nodded, sighed.
“Yeah, Nik. Come on up.” Ryker disconnected the call and dropped the phone to the bed beside my hip. “You sure you’re up for this right now?”
I shrugged. “Might as well get it over with. If they’re even worse people than we thought before, I think it’s better to know now. Don’t you?”
He nodded. “I’m sorry. Hopefully it won’t be too awful and we can get back to our day of just us.”
I smiled. “That would be nice. But knowing my parents, I doubt we’ll be that lucky.”
**
“Hey Nik. You want anything to eat or drink?” I called from the kitchen as she came in from the public elevator.