Page 81 of Blood Money

Each and every move he made had my core clenching. My cheeks heated and my heart raced in anticipation.

“Miss me?” he whispered. Then he placed a knee on the bed and wrapped his hand around my ankle. With a quick tug, he had me squealing as I fell to my back. His soft lips tickled my sensitive skin as he trailed kisses from my ankle to my thigh. As he dropped his face between my legs, he breathed deeply.

At the first swipe of his tongue, I was twining my fingers into his dark hair and pulling him closer.

“What big teeth you have,” I teased when he nipped at my throbbing clit.

A chuckle shook his shoulders and he lifted his head. “The better to eat you with. All.” Lick. “Day.” Swirl. “Long.”

Then he sucked on that aching little nub and rational thoughts ceased to exist.

Two and a Half Years Later

It had been a shit day, and I wanted nothing more than to be at home. Instead, I’d been putting out fires all day.

Unfortunately, it was now late as fuck. I hadn’t planned on being out so long.

I was quiet as I entered the condo because I had no idea what kind of day Kendall had, and I didn’t want to come in being a grouchy dick. By the front door, I removed my shoes.

As I passed the room next to my home office, I heard a sound. Slowly, I turned the knob and pushed it open a crack. Another thump. There were little lights spinning on the ceiling. Walking on the balls of my feet, I moved closer until I was peeking over the crib rail, where the noises were coming from. Big green eyes blinked up at me as my son held his sleeper-covered feet in the air.

“Why are you still awake, young man?” I whispered.

He kicked his legs against the mattress, causing the thumping I’d been hearing.

A toothless grin lifted his chubby cheeks. Little shit. He knew when he did that, I couldn’t resist him. I reached in and lifted him. He squealed and smacked my cheeks.

“Shhh!” I told him as I placed a fingertip over his lips. He bit it. “Ouch! Someone’s been growing teeth.” Using my thumb, I folded his lower lip down. In the dim light from the little moons and stars that slowly spun on the ceiling, I could see the faintest line on his lower gum before his tongue covered it. “Well, looky there.”

I tiptoed across the room, placing a hand on his back as I looked down in the other crib. Rosario Francesco was just like both the uncle he was named after and me. He was quiet and observant. A watcher. He was also soundly asleep, his small head rolled to the side and his cherub lips parted. His chest rose and fell softly with each breath, and I fell in love all over again.

Romeo patted my face as if to say, “Dad, he’s sleeping. Look at me!” Romeo Vittorio was my namesake, but I swear he was more like Gabriel as a kid than me. Full of energy, mischievous, and always giggling, he was a happy but rambunctious baby.

“I love you just as much,” I assured him, and he smiled as he chewed on his hand. “But it’s time for you to go to sleep. Let’s check your diaper.”

I laid him on the changing table and began to undress his lower half so I could swap the used diaper for a clean one. As I went through the motions that had become second nature over the last six months, I couldn’t help but wonder if our first son would’ve been like his brothers or if he would’ve been like his mother with her curly hair. I’d never know, and that made a small piece of my heart ache.

“Mr. De Luca! I could’ve done that,” Ingrid whispered as she entered the room through her adjoining door we’d added. The nanny I’d insisted on hiring was older, but she was amazing with the boys. She’d had an impressive résumé, but her actions spoke more to me than words on paper. The reference letters from a few A-list actors didn’t hurt, though.

“I know, but I was here, and I don’t mind,” I murmured as I finished with my son. Before I handed him over to her, I kissed his cheek, then whispered, “Daddy loves you. And when you’re older, I will never force you to do anything you don’t want to do.”

After one last snuggle where I buried my nose in his neck to inhale his soft baby scent, I placed him in her arms. She propped him on her shoulder and began rocking him in the chair while gently patting his diapered butt. First, he lifted his head to stare at me with his wise eyes. Then he yawned and dropped down to settle into her.

“Is Kendall sleeping?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Told me she was working on a cookie order she’d been having issues with and not to disturb her unless it was an emergency.”

I nodded, then carefully exited the room so as not to make too much noise. With a decidedly wicked train of thought, I slid the pocket door closed that separated the bedrooms from the main area of the condo. Then I steadily moved on to the kitchen.

She’d moved in with me shortly after everything went down with Mario. The bakery manager and her family needed a place to stay, and it meant Kendall didn’t have to go there every morning to open while she was pregnant. As far as I was concerned, it was a win-win.

Leaning over one end of the massive island in our kitchen, she was using a frosting bag to make final touches on a cookie. Engrossed in her work, she didn’t hear me sneak up behind her.

“Hello, gorgeous,” I drawled as I rested my hands on her hips and nuzzled her neck through her hair.

“Oh!” She jumped and spun, her frosting bag sticking me in the cheek.

“Did you just stab me with a decorating tip?” I asked with mock affront.