No such luck. An hour later, his alarm went off, but because of the way we were tangled, he couldn't really move to turn it off. He looked down at me, unsure of himself, but I gave him a big smile. "Morning, husband."
He blushed and shifted me in his arms, but didn't let go. He finally turned off the alarm, but didn't move to get out of bed. I snuggled deeper into his side to show my approval. He didn't say anything, just laid there. His fingers tickled my arm and then my shoulder, and finally tangled themselves in my hair. He lay there, silently playing with my hair, not saying a word, and made no move to get up.
I was pretty sure I dozed off again, and only woke when I felt the bed shift and heard the bathroom door shut. I flopped over on Daniel's side of the bed and stretched out.
When I heard him enter the room, I peeked at him. He looked over at me nervously. "I…uh…I…" he pointed at the bedroom door.
"I know, you have to work, but I wish I could keep you in bed all day."
He smiled and blushed. I stretched like a cat in the bed and noticed his eyes lingering on my chest. I would have to forget my night bra this evening. I would bet he would notice that. I walked over to him and kissed his cheek. "Off to work. I'm going to take a shower."
He nodded, smiling widely, and rushed out of the room. I liked being his wife. I felt like I could be more affectionate with him and get away with it. Maybe if I touched him, he would work up the courage to touch me back.
When I came out dressed, I noticed he only had a cup of juice on his desk as he worked. There were no dishes in the sink and no food out. I had a feeling he had gone straight to working to try and catch up on things.
I made breakfast for us, or rather brunch, because it was so late. Once I had it ready and the table set, I decided to get his attention by rubbing his shoulders and kissing his neck. He shifted at his desk and let out a moan he was clearly trying to hold back. He grabbed my hands and pulled them over his shoulders, making me hug him. I kissed his cheek and then boldly went for his lips. When I pulled away, I told him breakfast was ready.
"Just give me a minute," he pointed to his screen, but he barely touched his keyboard when I walked away. I saw him shift in his seat, taking a few deep breaths. He was trying to keep things under control, which was okay for now, but come bedtime, he was going to give in to me a little more.
He spent most of the day working, but would glance over his shoulder, offering me a smile now and again. That was a new development, and I liked it.
After dinner, we sat on the porch swing, and he showed me how to get a mockingbird to match your whistle. It was freaking awesome, the way he and the bird went back and forth, talking to each other. I had to work on my whistling, so I could play with them, too.
Tonight, he had me shower first and he second, but he didn't hesitate to invite me into the bedroom. I snuggled right into his arms, and just as he was settling in, I moved up his body and stole a kiss. When I pulled back, his eyes were still focused on my lips, and I went in for a few more. Things quickly got out of hand, and when I settled down on him, he felt my unrestrained breasts press onto his chest. He shifted one knee up and let out a moan. His hands gripped my sides hard, and he finally released my lips with a gasp. He had yet to grind against me, but I felt his wishful thinking pressed along my thigh. I moved against it, and he rolled us over so I was under him. I was excited, thinking more would happen, but then he pulled away, confusing me.
"Do you not want more, husband?" I hoped mentioning his titled would encourage him to give in, but he made no move to go further.
"I do, but…" His lips found mine again, yet he still didn't drop his hips against mine. "I still need some time," he confessed, before he pulled away completely.
I had suspected he was a virgin and didn't want me to push him. Alright, I would admit that I so wanted to push him, but I restrained myself like a good wife. If it had been me on the virginal receiving end, I would want to take things slow, too.
He kissed on my neck and face a little before finally pulling away. I wasn't letting him get away from me, though. I snuggled into his side, hooking my leg across his. I knew we would be a tangled mess again when we woke, and I was looking forward to it.
In the middle of the night, I woke up to him wiggling around. I realized he was having a very nice dream and debated whether or not I should take initiative and touch him. I finally decided it would be alright if I did it over his PJs. I just hoped he wouldn't get upset.
I carefully rubbed my hand up and down his length, making him squirm more and press into my hand. I kissed on his neck, unable to reach his lips. His arms wrapped around me, his hand wandering dangerously close to my breast. I was hoping he would be braver in his sleep and go for it. He started grunting as I upped my efforts, but I knew he hadn't released yet. He woke suddenly, his hand landing on mine, and his eyes fixated on my face.
"Hey," I said with a cheeky grin.
He chuckled and leaned down, kissing my lips softly, before he climbed out of bed and disappeared into the bathroom. He frustrated me to no end. I flopped onto my back and covered my face with his pillow, embarrassed as hell.
He came back in and pulled the pillow away from my face. He kissed my lips lightly before he spoke. "Your face is still bruised, and it's making me feel horrible. You just found out my father is a crime boss and wanted you dead. I want you to get to know me, and what my life was like, a little better. I want you to know the real me, the boy who was kidnapped, then locked away. I want you to take a step back and fully understand how much danger you're really in. I want you, I want all of you, but I don't think we're ready yet. There are still a few things to clear up before we go any further."
I blushed, ashamed of myself. "Sorry, I've wanted you for so long, and then to find out you're my husband, and it's really not sinful to want you, it's made it difficult to hold back."
He gently caressed my bruised cheek and kissed it lightly. "Just a little more time, beautiful."
I could see where he was coming from and agreed. I was also very curious about what had happened to him. I looked forward to hearing about it, and I was nervous about hearing what had gone on in his life at the same time. I had a feeling I would learn why he hadn't gone into the family business as well. He had a weird love-hate relationship with his family. I hoped the whole mess of his past wouldn't interfere too much with our progress. I knew it would be slow, but I was ready to beg to keep things moving.
Chapter 30 – Story Time
Daniel was very quiet. It wasn't our usual peaceful quiet, this was tense. He had worn a tight grimace on his face all day, and I was really starting to worry. I had tried to engage him in conversation over lunch and dinner, but I only received a tight throat clearing and mumbled one-word answers.
Before he went to take a shower, I stopped him. "Are you okay?"
He took a deep breath. "Yeah, just trying to figure out a way to tell you my story."
"Take your time." I hugged him and kissed his shoulder, because that was what I could reach. He squeezed me back and thanked me, before he slipped off to the bathroom.
Not a word was said when he came out, dressed for bed. He nodded at me, letting me know it was my turn to get ready. I realized the story he was going to tell me wasn't going to be a nice one, and I hoped I would be able to give him the support I knew he would need.
He was sitting stiffly on the couch when I came out. I knew he probably expected to talk to me there, but I knew our bed would be easier to comfort him in. "Come to bed," I called to him. He looked like he might protest, but I stopped him. "I want to hold you while you talk."
His eyes tightened, and he took a deep breath, as if he was trying to keep things under control. We moved silently to the bed, and he sat back against the headboard. I curled up next to him, nearly in his lap, with my arms wrapped tightly around his waist. We sat in silence, but I knew this wasn't something that could be forced out of him.
He finally spoke. "I was a Bartoli for the f
irst twelve years of my life, without question. I was my mother's son. Silvia was my mom. I looked like my father, Daniel Senior, I was his son. I was the son they'd brought home from the hospital. No one ever questioned it.
“No one knew outside of them, not even me, that I was really their nephew. I looked like who I’d always thought was my father, so I didn't believe a word the kidnappers had said when they took me. They called my mother horrible names, different theories were thrown out, affairs, prostitution, rape, all manner of claims that would change my parentage, but I didn't understand any of them. I was Daniel Bartoli Junior, named after my father, the father I looked like. I was sure they were insane, and I was going to die.
"Then they started to threaten Vanessa. They said they had her, too. They said she wasn't worth as much as me, and if I gave them any trouble, they'd hurt her."
My chest grew so tight, I couldn't inhale. He must have seen the panic in my eyes. "They didn't have her. They just wanted to make me talk, make me confess that I was Anthony Valente's son, but I didn't know I was, so I couldn't confess. I didn't know the lie they'd hidden from everyone, even me.
“My being Anthony's son was a wild guess, just an inclination some strung-out thug came up with. It was farfetched at best, but it was still right. They didn't know that, though, so they tried to beat it out of me. They wanted me to admit Anthony was my father, but I couldn't, that wasn't something I knew at the time, and so they hit me and burned me…" He took several deep breaths and hid his face in my hair. His arms tightened around me. I squeezed him back just as hard. I didn't tell him it was okay, and I didn't push him, because it wasn't okay, and he needed to take his time.
"After a few hours of that, they brought a little girl over by my door. I couldn't see her, just part of her back. They said it was Vanessa…they said…they were going to do horrible things to her. They promised they hadn't yet, but they would if I didn't talk. I freaked…I tried to confess to save the girl, but I'd never met Anthony. I didn't know they were talking about him. When they said Valente, I thought they were talking about Marcello. I was at his house a lot. Vanessa was his kid. It made sense in my head. I thought they'd mistaken me for his kid. I was always over there. Ann Marie liked when I'd help her out, and I liked keeping Vanessa company...we played dolls."
He chuckled, and I was thankful for the happy memories making an appearance. "She used to follow me everywhere, and I liked to cater to her. I didn't have a little brother or sister, but Vanessa was mine. She was six at the time, Marky was eight. He liked to order people around and pretend he was a big man. We never really got along. I'd tell on him if he got an attitude with his mother. That really pissed him off," he snickered. "The little bastard hated that I was bigger than him. We'd been so close when he was little. He'd follow me around and insist he was a big boy. He was about five or six when his attitude changed. He'd started school, and I think he finally noticed I was different. I didn't have all the things he did. Don't get me wrong, Ann Marie spoiled me, but I went to a public school, not private like he did.
"I was a geek. I didn't have any friends, other than Jerry. He was only my friend, because no one else would go near him. He had this huge ugly wart on his chin. It was removed, but it was there until he was a sophomore in high school. It was actually us getting our butts kicked that took it off. He got a face full of sidewalk, it was bad, but the wart was gone when his face healed. He actually thanked the jerk who did it. It was pretty funny."
His fingers played with my hair for a while. We held each other silently, and I let him sit, deep in thought. I knew he'd come back around to what we were talking about when he was ready.
"Luke came in, gun out, and shot the two guys in the room with me. I'd never seen a gun before, and here he was, holding one and killing people. I didn't even know he had one, or that it was his job to kill people like that. 'Only bad people,' he told me. He walked me out over ten bodies, all of them dead or groaning, on their way to being dead. Santino was there, he held the little girl in his arms. She was a crying mess, and he kept looking at Luke, asking him what he was supposed to do with her. I don't want to know what happened to her. I believed for the longest time they’d saved her, like they saved me, but I'm not so sure anymore. I'm too scared to ask, afraid of what the answer might be." He took a few deep breaths, and I realized I could give him hope.
"They saved me." I looked up at him, and he smiled down and kissed my forehead.
"Yeah, they did."
I squirmed up his body, thinking a reprieve was in order. I kissed his lips lightly and straddled his lap. "Your family isn't all that bad."
He grimaced, but I took his face in both my hands. "They didn't know me. They had no reason to save me, and yet they did. They even went as far as trying to secure my safety by writing up a marriage certificate. Daniel, I'd only met Victor once, that day. I'd never met Sergio before he drove me out here, and Tony only ever saw me, when he picked up the letters from the school.
“I know now I was dead. It's clear as day I was about to be killed if I gave you any trouble, but I didn't know that then. They didn't scare me, they took care of me. They handled things the best way they could, and I'd bet they do that all the time. I don't see why that little girl would've been any different."
He frowned, and I kissed his pout. I had faith that Luke and Santino hadn't hurt that little girl. I was sure of it. Especially from the way Daniel told the story, with Santino holding her in his arms. I knew they had found a way to save her. "Call him."
"What?" He looked at me like I was nuts.
"Call Luke or Santino, and ask them about that little girl."
He looked scared, but I wasn't going to let that stop him or me. I jumped off his lap and grabbed his phone from the study where it was charging. I thought about handing it to him, but decided to scroll and see if I could find Luke or Santino's names. I pulled up Luke and hit the send button, before I passed the phone to Daniel.
He looked down at it worried, but spoke when Luke answered. "Yeah, I'm fine. I was just…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt." He looked so worried and shy. I climbed back into his lap and rested my head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around me, holding me in place.
I heard Luke's voice come back on the line. "Okay, kid, what's up?"
"I was…you know that little girl?"
"Little girl?" Luke had no clue what he was talking about.
"That night…" Daniel just left it hanging there, and I wondered if Luke would pick it up. "When I was taken, there was a little girl."
"Clarissa?" Luke supplied, and Daniel let out a deep breath and took a few more before he started again.
"Is she okay, I mean, was she?"
"Yeah, Santino and I had Joey check her over. He wasn't a real doctor yet, but was far enough along that he knew what to look for. She was fine."
"So, she went home?"
"Yeah, that took some fancy footwork. We posed as cops, said we'd found her, and the assholes who took her were dead. They saw on the news a warehouse had been shot out, and I think they put two and two together. It helped that Clarissa backed up our story, saying we'd saved her. We dropped off the planet for a few months after that. We didn't want them looking for us or asking any more questions. We wanted to keep her having been there under wraps, you know?"
"Yeah, yeah, I do."
"She's okay, Daniel, we made sure of that. I think they knew better than to ask questions. I saw her mother a few months ago at the grocery store. She just smiled and nodded at me. No words, she knows to keep her mouth shut. They all do, and we didn't even have to tell them."
"Anthony wouldn't…"
"Shit with Anthony, that fuck can be paranoid, a baby girl wasn't gonna do nothing. I wasn't taking her out, just like I wasn't taking your girl out. We don't do innocent people…if they can keep their mouth shut. If they can go on with life and act like they don't know anything, because they really don't, then there's no reason to kill them. Of course, that's probably r
eason enough to kill me."
"No!" Daniel tensed up.
"Don't worry, Bro, I'm too important to knock off, not to mention all hell would break loose in the family. The Bartoli's are too ingrained with the Valente's. The girls all married their boys, our boys married their girls. If it was Alabama, you'd think it was an inbreeding mess on the verge of happening," Luke laughed. Daniel hid his face in my hair, as he let out a relieved laugh himself. "Everything is fine here. How's your girl doing? You get some of that yet?" he teased.
"Almost," Daniel surprised me, when he answered and squeezed me tighter.
"Don't let her hold you off too long."
"He's the one slowing things down!" I shouted out to Luke.
"What's the deal, little bro? You need a new box of condoms?" Luke wasn't laughing, he was dead serious.
"I just wanted to make sure. I don't know if Anthony told you, but Victor wrote up a marriage license. We're married."
"Well, get to it, then. Mom will be happy to know you ain't living in sin. Ride that girl into the sunset."
"Amen!" I shouted, and I could hear Luke laughing.
Daniel surprised me by swatting my butt and laughing along, too. "Hush, you."
Once we all settled down, Luke's voice became serious. "Daniel, don't let anything hold you back. If she's what you want, don't stop, don't hold back. We'll keep you safe, both of you. Don't let it stop you." Somehow, he knew just what to say to Daniel. I could've kissed Luke right then.
Straight Up Interfererence Page 21
