Barresi: Emily Trilogy: A New Orleans Mafia Romance

by Lux Miller

  He smirks and walks out of the room, a bounce in his step as I stare after him. He turns at the front door and gives me a little wave as he points outside. “While you’re staring at my ass and picking your jaw up off the floor, I’m getting a head start.”

  I gasp as he bounces outside and quickly scramble to shove my feet back into my sandals and follow him outside. When I get out there, I notice he’s speaking to my grandmother in hushed tones that cease when I approach. He looks up at me and smirks, then nods at my grandmother. “Puna was just telling me which kinds of fruit she needs for tonight and explaining what each looks like, since I’ve never actually seen any of them except for a tangerine.”

  Puna glances over her shoulder at me and nods. “I like him. So far, he has not given me a reason not to.”

  Luca smirks and takes off into the garden at a sprint, but I realize quickly that my Puna is not on my side in this race as she steps in front of me and asks, “Does he make you happy, my Kailani?”

  I nod, sighing as Luca smirks and jumps up to grab one of the branches of the nearest tangerine tree. I look back at my grandmother and wag my finger at her, “You taught him to cheat!”

  Puna throws her head back, laughing merrily. “Oh, my dear… I merely gave him a hint or two and a list of what I need for the pig tonight. He may be a man of honor, girl, but I assure you… he did not need to be taught how to cheat. Getting what he wants seems to be something he’s quite used to. So tell me, are you happy?”

  I cut my gaze back to my grandmother, my eyes wide. “What? Why do you ask?”

  She shrugs and motions around her as a breeze filters through the air around us. “I would be remiss if I did not assure your happiness. Your father, as I knew him, would have been against this completely. I have no doubts in my mind, but your mother… she was a free spirit like you. She moved with the wind… and still does, my girl. If she did not approve of you marrying a man like him, she would never offer her blessings, nor I believe, would she have pled your case to Pele.”

  My mouth drops open as I stand there and stare at her. “What? She said that? When?”

  Puna chuckles again, poking at the ground between my feet with her cane. “The wind is always speaking, my dear. You just have to learn to listen to it again. As you once did. Your aunt and uncles… they think I’m going senile, because I hear Ohana on the breeze. In truth, I think I hear those who have departed us, because I’ll soon be joining them, and they’re whispering words of welcome to me.”

  My face must be awash in sheer terror, because my grandmother shakes her head quickly, “Oh, I will not go today, nor tomorrow… but soon, and I’m at peace with it. This old lady has lived through many tides, and with your return, I can rest easy knowing that my Leia’s only child will continue her legacy, and soon if your request from Pele is granted. But that’s a worry for tomorrow. Today, we celebrate!”

  FIFTEEN

  “Staaaahp! Please!”

  Luca shakes his head as he tugs me tighter against him, his fingers wiggling against my sides as I squirm uselessly in his arms. “Oh, my God! You’re gonna make me pee on myself!”

  Luca just shrugs as he slides both of his hands to the front of my belly. “It wouldn’t be the worst bodily fluid I’ve had the pleasure of being bathed in. I’m sure I’ll survive it.”

  He digs his fingers in more to the soft skin between my belly button and bikini bottoms as I howl in a mixture of laughter and desperation. “Fine! Uncle! Uncle, uncle, uncle!”

  Luca lets go of me, and I breathe a heavy sigh of relief as my feet return to the ocean floor, the waters of Reed’s Bay lapping gently around my waist. I turn my gaze on him and point, wagging my finger at him. “For being somewhere you aren’t a hundred percent comfortable, you’re sure being brave by tickling your wife while standing in waist-deep water.”

  Luca shrugs with a smirk. “It’s only waist-deep on you, my love. The water level barely reaches my crotch.”

  I narrow my eyes at him. “You know what else is going to reach your crotch if you tickle me again?”

  He shudders, then steps against me. “Mmm… don’t tempt me, woman. We’re supposed to be washing off all the sticky mess from our fruit-picking adventure.”

  I shrug my shoulders. “You mean fruit-smashing adventure, right? Because I’m pretty sure you squeezed more tangerines over my head than you gave to Puna! And you cheated…”

  Luca holds up both hands with an innocent grin on his face. “I did nothing of the sort. Your grandmother merely gave me a much-needed head start. As it is, I still lost to your cousin… be glad she wasn’t part of our little bet.”

  I’m sure my face must go pale at his statement, because he chuckles and pulls me back into his arms, this time, his hand slowly working over my body to rinse away the stickiness of the dragonfruit, tangerine, and star fruit juices that got all over both of us while picking them in the garden. “I kid, Emily. Relax. Your cousin may be pretty, but I only have eyes for one woman. And despite the fact that you lost our bet, you’re still going to get what you asked for tonight. Me being allowed to eat your pussy for an hour is not even close to a punishment for me. In fact, we can chalk that one up there as my ultimate fantasy. About the only thing better than my face buried in your pussy is going to be when I unload inside of you afterwards until…”

  He drops his mouth to my ear and whispers, “...your pussy’s dripping with my cum. Then, if you’re up for it… you can give me my spoils and suck my dick until I pass out.”

  I squirm just thinking about what Luca is implying, but he’s not the only one with a streak of defiance in him. I turn to face him and shake my head. “Let’s change the terms of our agreement.”

  Luca pouts at me and complains, “Oh, come on! You’re just changing the rules because you lost!”

  I put my finger over his lips and shake my head again. “What happens tonight… let’s not follow some predetermined guide. Let’s just do what feels good. And to keep it fair, since I lost miserably to you, how about we make your rewards getting to direct me to do anything you want?”

  Luca’s eyes widen. “Wait. You’re giving me… complete control over you?”

  I nod, bringing my hand up to the side of his face. “In the bedroom, yes. For one night only, I will do anything… and everything you tell me to do.”

  Luca raises one eyebrow. “Really? That’s what you’re offering me?”

  I bite down on my bottom lip as Luca’s grin widens with a nod. “Deal. Don’t have to think twice about that. That’s the gift of a lifetime, and I’d be a fucking fool to turn it down. Now turn around, so I can rinse off your ass. We’ve got ten minutes to be back up at your grandmother’s house and we’re not alone in the water. Something has bumped the back of my legs about five times so far, and I’m kinda ready to give whatever it is their ocean back.”

  I chuckle and turn around, shivering as Luca sticks his hands in my bikini bottoms and gently washes away the fruit juice that he put there by squeezing a tangerine into my bikini bottoms. It was nice to see him truly let loose and relax for once. To watch my husband embracing island life is probably the sexiest thing he’s ever done, and I’m not sure there’s much that can top it. I am probably the most attracted to my husband that I’m ever going to be right now. And it’s not that I’m normally not ready to jump him at a moment’s notice, but right now… my sex drive is amped up to a thousand, and the world’s lucky either of us is wearing clothes.

  I close my eyes just as Luca starts to push his hand between my legs, the tips of his fingers brushing against my cunt, but while my body shudders, he makes the most God-awful screeching sound behind me as he jerks his hand out of my bikini bottoms, dodges around me, and tears out of the water, not even bothering to look back.

  I stare after him in surprise as he climbs up onto the beach, pointing at the water behind me, “It bit me! Whatever the fuck has been stalking me in that water just bit me!”

  I look back to where Luca was just
standing and giggle as the fading sun reflects off of something swimming just under the surface of the water. I reach down into the water and scoop it up into my hands, snorting as it cocks its little head sideways, then yanks into its shell. The baby turtle shudders in my hands, and I lean down over it, pressing my forehead gently to its shell before dropping my hands into the water and gently letting it go. It hurriedly swims away from me as I walk out of the water, holding my arms across my belly as I laugh heartily. “Luca… it was a baby turtle. You’re scared of a baby turtle.”

  Luca frowns and points at the water incriminatingly. “I’m not scared of it! It bit me!”

  I shrug my shoulders as I adjust my bikini and grab my towel off the thin strip of sand. “It probably thought you were going to step on it. You said it bumped you several times. It was probably trying to warn you, and it probably only bit you out of fear of you squashing it. It didn’t bite me.”

  Luca sticks his tongue out as he snatches his towel up, wrapping it around his waist. “Well, it should have! You’re the one that tastes good!”

  Giggling, I punch Luca in the shoulder playfully. “I bet your tattoos confused it. Besides, it wasn’t trying to eat you. Just look at this as a gentle reminder that nature is wild, and we should respect it as such. Probably a good reminder for when Boss gets bigger, because no matter how much we love on him, he’s always going to be wild at heart. And he’s already doubled in size since we got him. At this time next year, he’s going to be enormous, so it would do us well to remember to respect the wild animal inside him.”

  Luca nods, motioning to the rental car with his head. “Come on, let’s head back. I can’t wait to try this pig that everybody’s been talking about all day. I’m starving!”

  I smile and slips my feet into my sandals as I follow him to the car, climbing in beside him in the backseat. “I can’t wait to see the house you rented us. Can you tell me anything about it?”

  Luca grins. “Well, it has its own waterfall and gorgeous views of it. I don’t think you can actually swim there, but you can hike over to it and do that sexy thing where you like to become one with nature. Are there any waterfall gods you can ask for blessings?”

  I giggle and nudge Luca. “I can’t just go asking every Hawai’ian god for blessings! Besides, the two I’ve sent messages to are supposedly the ones who’re most responsive to us mere mortals. Kanaloa is the god of the sea, and Honu is under his domain. If that little sea turtle goes back to Honu and tattles that you taste bad, I may not get any more blessings from him.”

  Luca frowns. “Hey! I do not taste bad!”

  Shrugging, I lean over and kiss his cheek. “Hmmm, no, not to me. But to a turtle, you’re probably fairly yucky. I intend to follow-up on my prayer to Pele here on Hawai’i since these are her actual stomping grounds. Legend has it that her spirit is up at Kilauea most days. Right now though, she’s throwing a temper tantrum up there, so I have no desire to get that close to Kilauea right now. She’s likely to throw a lava bomb or something at anyone that gets too close right now. But I can make my offerings tonight at the luau.”

  Luca’s eyebrow raises again as he looks down at me. “Are you going to strip down and walk across coals or something?”

  I shake my head. “Not exactly. Up on Koko, I felt like she heard me, but I also felt like she needed something more. Not just a sacrifice, but a promise.”

  Luca watches me intently as I fiddle my fingers together. I exhale slowly, then quietly explain it in candidly short detail. “Just as you swear your loyalty to la famiglia with your blood… I need to swear my loyalty to Pele with mine. To promise to remember who I am… what I am… and I need to know that you won’t try to stop me.”

  Luca’s expression grows dark and for a moment, I think that’s he’s about to get angry and put his foot down to stop what he probably views as the crazy traditions of my family’s ancestors. Instead, he turns to face me and grabs both hands in his and nods. “Stop you? I’ll help you. Emily… this place is as much a part of you as New Orleans is a part of me. I will do anything to bring you happiness and solace in knowing your place in this world.”

  I nod slowly as I swallow hard and squeeze his hands. “Will you swear to Pele that if she blesses us with a child, that you’ll raise that child as what it will be? Part Italian New Orleanian mobster… but also part islander, and a link to the dying culture of Polynesia?”

  Luca nods quickly and without hesitation. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the same knife I cut my hair with yesterday and holds it out to me, bowing his head to me slightly. “I’ll even give you the knife…”

  SIXTEEN

  By the time we make it back to my grandparents’ house, the front yard has been transformed. Torches are being jabbed into the ground around the perimeter of the yard, and as they’re lit one by one, an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia overtakes me. Suddenly, every worry that’s been plaguing me vanishes as the spirit of the islands descends upon the family gathered here. I motion for Luca to follow me as we weave through the gathering crowd and slip into the house mostly unnoticed. At least, I think I slipped into the house unnoticed. It’s kinda hard to miss a six foot three imposing mobster who’s covered in tattoos.

  I grab his hand as he pauses at the doorway and drag him inside the house, laughing. You’re drawing attention.”

  Luca looks at me like I’m a pot calling the kettle black. I motion to myself and roll my eyes, “Aside from my blonde hair, which is natural thanks to my father and the sun, I basically look like I belong here, Luca. You… do not. You stick out like a sore thumb, and while your tattoos are incredibly hot, they’re obviously not local. And people are watching. Looks like you’re going to be the talk of the party tonight amongst the pretty, young things. The party’s already started and so has the pointing and whispering. So come on, hot stuff. Let’s get into some dry clothes and go have some pig before the best parts get claimed.”

  As we step into the shared bedroom and lock the doors, Luca glances down at his torso where the tendrils of his tribal-style tattoos wind around his body and follow the curves of his muscles. The designs snake in and out of each other, disguising what I know is likely close to a dozen injuries he sustained before I met him. Dante told me as much when I went with him to cover his own scars from the gunshot wounds that nearly killed him. And I’ve found several of Luca’s by accident while tracing the intricate line work. He’s never denied their existence or pretended they were anything other than reminders of how many brushes with death he’s had.

  I step closer to Luca and rest my hand over the one scar he hasn’t covered up, and the muscles in his stomach tense under my touch. He rests his hand over mine, the moment of silence becoming deafening. He inhales a shaky breath as I give him a small smile and trace my finger along the jagged scar from his stomach, up along the outer edge of his ribcage, and finally bring it to a rest over the other end of the scar under his arm. “That was a scary night…”

  Luca nods. “It was, but I didn’t. It was fine in the end.”

  I slap him, hard as I stumble back from him. He winces as my hand connects with his cheek, but he doesn’t back away from me as I fuss at him. “Fine?!? You almost died because you were being a stubborn brute. You scared me! For fucks sake Luca… I had to sew you up with a sewing needle!”

  Luca winces, bowing his head slightly as he replies, “I was a fool three times that night, Emily. I was a fool to go alone. I was a fool to play off the severity of my injuries. And I was a goddamn idiot for not marrying you that night, life-threatening injury be damned. You keep telling me how lucky you are that I rescued you from that hellhole you were living in, but you’re not the lucky one, Emily. Even though neither of us knew it then, you saved my soul that night. And you continue to save me from the demons that have been present since my birth. I am darkness and you are light. I am damnation and you are salvation. I am the devil and you my angel. This…” He grabs my hand and gently presses it against his side, “...
is my reminder that I am but a man and that men, no matter how hardened or blackened their hearts may be, still bleed…”

  I stand there, staring at him with my mouth open for several moments until a loud knock snaps me out of my daze, and I hear my cousin’s voice, “Come on, Emily! Quit sucking face with that fine specimen of man and come party with us. Everyone’s so excited to have you back. Puna is calling for an Ori… and you better be prepared to shake everything your momma gave you…”

  I bust out laughing as I step back from Luca and pull my bikini off and fling the bottoms at him with a smirk. Next, I wiggle off the crisscross top and fling that at Luca too. He rolls his eyes as he catches both, then slides off his swim trunks. “So, what does one wear to a luau like this? I’m not sure your family would appreciate our birthday suits.”

  I shrug my shoulders, my cheeks reddening as I realize exactly what Aleka said. “Oh crap… they want me to dance an Ori… I haven’t done that since I was ten. I’m going to embarrass myself!”