Love and Sacrifice: The Pierce Family Trilogy #2

by Chelsea Ballinger

  I slowly slide down and the deeper he is in me, the more breath I suck in. The slight pinch doesn’t even bother me because once he’s fully inside me it’s so sensational. I place one hand on his shoulder and the other on the back of his head, gripping his hair. I finally look at his face and as he brushes the hair from mine, I start to move. His mouth is open and he is staring at me in a daze of ecstasy as I increase my movements. He grips my waist and moves, meeting my rhythm and increasing the buildup between us. I moan and as he lets out harsh whispers, I press my lips on his and flicker my tongue against them. He bites my bottom lip as we move faster. I pull him into a hug and bite his shoulder as he pumps hard into me.

  He grips my thigh and holds on to me as he pushes us down with him on top. He continues to thrust into me and I can’t even think straight. It feels so good and so right that the overwhelming sensation creates a sudden fire inside me. I know I’m about to come. I scream as he gives me his final thrusts that send me completely over the edge. I scream his name. After two deep and long thrusts, he completely shudders and I hold on tightly to him as my arms wrap around his neck. I close my eyes as the orgasm begins to fade and all I have is the tingly feeling that makes me want to relive the whole process over again.

  Tommy pulls out and turns over on his back, next to me. He is breathing heavy and rubbing his face with his hands. He looks at me and I give him a sly smile.

  “I want to do that again,” I tell him, but he can’t do anything but laugh.

  Tommy

  I’m fucked.

  For the past two weeks I have been shacked up watching movies, having deep conversations, laughing, smiling, cuddling, and having amazing sex. All that bullshit couples do, I am now a participant of that and it’s all because of Ella Pierce.

  Shit, I’m just fucked.

  Simple bliss is my undoing.

  I watch her sleep in my bed. I’m in this trance as I watch her naked back. It’s a perfect back. I need a cigarette.

  I pull out a cig and light it up. As I exhale the smoke I touch Ella’s back with the tip of my fingers, so I won’t wake her up. As I feel her skin, I close my eyes and picture her smile. I really love that smile. I’m starting to love that smile more than anything.

  Since the moment I met her, I have found my heart feeling something new. This feeling of good that keeps growing inside me. Mickey has asked me how everything with her is going. I just tell him good. That’s all he needs to know.

  I remove my hand when she turns her head. She slowly opens her eyes and I am completely stunned by those green eyes. She flashes a sleepy grin and pushes up with the bed sheet wrapped around her. She brushes the hair from her face and looks at me, seductively. The mood changes once she makes an ew look and waves off the smoke between us. She hates that I smoke.

  “You’re just begging for an early death sentence, aren’t you?” she asks me.

  I shrug it off.

  She glances around the room then back at me. She bites her lip like she does when she’s nervous.

  “So, remember two weeks ago before we had sex, I needed to ask you something?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Yeah, well, my parents… they want to meet you.”

  “Really?” I lean over the bed and put out the cigarette in the ashtray on the floor.

  “Yeah, and I know we haven’t labeled this, but it would really mean a lot to me if you met them.”

  “Okay,” I shrug.

  “Really?” she asks is shock.

  “Sure.”

  “Okay, well, my mom is throwing this really small birthday dinner for my brother Christian. We still celebrate his birthday.”

  “I think that’s good that you do.”

  “Yeah, and my brother and Claudia will be there, Dina, my cousin Jason, aunts, uncles. Basically, people who knew Christian really good and loved him will be there. I think it would be the perfect time to introduce you and leave a good impression.”

  “For your dad, you mean.”

  “Yes, especially for him.”

  “Do they know about me?”

  “I didn’t give my mom full details. I told her that you went to prison. My dad, actually, brace yourself, he had a background check done on you.”

  Yeah, I knew this already.

  “Apparently, he had background checks done on you and all the workers for that catering company. He’s paranoid like that. Still thinks someone is out to get him.”

  If only you knew.

  Chapter 13

  “Remarkable Predicament”

  Ella

  “Are you nervous?” Donovan asks me as we set the dining room table.

  “No,” I lie.

  He stops setting the plates and folds his arms across his chest. “You really expect me to believe you’re not afraid of bringing your ex-con boyfriend to meet Dad?”

  “I guess you’re not too fond of the label either, huh?”

  “Speaking as your brother, no, I’m not too fond of it, but who am I to judge, especially after last year?”

  “Donovan, you were protecting Claudia when you killed those guys.”

  “Yeah, but it’s not that.” I set down the plate when I notice that look my brother gets when he has something he needs to get out.

  “Look, I know you told mom and dad that you didn’t need therapy, but if there is something you need to say, you can say it to me.” He looks at me and chews on his bottom lip.

  “It’s not the fact that I actually killed someone. It’s the fact that I enjoyed it. I don’t feel any remorse for them because of what they did to our family. They deserved to die.”

  “I think you need to talk to Dad about this, Donovan.”

  “I know I do, but… it’s like if I tell him how I feel, it would just send him more into paranoia.”

  “Paranoia of what?”

  “That I’m like him.”

  “Well, you are, but not in a bad way. You have his brooding and you look like him, but you also have his heart. You’re probably more sensitive then he is.”

  “Shut up,” he laughs a little.

  “But you're good, Donovan.” I hug him. “You’re good.”

  Our little brother and sister bonding moment is interrupted by the doorbell. My heart drops because that could be Tommy.

  Tommy

  The door opens and I’m greeted by the Pierces’ maid, Millie.

  “You must be Mr. Dumas,” she says with a smile.

  “Yeah,” I say as I walk in the home of the enemy. “Tommy is fine.”

  “The family is around here, somewhere,” she says as she closes the door.

  “Tommy.” Ella comes out of what looks like the dining room. She’s really happy to see me.

  “Hey.” She wraps her arms around me and pulls me in for a hug. Her warmth causes my nerves to evaporate.

  I look over her shoulder at her brother. He’s about my height and he looks just like their dad. He sizes me up and Ella glances between us.

  “Tommy, this is my brother, Donovan. Donovan, this is Tommy.”

  “Hey.” He stretches out his hand towards me.

  “Hey.” He makes sure to give me one of those firm handshakes. The kind of handshakes that mean “hurt my sister and I’ll kill you.”

  A tall girl with dark brown hair comes up behind him. It’s Claudia Stonem.

  “Nice to see you again, Tommy,” she says to me as Donovan puts his arm around her.

  “Nice to see you too. Ella grabs my hand and leads me to the living room along with her brother and friend behind us.

  “This is my Uncle Leo, my mom’s brother.” She introduces me to a middle-aged man with a receding hairline. He’s wearing a red Hawaiian shirt with yellow flowers on it and beige pants. On his arm is a young blonde chick with very big boobs.

  “Leo Giuseppe, nice to meet ya, Tommy.” He shakes my hand loosely and smiles. He has a gold tooth on the side of his mouth.

  “How ya doin?” I say back.

  “This is Ma
tilda.” He introduces her in a proud tone.

  “Hi.”

  “Hi!” She throws her arms around my neck and pulls me into a tight hug, squishing her breasts on my chest. It lasts for a moment.

  “Okay,” Ella says, yanking yanks me from her grip. “That’s all the hugging he needs.” She glares at Matilda, who is clueless.

  “I really love hugs,” she says cheerfully.

  “I see.”

  “My brother finds the most special women to bring home.” We turn around and see Mrs. Pierce. She’s wearing a white dress with a black belt around it. Again, she is beautiful. Ella definitely gets her looks from her mom, including her green eyes and sandy brown hair. She walks up to us and gives me a hug.

  “Hello, Tommy.” I wasn’t ready for a hug from her mom as I awkwardly stand there. She steps back a little and studies me.

  “We’ve met.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “You’re the boy I sent to look for my daughter when she was missing from the party.” I nod.

  “You didn’t tell me that,” Ella says to me.

  “I never really thought about it.”

  “Well, did you?”

  “What?”

  “Find me.”

  “Yeah.” Ella grins and eyes me suspiciously.

  “Your Uncle Billy says he’s on his way and so are Karen and Jason.”

  “Okay.”

  “Roman!” Mrs. Pierce calls out for her husband. Roman Pierce walks in, with a proud man’s walk. He has a look of a man with hardness. He walks up to us with a blank expression and I wonder if he remembers me too.

  “Yes, I remember you,” he says to me.

  “You met my dad too?” Ella asks me.

  “Yeah, when I found you.” He pulls out his hand for me to shake. I shake it and his handshake is way more firm than his son’s. Roman Pierce looks like the boss he is. I have to admit, I am a little intimidated. But not in the way Mickey intimidates people. He intimidates people in a way where they’re fearful of sleeping at night. Roman Pierce is intimidating in the way that you can’t help to fear letting him down and having him be disappointed in you.

  “Tommy,” I introduce myself.

  “Roman Pierce.”

  Ella

  After a very intense greeting from my brother and dad, something tells me this dinner isn’t going to get any better. They are staring at Tommy like he’s a terrorist. When Emile, Dina, my Uncle Billy, and my cousins Karen and Jason finally arrive, we start dinner.

  We sit at the table and begin the small talk.

  “Would you like some wine, Tommy?” my mother asks.

  “Yes, please.” He holds up his glass for my mom to pour.

  “So, Tommy, what do you do? Go to school? Work?” my Uncle Billy asks him.

  My Uncle Billy is my dad’s uncle. He’s British and owns one of the top casinos in Las Vegas. He’s always been there for my dad. Even though I never met him, my grandfather was known for being a jackass and my Uncle Billy was there to be a second father figure.

  “Um, I don’t go to school, but I work for a catering company,” Tommy tells him.

  “Are you a chef?” Uncle Leo’s bimbo date asks.

  “No. Just a server.”

  “Do you have any future goals?” my mom asks him, politely.

  “All I can say is that I’m taking it by ear. I’m not really good at much.”

  “Well, you will find something. Donovan realized he wanted to start his own restaurant.”

  “Cool,” Tommy says, glancing at Donovan.

  “Where you from in New York?” Uncle Leo asks.

  “Hell’s Kitchen.”

  “No shit? Me and Vera had a cousin that lived out there. What was her name, Vera?”

  “Um, I think… Diane. She had two kids, Danny and Robby.”

  “Danny and Robby Guissepie?” Tommy asks her.

  “Yes.”

  “Yeah, I remember them. I haven’t seen them since I was like twelve, but I remember them from school.”

  “Oh okay. They moved to Connecticut when the boys were teenagers.”

  We continue eating and making small talk and still my father has yet to say anything to Tommy. My dad gets on my nerves with this. It’s a double standard no matter what with fathers. Their son’s girlfriends are welcome with open arms, but the boyfriends of daughters are treated like a rat on a street corner.

  “So, Tommy,” my father finally says, and I swear the whole room freezes. “When my children bring people home, I usually ask them one question. This question tells me everything. I asked Claudia this question once.”

  “You did?” Donovan asks our father then looks at Claudia. “He did?”

  Claudia smiles. “Yep.”

  “Did you pass?”

  “I still don’t know yet.”

  “What was the question?” I ask him.

  “The question,” Dad says, “is simple: What is the first word that comes to your mind when describing my daughter?”

  Really? Simple, my ass.

  “Remarkable.” I look at Tommy, shocked at how quickly the answer came.

  “Why?” my dad asks.

  “My mother was French. Every week she would make me open up the dictionary and flip to a page and the first word I see, I had to remember the definition then go to this old small French dictionary she had and remember that same word in French. It was her way of teaching me a few things when she had time. The first time we did it, the word was ‘remarkable.’ In French, it’s remarquable. It’s similar, but still different. I remember thinking how cool the word was. I was seven, so any type of big word was amazing to me, but I didn’t really have a lot of good in my life and ‘remarkable’ means ‘surprising, worthy of attention, striking… extraordinary.’ I used to hope for something remarkable. I stopped dreaming, though. Never thought about it again until I met Ella, even if I tried to block it out.” He glances at me. “But your daughter is very persistent.”

  “That’s those Pierces for you,” Claudia chimed in with a smile.

  “Yeah, I see that. So that’s the word for you, Mr. Pierce. I think your daughter is remarkable.”

  We all watch my dad who has that same blank expression on his face, meaning we can’t tell what he is thinking. He picks up his wine glass.

  “Well then, a toast to remarkable.” We clink our glasses together and even though my father’s reaction is unreadable, I don’t think he was unimpressed with Tommy’s answer. For me, he just answered a question that has been rooted in my brain.

  Am I in love with him?

  And yes, the answer is that I am.

  As I look at him now with that hard yet shy expression on his face, my heart fills with so much delight and discomfort. I get it now, my parents’ irresistible love for each other. I can only hope that he feels the same way I do, because if he doesn’t, I am definitely screwed.

  Chapter 14

  “Tragedy In The Making”

  Tommy

  I light my cigarette and blow out the smoke as Ella pulls up her dress and rests against the door in the backseat while I sit back against the other. I watch her intently. Her sandy brown hair around her small shoulders, the afterglow grins on her face. The mild sweat across her forehead from the heat we just generated in my car, and the red blush across her cheeks from the overwhelming pleasure I just gave to her. I usually don’t think about things like this. I shut everything out. But with her, I just can’t.

  The question her father asked me proudly and with determination caused me to admit the greatest truth of my life. I met this remarkable girl ─ no, woman. I met this remarkable woman and without intention, I let the light into my darkness. Darkness that I was content with, I really was, but it’s something about the moment when you receive more. Once you get more, you want to keep it. You don’t want to lose it. You would sacrifice anything to keep it.

  “My family likes you,” she tells me as she twirls her hair.

  “Sure about that?”r />
  “Yeah, my mom and Claudia think you’re sweet and charming. My Uncle Leo is just happy that you like the New York Knicks and my Uncle Billy just likes what I like.” She sits up and rubs her hand on my forearm, tracing one of my tattoos. “And I like you.” She seems nervous a little. She leans back and sighs. “Everyone loves you.”

  “You sure your pops feel the same way?”

  “My dad can be very unreadable, but he respects honesty.”

  “How do you know I was honest?” I’m honestly asking this question.

  She smacks her lips. “Shut up, Tommy, and put out that cigarette before you die of cancer.”

  “I told you, I don’t care,” I tell her.

  “Well, don’t you care if I die?” That question stings me. “Second-hand smoke kills, you know.”

  She’s laughing, but it’s not funny. I quickly roll down my window and throw my cigarette out. Then I clasp my hands around her face and gaze into her eyes.

  “I do.”

  “Tommy, I didn’t mean it too literally as a question.”

  I shake my head. “No, I just ─ I want you to know… that I care about you.”

  Even confused, she realizes how serious I am.

  “I know,” she quietly says.

  I press my lips firmly against hers, deepening the kiss and pouring out the genuine feelings I have for her. I don’t want to say it, not even in my head. All I can do is say I care, not even the darkness can stop me from saying or thinking that. But not even the good and Ella’s piercing, green eyes keep me from knowing that this is a tragedy in the making.

  Chapter 15

  “Are You?”

  Ella

  “How did you know you were in love with Donovan?” Claudia and I are just lying in my bed, doing nothing when I pop this question on her. “Like when did you know?”

  “Are you in love, Ella?” she asks me.

  “Since the dinner I have told myself that and I really do think that. But I just want to make sure because you know me, I’ve never even really believed in the whole falling in love thing while you’re young, but I don’t know. I’m just confused.”