by Rye Hart
“I think they might,” I said.
“They really won’t. And with you out of the way, I’ll move into that power void and start being the go-to distributor for everything. Guns. Drugs. Girls. For the whole of New York City. The Martine family name will be done. It’ll be my turn to shine. My brother promised us dual thrones. He promised me your father’s seat so we could rule side-by-side. Then your father and this little shit here made him soft.”
He whipped his gun over to Matteo and Julia started sobbing.
“You made a promise,” I said. “And I fully expect you to keep that promise. Your brother ran his business as well as he did because he kept his promises. Because the people that worked for him could always trust his wrath as well as his word. If you go back on the promise you made me, you’ll crash the Martine business before you can get it off the ground. Above all else, they take a man for his word. What will your word mean if you kill my son after promising to spare him for my life?”
“Then where the fuck is the paperwork?” Stefano asked. “Because you promised me your businesses, yet you came empty-handed.”
“No, I didn’t. If you’ll be patient, I’m transferring my father’s businesses over to you and have people working on transferring the legitimate and charitable businesses from my name to yours. But you of all people should know that takes time,” I said.
“Too much time. I want those businesses now. Like I want you dead. Now.”
He turned the gun back on me. I buried the smirk trying to spread across my face.
“Are you stalling? Shall I assume you’ve defaulted on your end of the bargain? Because that means I can default on mine.”
Then I cocked my head to the side and let the grin free as pure confusion spread across Stefano’s face.
“Teddy bear,” I said loudly.
Let the games begin.
CHAPTER 34
JULIA
The first thing I saw were red lasers coming through the windows of the building. Laser scopes. Oh, my gosh, Romeo didn’t come alone. I looked up at Stefano and watched his face fill with panic before he dove to the side a moment later. He crashed to the ground as the windows shattered inward, spraying glass all along the floor. Bullets dug into the concrete floors and slammed into the walls. I could hear Matteo screaming at the top of his lungs.
“Mommy!”
I tried to scoot myself over to my son as Romeo made a mad dash for us, but Stefano rose up once the rain of bullets was over, his gun aimed for Romeo’s head, square between his eyes as I continued to wiggle over to my son. Romeo’s eyes locked with my uncle’s as white-hot pain shot down my back, and I felt my forehead connect with my son’s leg.
“I’m right here, sweet boy. Close your eyes. Look away. Can you do that for me?” I asked.
“Mommy, is Daddy okay?”
My heart leaped in my chest at the word as tears brewed in my eyes.
“Just look away,” I said wincing. “Okay? If you do, I’ll take you out for ice cream. How does that sound.”
“Daddy too?” he asked.
“Please just do it. Okay? Be strong for Mommy one last time.”
Blue and red strobe lights filled the air around us as the deafening sound of sirens wailed in the air. I heard footfalls slamming into the dirt outside before they came crashing into the building. I looked up and saw Matteo’s eyes closed shut as tight as he could get them. My head darted over to Romeo, and I saw him looking at me, grinning that mischievous little grin he had when he has an ace up his sleeve.
“Stefano, drop the weapon.”
“It’s over.”
“You’re done.”
“Drop it! Now!”
Men were shouting with their guns aimed at my uncle. I watched him tighten his knuckle on the trigger and my jaw unhinged. I let out a piercing cry as tears filled my eyes, hoping and praying that Romeo would get out of the way in time.
“Duck!”
Romeo dove off to the side the moment before Stefano’s gun went off. Shots began to ring out around us as Romeo hit the floor then began army-crawling toward us. He brandished a knife and sawed through Matteo’s bonds around his feet, then turned him around and let loose his hands. Matteo scrambled off the chair and fell to the floor, cowering underneath a dusty desk with his hands covering his head. Romeo locked eyes with me before he set me free, releasing my hands and feet.
“My shoulder.”
“Come here,” Romeo said.
Bullets rained down around us as he grabbed my arm. I braced myself for the pain I knew I would feel as his hand came up behind my shoulder. I gritted my teeth as Romeo turned and pushed, locking my shoulder back into place.
I cried out in pain, falling to the floor as Romeo scooted me underneath the desk Matteo was occupying.
“Stefano!” Romeo screamed. “Stop this now!”
Then I watched his eyes grow wide as he fell to his hands.
I looked up from beyond the desk and saw Stefano standing above him. His eyes were wide with anger, his hair plastered with sweat. A knife was protruding from Romeo’s shoulder. I stopped, watching as blood trickled over the crest of his collarbone. I scooped Matteo in my arms, ignoring the searing pain rushing through my body. Romeo grunted. Coughed. Stumbled on his hands.
Then a moment later, the cops tackled Stefano to the ground.
Romeo’s eyes rose to look at me before he stood to his feet. He held out his hand for me. I slipped my hand into his, and he pulled me to my feet, my arm bringing Matteo with me. He wrapped his free arm around both of us and I slid my hands around his neck. Matteo shook against his father as tears freely flowed down his cheeks, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the knife in his shoulder.
“Romeo. You’re hurt.”
“I’m fine,” he said breathlessly. “I’m fine, and so are both of you.”
The paramedics placed Romeo on a stretcher and rolled him out of the building. I gripped his hand tightly as Matteo sat between his legs. I saw the small army Stefano had hidden all around the building. They were lined up on the pavement, face down with guns trained between their shoulder blades. SWAT team members were zip-tying the criminals’ wrists behind their backs as we rushed over to the ambulance, and someone automatically started putting my arm in a sling and poking around at the bruising on my face.
Without a word, the medics loaded Romeo into the ambulance. Matteo gripped tightly to Romeo’s shirt as I swatted the paramedic away. I turned my head and saw Stefano being led out of the building, bruised and bloodied and snarling for more. He resisted every step the police tried to make him take, and I watched them bring the butt of a gun down against his shoulder.
Served him fucking right.
“Mommy? You coming?”
The sound of my son’s voice pulled me from my trance. I stepped up into the ambulance, and the doors quickly shut behind me. I leaned over and planted a large kiss on Matteo’s forehead. I brushed away the dirt from his face and ran my fingers through his hair. He threw his arms around me as I held him close, burying my face into the crook of his neck.
Then I pulled away and turned my attention to Romeo.
I scooted to his head and gently fell forward, placing a kiss to his lips. I smiled into his pucker. Into the heat of his body as Matteo scrambled up toward us. I watched Romeo put his arm around his son as he dipped into the crook of his body, pissing off the ambulance staffers who were trying to set an IV in his hand.
“Thank you,” I said, my heart overflowing with gratitude. “Thank you so much for risking your life to save us.”
“I love you, Julia. There isn’t anything I wouldn't risk for my family.”
“I love you too,” I said with tears in my eyes. “I love you so much, Romeo.”
“Mom?”
I looked over at my son with his big eyes and raised eyebrows.
“Matteo?” I asked. “I’d like you to meet someone.”
“We’ve already met,” Romeo said with a grin. “Haven’t we, k
iddo?”
“Yeah, Dad. We have.”
My heart flooded with joy as I watched Romeo cup the back of his son’s head. He brought Matteo in for a forehead kiss and my son threaded his arms around his father. Cuddled into him for the first time in six years. I gripped Romeo’s hand as the ambulance rushed through the city, racing us to the nearest hospital so we could all be checked out.
“I love you, son,” Romeo said.
“I love you too, Daddy.”
We were safe. We were alive. And we were reunited.
I couldn't ask for anything more than that.
EPILOGUE
ROMEO
ONE YEAR LATER
“Everything okay?” I asked as I tossed a burger into the air.
“Yeah. I think so. It’s James. Russo. I’m not sure what he wants,” Julia said.
“Well go take the call. Matteo and I will man the grill, won’t we buddy?”
“We got this, Mom. Go work,” he said.
I winked at Julia as she picked up the call, her beautiful summer dress fluttering behind her.
It took us months to get everything on track, but we did it. Julia and I had successfully divested both families from the shady underworld dealings of the mafia. We broke ties with powerful people and pushed them out of the city, successfully partnering with the police precincts to help them when they needed it the most. Both the Bianchi and the Martine family names had been cleaned up, and Julia and I were running legitimate businesses and founding charitable organizations.
We flourished, and it was all due to Julia’s perseverance. There were times when I was ready to be done with it all. To wipe my hands of both families and whisk us away to another place. But Julia was the one that wouldn't give up on home. That wouldn’t give up on the idea that we would turn our families into something greater. A powerful force for good in the community instead of a force for evil.
Without her, it never would’ve happened.
We didn’t stay in the city like she wanted, but when I surprised her with where we were moving she accepted it. I took over her father’s estate, the one he’d shipped her off to. I bought it outright and cleaned it up, furnishing it with the most comfortable furniture I could find. Upstate New York suited us, especially after everything we had been through. A slower-paced suburban lifestyle was more our speed, especially with Matteo being such a sociable kid.
We enrolled him in elementary school instead of homeschooling him, and he was bringing friends home every weekend to hang out.
Matteo and I clicked as father and son. Sometimes there were awkward points. Things he talked about I couldn’t remember because, well, I wasn’t there. He was hesitant sometimes to talk to me about memories and times before I came along, but I kept reassuring him it was okay. I wanted to hear about those moments. About his life. I wanted to see the smile on his face when he talked about all the nights he slept with Mom during storms and all the times he got sick and curled up with her on the couch. They were good memories for him, and I wanted to share in those.
Even if it was only to lend an ear as he talked.
We grew close, and it made my heart happy. Every time I turned around, Matteo was wanting me to show him something. Teach him something. Help him with something. I loved every second of it. I taught him how to ride a bike and how to make his own peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I taught him how to swim and how to defend himself. But my favorite moments were when Matteo woke up before Julia and me. When he would knock on the door and ask if we were awake before launching himself into our bed.
Julia became heavily involved in social and charitable activities. She woke up with a smile on her face every morning and always came home fulfilled and ready to talk about her day’s activities. Family dinners at night were her favorite. They became a way for all of us to bond and talk about our days, which meant Matteo opened up to me even more. I loved how many friends he was making and how comfortable he was bringing them all over.
It quickly made our house the to-go destination for barbecues.
“Here, you flip it like this,” I said.
“Can I try?” Matteo asked.
“Let me hold your hand and help you with the motion. Then you can try one on your own. Okay?”
Kids ran around in the backyard while their parents had drinks, and I taught my son how to flip a burger on the grill. We dropped a couple on the ground before he got the hang of it, but the pride that lit up his eyes was well worth it. I kissed the top of his head, and he ran off to play with his friends, immediately getting tagged “it.” Their laughter was music to my ears. The smells coming off the grill rumbled my stomach.
We threw these kinds of barbecues twice a month so everyone we’d met and befriended could get together for an afternoon.
“Romeo, we need to talk,” Julia said.
The stern look on her face worried me, and I slipped my grilling apron from my neck.
“Hey, Frank!”
“Yep?”
“Could you man the grill? Julia needs me for something,” I said.
“Not a problem. How did Matteo do with the burgers? I saw him flipping them over here.”
“We dropped a couple, but there’s plenty to spare,” I said as I handed the man my apron. “Just try not to burn the steaks.”
“When have I ever burned the steaks? Go on. See what that beautiful wife of yours needs.”
I walked toward Julia. Her tense body had me worried. She ushered us into my office and promptly locked the door behind me. She walked over and drew the blinds, and that caused my heart to leap into my throat.
“Julia? What’s going on? What did Russo want?” I asked.
In a flash, her hand gripped my shirt. She pulled me down for a kiss, our lips crashing together. I felt her smile against me as my hands fell to her hips, pressing her into the edge of my desk. She parted her legs for me, allowing me to feel the heat radiating from between them. My hands slid up her legs and gripped her naked thighs as I picked her up and planted her onto my desk.
My tongue slid between her lips, tasting her sweetness before she giggled into me.
“What’s all this for?” I asked.
“That wasn’t Mr. Russo,” Julia said.
“Then who was it?”
Her hands pressed into my chest before she looked up at me from underneath her eyelashes.
“The doctor,” she said. “Romeo, we’re pregnant.”
“We’re what?” I asked, not sure that I’d heard her right the first time.
“I’m pregnant, Romeo. Seven weeks along, according to the doctor.”
My eyes fell to her stomach before my hand reached out to touch her, to cup the place where our second child was growing within her.
“We’re pregnant,” I said in awe of her body. In awe of the life within her.
“We are,” she said with a smile.
I wrapped my arms around the love of my life and drew her in for another kiss. I couldn’t possibly communicate my excitement with words. My hands were shaking as I drew her into my body. I pressed my tongue between her lips and raked it along the roof of her mouth. Her hands slid along my shoulders. Along my arms. Through my hair. She caressed me. Enticed me. Drew out the animal within me that had to have her.
I leaned heavily into her and shoved everything off my desk. She giggled into my lips as I crawled up onto it, my face falling into the crook of her neck. I nibbled. Sucked. Dragged my teeth along her fluttering pulse point as her hands fell to my belt buckle. I kissed down her chest, pulling her beautiful breasts from her dress and lapped my tongue across her nipples.
She shoved my pants down over my ass and pulled out my cock. I crashed our lips together as her hands locked around my neck. She opened her legs for me, parting them as wide as they could go. My hand slid up her thigh and massaged her hip, growling at how it would grow and spread so she could bear me another child. I slid her wet panties to the side and soaked my dick in her juices. Coated myself in her dripping arou
sal before I breached her pussy with my tip.
“I love you, Julia.”
Her eyes fluttered open as her nose nuzzled against mine.
“I love you too, Romeo.”
I slammed into her and covered her lips with mine. I swallowed every sound she made as I rocked deeply into her body. I’d memorized every curve. Every scar. Every stretch mark and every crevice. I raked my pelvis against her pulsing clit and watched her shudder. Watched as her eyes fluttered closed and felt her nails grip into my shirt.
“I love you. I love you. I love you, Romeo.”
My hips snapped against hers as her pussy squeezed around my cock. Her walls massaged me, drawing my balls up as my hips began to stutter. I couldn't wait. I couldn't tease her like I wanted. I needed her. I needed her to know how much I loved her. How much I cared for her. How excited I was that our family would grow and morph and succeed and flourish.
“I love you, Julia. Light of my life. Holder of my heart. How you make my soul sing.”
I slid into her one last time as I clung to her. Holding her as close as I could get her as she wrapped her limbs around me. Her wrists locked and her ankles crossed as her pussy sucked me deeper. Massaged me and milked my dick for everything it had to give her. My hips were magnetized to hers. Not even the flow of air could penetrate our connection. Our tongues collided as her body shivered, my legs quaking with the force of my orgasm.
I pumped her full of my cum as her nails dug into my back, her body latching onto me like I had latched onto her.
“I love you,” I whispered in her ear.
Then my body collapsed onto hers as she held me close.
I laid there like that for a few seconds. Just marveling at how her curves blanketed my form. Her softness. Her heat. Her gentle strength that always kept me going when I ran out of mine. Her legs unfurled from my waist, and I slid my cock from between her legs, smiling as our intermingled juices slid from between her legs. I smelled her around me. How she blanketed me in her scent. Every time we made love, I marked her in all the ways I could stand. All the ways I loved. Adored. Enjoyed.
