TNT, A Tommy and Tia Novella: The Dominator Series, Book 1.5

by DD Prince

  “I want a family of my own. Wanna do it different than Pop,” he said.

  I surveyed the dark water with interest. “Yeah. You’ll be different.”

  Me? I wasn’t so sure I could be different. But Dare? Definitely. He was tough, smart, but he was also nurturing. Our sisters went to him for comfort all the time, even growing up. He had it in him to be a great father.

  My brother turns twenty-five soon and he’s far more ready to settle down than I was at his age. It wasn’t until Tia that I’d even entertained the notion of one woman for the rest of my life. Now, I knew. No one else. Ever. Didn’t give a fuck about empty pussy out there. She was it for me. My endgame.

  I’d burn the world down to protect her. I’d burn it down if anyone ever succeeded in taking her from me again (I’d tasted it and nothing tasted more bitter, not even having to shoot my own father), and if there came a day when someone took her in a way I couldn’t get her back, I’d make sure I was doused in gasoline before that world got lit on fire, because no way would I go on without her.

  I told him I wasn’t sure I was different enough. He argued with me. I told him how gone I was for Tia; how ruthless I’d been with her in the early days. And then I told him how I knew that she was my perfect other half when I offered her an exit and she made me prove I didn’t mean it by letting me get to the count of ten and then running, hoping I’d chase her.

  My brother looked thrown. I didn’t typically open up like this. It was a rare moment. But there were two people on the planet I felt I was safe enough to bare my soul to on the rare occasion the mood struck. Dare was one. Tia was the other.

  Ed was strolling in our direction. “Rossis are here.”

  The three of us headed around to the driveway at the front of the house.

  I glanced back and saw her in the window, waving at me, a wine glass in her hand. She was smiling with an openness that hit me in the chest. This fucking girl. My fucking girl. So gorgeous, filled with so much light, lighting up my dark world.

  I bit down on my lip, fighting a smile, eyes traveling the length of her. Eye-fucking her.

  She was pink in the face, either from shyness or because she anticipated the next day.

  The next day. Mine. She was mine now, but something about it… something about marrying her. Fuck, yeah. Mine. Some people said it was just a piece of paper, but I wanted that piece of paper more than anything I’d ever wanted.

  Tia

  I was about to move away from the window, knowing the limo was here to take Tommy, Dare, and Eddy to the bar where they were going to shoot some pool, but then I caught movement coming out of the car.

  Nino? Bianca? They even had their son Joey with them.

  We’d expected them to come, but I’d been told just before we left for Aruba that they couldn’t make it. An emergency with a friend of Bianca’s. Something evidently changed.

  I squealed and ran out, colliding with her. We jumped up and down hugging and laughing. I had tears in my eyes.

  Tommy was smiling, as were Dare, Eddy, and Nino.

  “Surprise, baby girl,” Tommy said.

  “I thought they couldn’t come!” I accused.

  “Tommy made it happen,” Bianca told me.

  I threw myself in his arms and attacked his mouth with mine.

  It got heated enough that we heard chuckles.

  “Alright, you two. Don’t make us get the hose,” Nino teased.

  I broke away. “Love you.”

  “Love you, baby girl.” He kissed me again and then swatted my butt. “Get inside. See you at the church.”

  “Beach church,” I said with a smile.

  “Beach church,” he agreed.

  Nino carried their bags inside and Bianca, Joey, and I followed.

  I was suddenly feeling so emotional about it. It was nice that I’d have my own flesh and blood there on my wedding day.

  Luc was coming down the stairs from putting the baby to bed after a feeding and she squealed in excitement. “Hey!”

  “Surprise!” I said.

  “Nope,” Luc said. “I knew. Tommy told me when we shopped so we could make sure we factored Neen and Bee in. I got you a matron of honor dress, by the way,” Luc said, then turned to me. “I figured you’d want her up there, being that she’s your cous?”

  I smiled. “Nothing would be better.”

  Luc took Bianca and Joey upstairs and I headed to the powder room.

  As I shut the door I was assaulted by guilt. Ruby Crenshaw would be crushed that it wasn’t her at my wedding by my side as I was about to embark on married life. She had been my best friend since we got our training bras together. A few months ago, I’d have bet money it’d be her as my maid of honor some day with Bethany and Mia as my bridesmaids. Instead, I was having a wedding where almost everyone attending was in the wedding party.

  Guilt about Ruby and her parents aside, I was okay with it.

  Yeah, it’d be nice to have them here, but that wasn’t my life anymore. I loved them. I appreciated all they’d been to me. That was separate from this. I couldn’t let myself think on it too long, either, or I’d feel sadness and loss, and there was no place for that the night before marrying the man I love.

  I do love him. So much.

  Life had sure changed. I didn’t want to dwell. I wanted to look forward. Tommy had already given me shit for my attitude on the matter, and actually asked if I was embarrassed to have them there. Our argument got pretty heated. At first I was placating, but when he bit off, “You think they’ll think it’s a farce? That I’m keeping you a prisoner?”

  “Aren’t you?”

  His expression had dropped and the look on his face? It was like I’d kicked him in the chest.

  I immediately threw my arms around him and squeezed him as tight as I could. It took a solid minute before his arms finally closed around me.

  “Yeah,” he said into my hair. “I am. Never fucking letting you go.”

  “Good,” I sniffled into his chest.

  We held each other for a minute, before I finally said, “Just stop worrying about my old life, okay? All I care about is looking into one another’s eyes and promising to be together forever. That’s what I want. You. Forever. We don’t need anyone there. We could just go to city hall. Getting married is about me and you, no one else.”

  He grabbed my face then and held it while staring deep into my eyes. Was he looking for signs of a lie? Was he still testing me after all we’d been through?

  His expression was fierce.

  I put my hand on his hot chest right where the ink with my name was printed. That’s when his eyes finally warmed.

  For a minute I figured it’d end in fast and furious fucking. It didn’t. He pulled me onto the bed and held me tight and then he fell asleep, me on top of him. And just like after the funeral and also like in Vegas when he’d pulled me to his chest when he was hungover and slept with me tight in his embrace, he fell asleep again. I didn’t. But, I’d been well aware of how little he’d been sleeping, so was completely content to stay there, his arms around me, his nose buried in my hair, being some sort of security blanket for him. This was back home, before we left.

  And here we were now, the night before our wedding and at least there was one person connected to me. Well, two, since little Joey was blood, too. Named after my dead mother’s brother, who had been killed by a man my fiancé had killed, to protect me.

  The Trulio family was connected to the Ferrano family, but not through blood. Bianca Trulio-Rossi was connected to both Tommy and I. Him, through their growing up together. Me, through not my old life, but through blood. I knew that Bianca and I would’ve been tight if I’d grown up around her. I had pretty quickly gotten close to her, was in awe of how together she was. Wife, mom, business owner. Kick-ass sense of style.

  It was a flurry of excitement when I went into the big family-sized live-in kitchen with the expansive family room that had been the area we’d been hanging out in. The house h
ad many other rooms, but this was the primo spot with the view of the water, the kitchen right there, big island with stools and giant dining table in between the kitchen and the big family zone that had comfy couches and a massive television.

  The table was spread out with appetizers and bottles of wine and wine glasses.

  ***

  It was a few hours later and Sarah, Tessa, Luc, and I were on the sectional outdoor couch on the rooftop terrace. Luc had a nursery monitor clipped to her pocket to keep an ear on the kids, who were all (all seven of them) sleeping in a king-sized bed together (little arms and legs in all directions --- essentially a pile of toddlers and Little Joey, the eldest at six), the baby in a pack ‘n play in the same room. Bianca was in the pool, the only one swimming, but Lisa sat with her feet dangling in the water, drinking sparkling orange juice from her fancy wine glass. Sarah lifted the bottle of rosé and topped me up.

  “I love him so much,” I swooned and got a big smile from Sarah, a little smile from Tessa, and what I was pretty certain was a fake smile from Lisa. My expression faltered when I read that from her and she immediately shook whatever unpleasantness she was feeling off and smiled big.

  Did she suspect the truth, that Tommy killed her husband? If so, what would she do about it?

  A cloud of doom threatened to settle on me, but I didn’t let it. I was a little tipsy. So were Bianca, Luc, and Sarah. Tessa was quiet, still sipping her first glass of wine, though we were on our sixth or seventh.

  “So, you confirmed it’s true that he’s a monster in bed,” Bianca called over. “How much of a monster?”

  I giggled.

  “Please no…” Luc pleaded.

  “Shush,” Bianca waved. “She’s our bride. Forget who her groom is. This is a necessity the night before her wedding. At least we don’t have to give her the talk and tell her what to expect from her wifely duties.”

  I choked on my wine with laughter.

  “So. Monster? Talk to us about the one-eyed monster.”

  “Oh yeah,” I said, starry-eyed. “Sometimes, I get extra naughty so that I can unleash the beast.”

  “I’d be naughty every day,” Bianca said.

  “Your man not a monster?” Sarah asked.

  “He’s as vanilla as they come,” Bianca said. “He’s great. Always takes care of me, but sometimes you just wanna be pounded against the wall like a screen door in a hurricane, you know?”

  “She’s right,” Luc admitted.

  Tessa abruptly went inside.

  No one missed a beat.

  “How ‘bout Uncle Tom?” Bianca asked, looking at Lisa. “He sweet and 100% missionary, or a beast?”

  “For fuck sakes, Bee,” Luc covered her ears. ”Talking about my dead father in the sack. You’re one sick bitch.”

  “No,” Bianca said sharply. “I’m talking to our friend, Lisa, about her love life. I’m giving her an opportunity to participate in our conversation.”

  Lisa smirked. “He was amazing. Really amazing.”

  I found myself staring in surprise at the beat of red in Lisa’s cheeks.

  She looked off into space and smiled. “He was so good at it. We took great care of one another’s needs, which were varied. Very varied.”

  “I so do not wanna know what that means,” Luc said.

  “I do!” Sarah piped up. “Tell us.”

  “So, not vanilla?”

  “Oh no. What’s the opposite of vanilla?”

  “Not chocolate, because that’s always the same, too. Who needs the same position every time? Even if it is more creative than missionary. Something like rocky road?” Sarah suggested.

  I was feeling uncomfortable. But at the same time, it was nice to see a smile on Lisa’s face.

  Lisa kicked her feet in the water and smirked some more, obviously lost in happy memories.

  Tessa was back with a big white box that had a deep red bow on it. She presented it to me by setting it on my lap.

  “A present?” I asked, excitedly.

  “It’s your bridal shower and bachelorette party all at once,” Tessa explained with a shrug.

  I lifted the lid and found a treasure trove of utterly gorgeous stuff. Lace, crystal, candles… A beautiful lace tablecloth, a bottle of wine with two crystal glasses, a bottle of fancy olive oil, a spice rack filled with spices, scented candles, and fine embroidered tea towels as well as a set of very nice sheets. There was a red glass vase (for breaking) and the box also had a set of white bath towels with T & T on them in beautiful gold and black embroidery.

  “Oh my goodness!”

  I felt droplets land on my arms, which were bare as I was in a ta tank top and jean shorts. “Better go inside; it’s raining!”

  We all gathered everything up and rushed inside and then down to the family room.

  I resumed perusing my box of goodies, getting a better look in the bright light.

  “Family tradition. I made that tablecloth for you,” Tessa said.

  “You did? It’s beautiful. Wow, Tess…”

  She smiled. “I started it the day we were told about you. Before you took off like a bat out of hell from the bakery parking lot.” She chuckled.

  I chuckled too, and pulled the tablecloth out.

  “Oh wow. It’s fricking beautiful. Look at this!” It was intricate lace and absolutely stunning.

  “When you guys have your first baby, he or she will get to wear the lace Ferrano christening gown, too. Luc has it for Nicky right now.”

  I smiled, but waved. “Oh, sweet. But yeah, that’s gonna be a lonnnng way off.”

  “Oh,” Tess said, “and you have to pick your china pattern. Me and Luc are buying you the set. When you’re ready and you guys get another house.”

  “That’s so nice.”

  “It’ll be good when we add you into the rotation for family dinners. We’ll start rotating Sundays,” Luc said with a smile.

  I had no idea if Tommy and I would go back to Portland any time soon, but I wasn’t about to burst her bubble.

  Bianca came to me, dressed in a robe, her hair in a towel, and she had a black box double the size of a shoe box in her hands. It was artfully wrapped with a gold lace bow.

  “This is from me, Ma, and Aunt Joanne.”

  Sarah relieved me of the big box and I accepted the smaller one.

  It was filled with little white sheer bags of confetti and rice as well as more bags of candied almonds in white netting. There was an F monogrammed silver set of serving spoons and cake server. There was also a stack of index cards with handwritten recipes on it.

  “Family recipes. Guard them with your life.”

  Family. I fanned my face and blew out a few quick breaths. “You guys are gonna make me bawl.”

  At the bottom of the box was another piece of lace, but it was carefully wrapped in tissue paper.

  “Oh my goodness.” I lifted it.

  Bianca’s eyes got sparkling with pride and with tears. “Your veil. Handmade. It’s on loan. It belonged to our grandmother. She was married in it. So was your mother and mine. It was made by our great Nonna Trulio. If I have another child and it’s a girl, she’ll wear it. If Joey’s future wife isn’t a raging bitch, she will, too. If you and Tommy have girls, they should wear it, too.”

  I passed the box to Sarah and threw my arms around Bianca.

  “This is why you talked me out of a veil!” I pointed at Luc and accused. There wasn’t a dry eye in the place. Except Lisa’s. Her face was fixed with a smile.

  The veil was simple and sheer with a thick ribbon of lace around the edges. It was absolutely gorgeous. I had to stop ugly-crying. I was a mess.

  “Tradition with my friends would have us all at a male strip club getting shitfaced and watching men strut in their G-strings,” Sarah piped up, “Like we did when Tessie got married.” She waved her hand in Tess’s direction, making Tess’s lips twitch in amusement, but then quickly her twitch faded.

  James. Poor Tessa.

  “But, a) w
e’ve got a pregnant woman, a nursing woman, and grieving women, and b) the bridegroom would lose his ever-lovin’ mind if we tried to tell him we were showing his fiancée naked men the night before the wedding. We’re lucky we’ve even got wine.”

  At that moment, I saw a man walk by the patio doors. The rain was slowing down, at least. He was one of the three guards that were here. Tommy wanted us to be incognito, but three bodyguards wasn’t exactly low key. Then again, the house was remote, no neighbors at all, so anyone poking around would not be a neighbor; it would be someone with potentially bad intentions.

  “I pumped the last few days. Pain in the ass, but so worth it,” Luciana declared. “Ed can handle fighting to give Nicky a bottle if he wakes up, right? Ed’ll be back in a few hours and hopefully my kids sleep all night because I plan for some drunk sex.”

  Lisa and Tessa were both silent, Tessa sipping her wine.

  Luc sighed. “I love this house. I hope Tommy buys it and we can all make use of it. If he doesn’t, maybe I will. Pop’s money I got in my inheritance could bring us some joy in this family at least.” Her voice went funny.

  Shit. Luc was losing her positivity, too.

  “A small gift from me,” Sarah said as she passed me a small box, changing the direction of the conversation just in time. I opened it and there was a lovely garter belt with a shot of blue ribbon through it.

  “Your something blue. I didn’t make it. I bought it.” She shrugged. “Lift it and see what’s underneath.”

  I did. Underneath was a glow-in-the-dark blue condom.

  I busted up laughing.

  “Something else blue, Chiquita. But warning, I poked a hole in it so if you use it, you will get preggers on your wedding night.”

  “Thank you,” I said and gave her a hug. “It’s beautiful. The garter. And the condom.” I laughed harder.

  “And one more,” Tessa said. “Something else borrowed, but not old. Guess the veil is the old.” She passed me a box with diamond earrings inside.

  I had my old, blue, borrowed, and the dress was new. I was all set to get married.

  “Thank you very much.” I gave her a hug. “Thank you, all of you. For being here. For helping me. You guys are awesome.”