“Um…what’s going on?” he asked before trying to smooth his hair and shirt.
Noticing the lipstick marks on his cheek, I gestured a wiping motion along my cheek. Seeing my movements, Luke tried unsuccessfully to remove the lipstick from his face. Alex peeked her head out the door and saw us.
“Hey guys, there’s my doodle bug.” A disheveled Alex stepped through the door, sticking her arms out, trying to take Layla from me.
“You may want to fix your clothes,” I said in a loud whisper. She looked down to see she’d missed several buttons on her shirt and let out a huff.
“We didn’t do anything, really.”
“Well then, you both may want to wash your faces. Somehow Luke, you have lipstick up by your eye. It’s time for lunch. Come down when you’re fixed.”
Nicholas and I both laughed as we descended the stairs. He held me, steadying me to make sure I made it down all of them all right. We walked into the dining room, he sat me down on the chair while he went to get Layla’s high chair. We were all situated, I sat by as Nicholas fixed me a plate of food. When Luke and Alex came into the room, I laughed, and then she repaid me for it.
“Before I forget, Luke and I are going to join you on your date tonight.” She laughed.
***
Nicholas
Hearing Luke say Michelino’s name in connection with the money that was paid to the man suspected of attempting to kidnap Christianna made me furious. I tried not to lose my shit right then and there, but it was difficult.
I went into my office and started going over the information they had. There it was as clear as day. The Michelino family was principle shareholders in that company. I was going to finish them, I knew Dad let Anderson skirt around many times but this time he’d gone too far.
Picking up the phone, I quickly dialed my father. I told him what was going on and that I needed to see him sometime today. He said he’d be over this afternoon, when I hoped that Layla would be down for her afternoon nap and Christianna was upstairs writing.
I didn’t want her to find out that it was possible that someone who was supposed to join the family was behind the threat against her. After hanging up with him, Bobby and I started discussing tonight and my date. They assured me there would be plenty of security and that there would be no worries.
More than anything I wanted to do this for Christianna, I wanted to show her the other side of a relationship with me. The other side that didn’t include sex and babies, the one where I could romance her and earn her heart, although I think I was there already.
I was a part of her heart. God, I never thought I would ever be that for anyone, or that I would want the same thing in return. I was just about to tell the guys how we were going to play this when Dad arrived. Then I heard the loud voice of my little girl.
Not caring about Bobby or Luke, I walked out of my office and down the little hall where I saw Alex standing there holding Layla. She lunged herself forward, trying to get to me. I had her in my arms before she could blink.
“Did she sleep well?”
“I think so. I changed her then she finished half a bottle. I think she’s ready to party.”
Looking at Layla’s face, I smiled at her. “You want to play, sweet girl?” I asked. She made a little giggly noise before letting out a laugh.
I went to the back of the house to get Layla’s walker. I put her in it and she took off, following me around the room. Her laughter made everything right in the world. I didn’t know how long I was down here with her, because other things ceased to exist when it came to time spent with her. I barely remembered that Luke said he would be right back and that he had to make a call or something. I looked up to see Laura standing in the doorway watching us.
“Lunch is almost ready, Nico. You want to get the others?” she asked and I nodded.
“Are you ready to eat lunch, sweet girl?” I asked Layla and she got excited. I didn’t think she really understood what I was saying. I think she reacted mostly to the pitch of my voice above everything else.
I stood quietly outside of Christianna’s office holding Layla, who was snuggled into my chest finishing off the rest of her bottle. I watched as she was focused solely on what she was writing. She was so into what she was doing that I didn’t want to disturb her. Layla was starting to squirm; I didn’t want Christianna to find out that Layla and I were staring at her.
“See? There’s your Mommy, sweet girl. I told you we’d find her.”
“Were you two looking for me?” she said, her face lit up .I’d never seen anyone genuinely excited to see me before.
I wasn’t sure if it was me or Layla, but I’d like to think that it was the combination of the two of us that made her happy. We chatted for a few minutes, I made her laugh. We shared a kiss before our daughter decided that Mommy and Daddy’s affection wasn’t going to happen in the princess’ presence. We were headed downstairs to eat lunch when we heard the giggling and moaning sounds. Usually this wouldn’t bother me. It was the fact that my little girl was in this house, on this floor, and I knew that on the other side of my best friend’s door was my woman’s sister.
Busting in on their little tryst, I didn’t think they had gotten very far, seeing how quickly the door was answered. That didn’t change the fact that something was going on. I was happy for Luke, it had been a while since he’d had a woman he was interested in. I’m sure the interest was more than fleeting seeing as how he knew the relationship with Christianna and I would prove to be one that will last a lifetime, even if things didn’t work out between her and I, we still had our daughter.
He surely wouldn’t start a relationship knowing this woman he had a “fun time” with would always be around. So him deciding he wanted to pursue this with Alex must mean he wanted more than just a quick fuck.
I laughed at them, letting them know we were going downstairs for lunch, inviting them to come along. Christianna told them they needed to clean themselves up. Luke did, after all, have lipstick up the left side of his face. I took my girls downstairs and got them ready to eat.
Fixing Christianna’s plate made me feel good. I wanted to spoil her. I couldn’t wait until tonight when we got to go out. I was going to show her off to every man and have them wishing they could be as fortunate as I am.
When Alex walked into the dining room, she informed us they would be joining us on our date tonight. As much as I didn’t like the thought of it, there was safety in numbers.
We all sat around eating our lunch while making polite conversation. I spent most of my time watching Christianna feed Layla, as Layla watched me eat. The one thing I did learn was that Layla didn’t like it when I tried to give her some of my food. She would pout and turn her face. When I’d eat what I had tried to give her, she’d laugh and slap the high chair’s table.
My sweet girl ended up falling asleep right there with her head in the most uncomfortable looking position. I helped Christianna take Layla out of her high chair. She told me she was going to put her down for a nap and that she would probably join her since Alex said she was leaving to get herself together for the night.
I was expecting my father in about fifteen minutes. I wanted to do a double check on my girls before he came. I didn’t want her to overhear anything we would be discussing and needed to make sure she was otherwise occupied. I didn’t see her in her office when I passed. I went to look in their room. Neither of them were there. Taking a chance, I opened up my door and saw them safely tucked into my bed.
Unable to resist the sight before me, I slid my phone from my pocket, clicked the camera button, and took a picture of them, setting the picture as my phone’s wallpaper.
I was officially a goner. The both of them owned me and I didn’t give a shit who knew it.
Leaving my room, I ran into Laura.
“Nico, I’m sorry they’re in your room. I changed the linens in there and in the crib and suggested she lay the baby in there so I could finish. I guess she dozed off. I
didn’t have the heart to wake her and move them.”
“It’s fine. She’s more than welcome to my bed.”
“I know.” She smiled, rubbing her hand on my shoulder. “Before I forget, your father is downstairs with Luke and Bobby.”
“Thank you,” I said, kissing her cheek and making my way downstairs.
When I entered my office, to say that I was shocked would be an understatement. The look on my dad’s face was one of fury.
“Dad?” I said and he looked up at me.
“Nico, I’m so sorry, son. I never thought Anderson would stoop so low as to do something like this.”
“We haven’t figured it out that he was behind it for sure—”
“Before you finish, I should let you know that I did some digging myself and it’s not good. It may look like he’s a shareholder on the outside, but he actually owns the company. It’s a shell company. He uses it to launder dirty money that comes from his cartel dealings.”
“That motherfucker.”
“I spoke to the other families personally, seeing as how this is a direct attack made against us in regards to your heir. They have our backs and are ready to move as soon as we give the word.”
“Death?” I asked.
“Son,” Dad said, placing his hand on my shoulder. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. My first grandchild, your first child, and the woman you love were all targets. Someone went to a lot of trouble to find out about the both of them. In the meantime, you need to make sure that they’re safe and protected until the threat is eradicated.”
“With my life, no harm will come to them.” It was Bobby who spoke this time, he looked filled with anger.
“Same here, Nico, I’m kinda glad that Anderson is going to get his due and you didn’t get caught up with Anise. I knew there was something off with him pushing her on you. If Christianna hadn’t popped up, there’s no telling what would have happened.”
“He could have put a hit out on you,” Bobby said.
All of our eyes snapped to him and then I looked at my Dad. “He could have. He could have had us merge families and then kill me off.”
“I would say that he wouldn’t dare, but then again, he did this. I’m going to have Antony call a meeting. We’re going to finish this.”
I knew that Dad calling in Antony Balducci meant that big shit was going to happen. Antony was the head of the Balducci family. They were based in New Jersey but controlled the whole area. Dad started telling the story of how the three of them him, Antony and Christianna’s dad, grew up together; that when he found out this turn of events Balducci would probably handle Anderson himself.
I didn’t want that, I wanted to be the one to end his life. I wanted to be the last person he saw. I wanted his last memory to be of me standing before him as he took his last breath.
When all the heavy stuff was discussed, he sat down and told me he was going over to Christianna’s parents’ house to see their collective granddaughter. He also told me to prepare for the fact that she may or may not be spoiled while she’s there. I had no doubt that they would spoil her, I knew I had every intention of doing the same. I was happy my dad was going to be there, not that I doubted my security or the security that Jonathan had. I just wanted to make sure nothing or no one could get close to her.
It was a little after four when our meeting was over. Dad and I were walking down the hall when Christianna came down the stairs holding a dressed Layla, and a diaper bag, along with several other goodies. Dad got to spend a little one on one time with her. Layla kept glancing from him to me. I guess it’s because we looked alike. She was trying to figure out what was going on. Dad left a few minutes before Christianna’s parents showed, although Christianna’s been through this before I wasn’t ready to let her go. I wasn’t ready for her to spend the night away from us.
Layla cried for me until she got in the car; a little bit of my heart was pulling down my driveway. I couldn’t step back in the house until the car was out of sight, I knew I would miss her too much.
Chapter Twelve
Christianna
Watching as Nicholas stood in the doorway as my parents left damn near killed me. He pulled out his phone and made sure that Bobby was following them home. Good thing they were having a quiet night in with his parents or I would be afraid that Nicholas would stealthily seek them out and spy on them like a private investigator.
I had to hug him when he finally stepped back into the house, he had tears in his eyes. His expression looked like he wanted to go and get her back.
“It will be okay, we can go to their house and get her. We don’t have to go out.”
“No, sweetheart, I’m going to take you out. I’m going to have to get over this somehow. I just didn’t realize how hard this was going to be for me. I really miss her.”
“How about this; if at the end of the night you want to go to her, we can spend the night at my parents’. Is that okay?”
“All right,” he said, leaning in to kiss me. A simple peck led to a longer linger, then came the much needed addition of the tongue.
My body molded against his. I didn’t think I could get any closer to him until he pulled me up. My legs wrapping snugly around his waist, I started to float backwards. His mouth never left mine, although I didn’t make it easy for him. I ground down on him deliberately as he carried me up the stairs, I may have let out a moan or two by the time we hit the first landing.
Nicholas had a momentary lapse in judgment as he tried to lay down with me on the stairs, pushing up my shirt and tugging my pants down as my ass rested on one of the steps.
“Nicholas.”
“Hmmm.” His mouth went to my neck and began sucking.
“Nicholas!” I said, trying to push him back a little to get him to pay attention.
“What, baby? What?” he said.
“I think she wanted to tell you that you’re a floor away from your bedroom, so stop trying to do naughty things to her on the stairs.” It was Luke, standing behind us chuckling.
Nicholas’ head shot up. He looked down at me and where we were. I covered my face with my hands. I couldn’t believe what had happened.
“Oh sweetheart, I’m sorry.”
I just shook my head as Nicholas removed his weight from me. I stood up and quickly excused myself without any more embarrassment.
Going through my garment bags that Alex left for me, I noticed that she packed some of my favorite dresses, including one that I loved—a little black dress that hugged every single curve and accentuated all the good parts.
I would knock Nicholas dead tonight.
Looking through the bag with my shoes, I chose the five inch Mary Janes that fit so well I was amazed at how comfortable they actually were. Most women I knew bought shoes because they were fancy or expensive. I bought shoes that I liked, but wouldn’t kill my feet.
After my clothing decisions, I went about my routine in getting ready. Taking a shower, making sure I was scrubbed, shaved and softened. Slathering myself up with a very generous amount of lotion. I looked at myself in the mirror, trying to get an idea of how I should wear my hair.
Shaking my head, I decided to dry it and then figure out something to do after that. Once it was dried, I decided to do wavy curls in my hair. I found the right curling iron and set out to do just that. It always took me longer than normal to do my hair because I had so much of it. I’d even had people ask me if it was fake. I know, the nerve. I stood there in the bathroom in my robe with half my head curled when my sister walked in.
She was dressed in a skintight mini dress that barely covered her ass, but this was her. When she had a man or was interested in one, she pulled out all the stops. I guess Luke was about to get sucked in. He seemed like a very nice guy, so I hope it worked out or this was going to be super awkward. I didn’t see him leaving Nicholas’ side.
Neither did I.
Alex took over curling my hair. She was much faster at it than I was. I let her do he
r own thing—she was treating me like her own personal Barbie. I sat back as she finished my hair, then she started on my makeup. When she was done, I looked at myself in the mirror.
I hardly recognized myself. I looked like I had just stepped out of the pages of a magazine. I looked like a supermodel.
“You’re welcome,” she whispered in my ear before kissing my cheek.
“Thank you. I don’t have any words other than thank you.”
“Good. We have about twenty minutes before we’re supposed to leave. Go get dressed. I’ll be downstairs keeping Nico from coming up here.”
Twenty minutes. I rushed through brushing my teeth and spritzing on perfume; I was choking on its potency. Knowing that I couldn’t wear a bra with the dress, I slipped into a pair of lacy black panties and poured myself into the dress. The dress lay right above my knees and made me look like a million dollars. I was checking myself out in the mirror when I realized that I had a very noticeable panty line.
Just my luck, the minutes were counting down and I didn’t have anything else ready.
“Fuck it,” I said to the empty room.
Sliding my dress up enough to grab the lacy bits, I tugged them down and kicked them off. I would have no use for them tonight; it would be uncomfortable to say the least. I wonder if Nicholas would notice my lack of undergarments. I grabbed my shoes and tightened them up, I took one last look in the mirror truly satisfied by the way I looked.
Grabbing the little clutch from the nightstand that I had put together earlier, I was ready to go downstairs.
I was down to the second landing when I heard the voices.
“Maybe I should go up there and check on her.” That was Nicholas, he seemed nervous.
“Trust me when I say she’s fine. I’m sure she’ll be down…oh there she is.”
Can't Walk Away (The Thomas Family Chronicles #1) Page 14
