by Bethany-Kris
His hand found her cheek while his thumb stroked back and forth. Vanna sighed into the touch, turning her face against his palm to press a kiss there. She watched him through the thick veil of her lashes, waiting for him to say something first. It was easier when he talked; everything about this life, she found, was easier with him.
“I kind of figured it out before now,” he admitted.
“Are you happy?”
“Vanna, I was always happy. I am still happy.”
She dragged in a quick breath. “Yeah, you were. You’re right.”
Bene grinned. “But now that I know, it’s time to start filling that kid’s closet. All the brands. A whole rack full of shoes. Yes, I have many plans. I also have to call my twin. I promised I would.”
A laugh skipped from her lips.
“Call him, then,” she told him, “and don’t go crazy buying things. Everybody else will, too. We’ll have too much and that’s just a waste.”
“Not in this family.”
She knew better than to argue. The Guzzis were what they were—disgustingly wealthy just happened to be one of those things, and they did not apologize for it.
“But first,” he said, standing up and unbuckling the belt at his waist, “we celebrate, even if that means soaking for an hour in the tub with you.”
“I thought you were calling—”
“I will. After.”
“Oh, so we’re just soaking,” she prodded when he shoved his pants down.
He gave her a wink. “We’ll see.”
Right.
She knew what they were going to do just fine. The anticipation was already curling through her like a tight coil about to break. She couldn’t fucking wait. The desire for sex had come back full force now that she was smack dab in the middle of the second trimester of this pregnancy, and that was just fine with her.
“Oh,” Bene said, making quick work of undoing the buttons on his shirt, “and on Sunday, expect someone to mention we need to figure out something for a wedding, and soon.”
“You think?”
“Oh, yeah. Probably my father.”
“I’ll keep it in mind.”
Bene passed her a look. “Do you still want to?”
“Get married?”
“Yeah, babe.”
Vanna didn’t even have to think about it.
Of course she did.
“Why wouldn’t I want to marry you?”
His dark laughter echoed in the bathroom. It heated her up all over again. So did the last kiss he leaned over the tub to tease her with before deciding to finish undressing. Once he’d finally wrestled out of all of his clothes and fell into the tub with her, the water crashed over the edge of the tub. Bubbles floated with it. Even one or two of her candles that were meant to just float in the water.
She laughed at his mess.
Loved him anyway.
But that laugh of hers was quickly drowned out when he fitted in behind her and pulled her into him. She found a hold on the edge of the tub with each hand. His one hand dove up her back to tangle in her hair while he stroked his cock hard using the crack of her ass to grind against him.
She also loved that he sometimes just wanted to fuck. A lot like her. No muss, no fuss—just sex because shit was so good. He could play later. Make her sing in bed when he ate the taste of himself mixed with her right out of her cunt.
For her, he had no shame. Not in his want, or what made him hot, or how he wanted to mark her in ways that only he would ever know or see.
He treated her like a deity.
He worshipped oh, so well.
How had she gotten so lucky?
25.
Bene
“ARE you nervous?”
From her seat on the passenger side of the Lambo, Vanna flashed Bene with a brilliant smile that had him grinning right back. “No.”
“Not even a little bit?”
She shrugged. “Nope.”
Good.
That’s what he wanted.
“But,” Vanna drawled, pointedly giving the two-seater Lambo a look, “you might be nervous when you realize you’ll soon have to replace this car with something more appropriate.”
“Like what?”
“Something with a back seat, perhaps. Even better if that back seat can fit a baby’s car seat.”
Bene scowled. “How did this conversation get turned around on me?”
Vanna’s laughter followed their car right through the gate leading to his parents’ mansion. Bene really hated to admit it, but she also had a point when it came to the car he loved. Before, he might have said he loved the car more than most anything in the world, but now he knew that wasn’t the case.
As he eased up the winding driveway, he said to her, “I’m not getting rid of the Lambo—it’s my work car.”
“Work. That’s hilarious. You let the engine on this thing roar if you’re just going a block to the damn store, Bene. I’m pretty sure you got two noise violations for that last month, too. It’s more than just work for you when it comes to this car. Come on.”
He grinned.
She wasn’t wrong.
“Still,” he said when she gave him a look from the side, “it’s got just enough work done in it to get me from one side of this city to the other in half the time. You know, as long as there’s no fucking traffic in the way.”
“And there always is.”
Bene sighed. “Yeah, basically.”
Soon, they had parked in the large circular drive heading his parents’ mansion. The car stopped purring when he put it in park and cut the engine. He made a big show out of giving the interior a longing look before his gaze settled on a smirking Vanna in the passenger seat.
“You really think I’m getting rid of this car, huh?” he asked.
“Not really.”
“Good because I’m not.”
“I knew it,” she scoffed.
“But there is a new four-door Mercedes SUV on the lot right now with your name on it. We just need to go over there and sign for it. I was thinking ... after dinner with my parents?”
“It’s Sunday—”
“They’ll open the lot to sell that car, Van.”
She pressed her lips together, trying to hold back her smile. And failing beautifully, too. Before she could say another thing, he leaned over and caught those sweet lips of hers with his own in a long, slow kiss. It was just what he needed before they would head inside and spread the news about their baby boy.
She didn’t have to be nervous. He’d be edgy enough for both of them.
• • •
“Look at you—your bump is so tiny ... cute,” Cara praised.
“Not jealous at all,” Valeria added in the chair next to his mother.
Vanna laughed, giving Valeria a look even as she took Cara’s hug. “Don’t worry, I’ll be as pregnant as you soon enough.”
“Yes,” Val agreed, “but I only have a few weeks left, and you—”
“I only get bigger from here, don’t I?”
“Basically.”
“But it’s worth it,” Cara added quickly, winking.
Bene knew better than to laugh, but the exchange was a little comical. Instead, he rubbed the back of his hand against his mouth to keep the laugh at bay and any proof of his amusement thoroughly hidden. With more than one woman in their family pregnant at the same time, not to mention emotional ... well, better to leave that right alone.
Yeah.
Nobody ever said he was dumb.
“So, who all knows what this baby is?” Cara asked, giving Bene a look by peering around a still-standing Vanna.
“No one, Ma.”
“Lies.”
Vanna snorted under her breath. “No getting shit past her, huh?”
Cara smiled. “No, there is not.”
“Marcus and Beni,” Bene admitted. “That’s it.”
“Two entire people that aren’t me? Two, Bene?”
“Awe, Ma—”
“Two! Gian ... Gian!” she shouted for his father who quickly came into the dining room for the adjoining kitchen with a raised brow and dark eyes narrowed because his wife was yelling. That never spelled good things for the person making her yell. “Did you hear what your son just said to me?”
Gian’s stare turned on Bene instantly. “No, I did not.”
“Listen, Marcus kind of had to know, he went with Vanna to her appointment. No one else was in the city. I literally called everyone,” Bene rushed to explain. “And I had to tell Beni, the asshole made me promise and everything, Ma.”
“I did,” Beni called from somewhere in the kitchen. “I’m his twin, technically it’s like the kid is half—”
“No, it is not,” Bene called back. “He is entirely mine, thank you. You want a fucking kid, then go have your own.”
Silence coated the dining room. It took Bene entirely too long to realize what he had done in those few seconds prior. The way his mother’s smile turned soft, and his father’s stance eased up from the other side of the room made him drag in a heavy breath. However, it was Vanna’s amused grin that she shot over her shoulder that really did it for him.
He said he.
“It’s a boy?” his mom asked.
Bene shrugged. “Yeah, Ma. The baby’s a boy.”
“You have zero tact,” Vanna told him.
Yeah, well ...
“Surprise,” he said, even throwing his hands out for good measure.
The laughter that came from every room had Bene sighing again and shaking his head. But hey, so was his life ... and damn, he loved this life.
“Now,” his mother said, “when are we ...” She pointed between the two of them, adding, “And by we, I mean you and her, getting married?”
“Yes,” his father murmured from the kitchen entryway, “I have also been waiting for that announcement. You know what we agreed, Bene.”
Right.
It had to be before the baby was born.
At the moment, Bene was less worried about that and more concerned with handling the pretty red that covered Vanna’s cheeks. No one else but him seemed to notice, and he was quick to cross the few steps keeping them separated so that he could get her in his arms.
Or rather, he wrapped one arm around her waist while his free hand dug into the inner pocket of his suit blazer to find a little box he’d been keeping hidden all week. The ring finally came in—he was never going to not ask, and he wasn’t going to just give her any ring from a jewelry store; it had to be perfect. As perfect as she was for him. He wouldn’t just marry Vanna because he was told to, and she deserved a proposal, and her own big day and whatever else she wanted, too. He planned on making sure she got all of those things and far more.
Starting now.
Pulling the white velvet box, he forgot about the other people in the room. Between them, he popped open the top to showcase the large oval diamond sitting on a band of white gold that reflected every light on each cut of the gem.
“The answer to when I plan on marrying her,” Bene said, giving Vanna a little smile, “is whenever she tells me yes.”
Vanna’s hand on his arm tightened as she whispered, “Yes.”
26.
Vanna
Five months later ...
“KNOCK, knock,” came a smooth voice.
Glancing up from her swaddled newborn, Vanna found Marcus standing in the entry of her private hospital room. Though she was tired and sore and amazed at everything that had happened over the last forty-eight hours since her arrival at this hospital, she still managed to give her new brother-in-law a smile.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey, Marcus.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to miss it. I just landed an hour ago and came right—”
“It’s okay; you mostly missed Bene freaking out when they took me in for a c-section, and then the L & D ward threatening to call security if the family didn’t quiet down after he was born and Bene went out to announce it.”
Marcus laughed under his breath, still staying right where he was and not coming an inch further. “Still, I didn’t mean to be out of town when everything went down.”
“Life never goes as planned.”
She’d learned that well enough.
“Could I ...?”
Marcus’s question trailed off, but the way his gaze dropped to the baby she was currently rocking in the corner chair told her everything he hadn’t finished asking.
“Of course, he just ate, and now he’s sleeping. Bene ran down the block to get me a burger and fries. Hospital food sucks.”
Truly.
“I don’t want to wake him up, or anything,” Marcus said.
“You won’t. Come here.”
She would have gotten up and taken the baby to him, but right now, moving wasn’t such a great thing. It wasn’t so bad to rock the baby but to get up and walk? Ha. No. Absolutely not. It felt like her midsection was ripping apart at the new seam it now sported.
Marcus took his steps slowly and careful, not making a single sound as he came to stand in front of Vanna. “I guess nothing went as planned while you were here, huh?”
She sighed. “Not really, but it’s okay.”
Really, it was.
All she had to do was look at her baby boy, and she knew that above all else. Everything that happened didn’t matter when she stared into his little face. He looked so much like his father, but also took a little bit of her, too. He had her hair, though, but dark, hazy eyes that everyone had assured would clear up soon enough and let her see their beautiful color. He didn’t cry as long as someone was holding him, and if it was Bene who rocked him, the boy would fall asleep in three minutes flat. It was cute because the baby would keep his eyes peeled all the way open to stare up at his father until all at once, he’d close them and fall asleep.
She wanted an unmedicated, natural labor, preferably in one of those birthing tubs with her new husband close by, dimmed lighting, and a playlist of her choosing echoing in a very quiet room. God, they had planned the best they could for that even taking birthing class after class just so that she could do what she wanted when it all finally started.
Instead, the baby wouldn’t budge.
Neither did her cervix.
Then, when little man’s heart rate dropped dangerously, the doctor made the call. She remembered very little about being prepped and taken in for the surgery. She did, however, vividly recall the first cry of her newborn when they pulled him from her body.
And how Bene cried.
Yeah, that was kind of perfect. Did the rest have to matter? Not when she had a healthy baby.
“God, he’s perfect, huh?” Marcus murmured.
Reaching down, he pulled the swaddle away from the baby’s chin to get a better look at his face. Marcus chuckled under his breath, and traced a single finger over the baby’s features.
“Looks like every other Guzzi boy,” he noted.
“That’s what literally everyone has told me.”
“I bet that was nostalgic for Ma.”
Vanna nodded. “Yeah, she didn’t want to let him go.”
“Did you pick a name?”
“We did. Marcus Gian Guzzi.”
Her baby wasn’t the first of his name, but she bet he would do the most amazing things with it. And wasn’t that what counted?
“Decided on the same, then?”
She smiled. “It seemed to fit.”
“Hey, man. Glad to see you finally made it back.”
Vanna handed over her baby to Marcus while Bene quietly closed the door behind him. He patted his brother’s shoulder on the way by, and gave his son a quick kiss on the top of his head before bringing the bag of greasy takeout straight to his wife. Once she had the bag in her hands, she tipped her head up for a kiss. Bene gave her exactly what she wanted, but then pressed another softer kiss to her forehead.
“You good?” he asked, murmuring the question.
“Yeah, so good.”
“Did you ask him yet?”
“Ask me what?” Marcus asked.
The two of them leaned sideways to get a good view at Marcus holding his nephew. Rarely did anyone see the man being soft and kind, but whenever he had a baby in his arms, he turned into a giant teddy bear. Even now, it was like no one existed but Marcus and the baby he held.
It was sweet, really.
“We were thinking,” Bene started, grinning, “that maybe you would like to be our son’s godfather. I mean, you’re the first of your gen, and he’s the first of his. He might need somebody who understands what that means, Marcus.”
Finally, the man looked away from the baby. “I thought—well, what about Beni?”
“I talked to Beni,” Bene replied. “He gets it.”
Marcus stared down at the baby. “Can’t really say no to that, could I?”
Bene chuckled. “Not really, no.”
“I wouldn’t, anyway.”
Yeah.
They had known that, too. It was just how this family worked.
No matter what, they were still family.
BENI & AUGUST: PART 4
27.
August
BY far, one of the best things about August Guzzi’s job for Manic Media was that they gave her free reign to do what she thought was best. When it came to her spreads in the magazine, and the articles that she poured hours of her life and love into, those reading it could trust it was one hundred percent her in those pages. There was nobody looking over her shoulder judging possible projects because her boss trusted her to know—better than anyone else—what her audience wanted to see.
At twenty-seven, August had finally reached a level of success where, when she handed over a completed project with her team, there were no questions from higher ups, no changes to make her articles easier to digest to certain groups of people, and that was that. It hadn’t always been easy, and there were the occasional bumps in the road when she took the job at Manic Media, but all in all ... she regretted nothing. She wouldn’t change anything.
