He kissed the palm of my hand and nodded. “You’re right. It will,” he murmured. “But for now, don’t worry your pretty head about it. You said we shouldn’t be thinking about mafia shit tonight, so we should let that shit go for now and deal with it when the time comes.”
“You’re right.” I kissed his lips and settled against him. “I love you.”
“I love you too, gorgeous. More than you know.”
It was quiet. Too quiet.
It’d been a week with no activity from the Russians, which made me a bit wary. After sending Alec the picture of Mikhail’s body before dumping it in the ocean, we were prepared for some kind of attack on the home front in retaliation. But there was nothing. No phone call, no email, and no text. Just radio silence, which did nothing but heighten the anxiety and uncertainty around the house.
Bennett and the guys had been locked down in the bunker with KC, trying to intercept information to see if Alec was planning something, but they couldn’t find anything useful. Bennett wanted to continue operations as usual to send the message that we weren’t being cowards and hiding inside our iron fortress, but as the days trekked on, I couldn’t ignore the growing fear inside of me. Something didn’t feel right, this dark cloud hanging over us the longer we remained empty handed.
I put my thumb against the security pad leading to the basement, opening the door when the light turned green. I could hear Bennett’s angry voice filtering out of the conference room as I made my way down the stairs. I was supposed to go try on and pick up the dress I’d ordered from the bridal shop, but Bennett had made strict rules about me not leaving the house. A part of me wondered if this wedding was a good idea right now, danger waiting for us the moment we left the safety of our property.
Taking a deep breath, I knocked on the door. The conversation on the other side ceased, the door flying open to reveal my raging husband. His eyes softened when he looked at me.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I should be asking you that,” I said, pushing past him to enter the room. The other men around the table looked just as frustrated as Bennett did, none of them saying anything to me. “Did something happen?”
Bennett ran a hand through his hair. “No. It’s just difficult trying to see what the fuck is going on with them. I know they aren’t sitting around doing nothing now that Mikhail is dead,” he growled. He took a moment to compose himself before focusing his gaze on me. “Did you need something?”
“I wanted to tell you that I’m due at the bridal shop in an hour to pick up my dress…unless we need to postpone the ceremony,” I said, my tone flat.
The tension that tightened his posture relaxed a little as he closed the space between us and wrapped an arm around my waist. “No,” he said with a sigh. “We can pick up the dress. I’ll just grab extra security for the visit and we’ll go in armored cars.”
I nodded, kissing his lips. “Good. Carrie’s going to stay here with Liam, but Savannah’s coming so that she can try on her dress as well.”
“If Savannah’s going, then I’m definitely coming,” Bruce said, standing to his feet.
“You were coming anyway,” Bennett said and turned to Saint. “I need you to grab Josh, Mason, Yusef, and Carter and tell them to come with us. I’m not taking any chances.”
“You got it,” Saint said as he stood to his feet.
Bennett turned to me and cupped my cheek. “You okay?”
“I’m fine. Why?”
“You look anxious, afraid,” he said, his eyes dancing over my face. I shrugged.
“This whole situation is a bit unnerving. It’s like we’re just sitting ducks as we wait for the other shoe to drop,” I admitted.
He kissed me softly, his thumb caressing my cheek. “You’re going to drive yourself crazy thinking that way,” he said, a slight smirk on his lips. “All you can do is make sure you’re always ready for whatever happens whenever it happens. So until the other shoe drops, we’ll be ready for them no matter the situation.” He took my hand into his and kissed the back of it. “I got you.”
“I know, babe,” I said. “Well, I’m going to go kiss Liam and I’ll meet you in the garage?”
“I’ll see you in the garage in a couple minutes then,” he agreed with a nod. I left him in the room and headed back to the ground floor, Liam and Carrie in the kitchen. She put a bottle in the bottle warmer as Liam babbled in her arms, kicking his legs. I grinned as I moved over to them, gently pinching Liam’s chubby thigh.
“There’s my sweet boy,” I cooed, taking him out of Carrie’s arms. He giggled as I covered his rosy cheeks with kisses, hugging him. “Be a good boy for Aunt Carrie until I come back.”
“He’s always good for me. Sometimes I wonder how Bennett managed to have an angel child when that man is evil incarnate himself,” Carrie teased.
I giggled. “I wonder the same thing. Sometimes I think he’s too pure for this life,” I said with a slight sigh, sadness creeping into my spirit. Now that I had my own family, I could now understand why my father made the decisions he did. Sometimes, I wondered if Liam would’ve been better elsewhere. But anytime the thought crossed my mind, the mother in me quickly extinguished it. No one could protect my baby better than Bennett and I could. Even though things were cracking around us, the pure light in my son’s eyes reminded me of what I was fighting to protect and hold close.
“I wish I could come see the dress with you,” Carrie pouted.
“I’ll try it on when I get back home,” I reassured her as I kissed the top of Liam’s head before handing him back to her. “I’m just trying it on to make sure the alterations are good and as long as everything checks out, I’ll be bringing it home. I’ll be grabbing yours, too.”
“Good. Well, you better get going or you’ll be late,” she said, just as Bennett emerged from the basement.
He walked over to us, kissing Liam on the head before smoothing his hand over his soft, dark hair. “Ready to go?” he asked me.
“Yeah,” I said and stroked Liam’s cheek. “Mommy loves you! Be a good boy!”
He babbled in return, no longer paying attention to Bennett and I as Carrie took the bottle off the warmer and put the nipple in his mouth. An odd sense of dread settled in the pit of my stomach that I couldn’t shake. Get a grip on yourself, Aurora, I told myself as I took a deep breath, following Bennett into the garage.
Bruce and Savannah were already waiting, talking amongst themselves until they noticed our presence. Josh and his group of men were getting into another truck, Saint and Nyxin getting into the front seat of another.
“I’ll ride with the guys and Savannah. We’ll be in front of you and Josh will tail behind you,” Bruce said.
“Sounds good. Let’s make this trip as fast as possible. I won’t be able to relax until we’re no longer out in the open, especially when I have no idea what those fucks have up their sleeve,” Bennett mumbled as he put his hand on the small of my back to guide me to the car.
I slid into the backseat, Bennett settling in next to me. Joseph looked at me in the rearview mirror and gave me nod to acknowledge my presence. I gave him a small smile, trying my best to relax as my anxiety slowly climbed. Bennett rattled off the address to Joseph before turning his attention to me, a frown settled on his lips.
“You sure you’re okay?” he asked.
I nodded. “I’m good, babe. Just a little nervous, but it’s fine,” I said.
He stared at me for a moment, his frown not budging. “We don’t have to do this if you don’t feel comfortable,” he said. “It’s just…been a long time since I’ve seen this kind of fear in your eyes.”
“There’s plenty of men that’ll be there to protect me. I’m sure everything will be fine; my mind is just overthinking things as usual,” I said with a light sigh.
He cupped my cheek and pulled me in for a kiss. I accepted his tongue when it brushed against my lips, allowing myself to melt into his passion and silent promises of protection.
And even though there would be a wall of men to look out for me, that gut feeling wouldn’t go away. It was the same feeling I’d had the night before Bennett came and wreaked havoc on my life. It was the same feeling I had the entire day before coming home to see the very man my father warned me about all those years. There wasn’t a time that my gut was wrong, and that very thought made it hard for me to relax. But as my husband pulled away from me and looked into my eyes, I knew I had to trust him to be able to get us back to our son safely.
“I love you,” he said, his thumb stroking my cheek. “Everything will be fine.”
“I know,” I replied with a small smile. “I love you, too.”
The rest of the ride was silent, both of us caught up in our own thoughts. Bennett threaded his fingers with mine, his thumb idly caressing the back of my hand as he checked things on his phone.
My phone vibrated on my lap, a picture message notification from Carrie. I opened the message thread and smiled, a picture of my smiling son filling my screen. I nudged Bennett in the side and turned my screen toward him. He glanced up from his phone, his brows pinched in annoyance. His expression softened at the sight of our son, his lips tipping up into a small grin.
“Cute,” he said.
I nodded as I looked at the picture, leaning against him. “We made a good-looking kid, you know,” I said, looking up at him with a cheeky grin.
He put his phone in the pocket of the door before putting an arm around me, nodding. “I can definitely agree with you on that. After all this baby talk lately, I actually can’t wait until we have another one.”
“Really?” I asked with a raised brow.
“Yeah, why not? I mean right this second wouldn’t be super ideal with everything going on, but I wouldn’t be upset about it,” he said with a shrugged.
I nodded, resting my head against his chest. “I feel the same way,” I said, closing the picture of Liam on my phone. “Would you want another boy or a girl?”
“Definitely a girl. Liam is such a mama’s boy, so I’d like to have a daddy’s girl.”
“Technically—”
“I know, shut up,” he interrupted with a chuckle, already knowing what I was going to say. I smirked knowingly. “My absence hasn’t really helped that aspect, but I am trying to do better.”
“And you’ve been keeping your promise with that despite the circumstances.” I gazed out the window to the passing scenery. “Can I ask you something just out of curiosity?”
“What’s up?”
“Would you ever leave the mafia life behind if it meant keeping Liam and I safe for good?”
He was quiet for so long that I didn’t think he’d answer, finally sighing before he spoke. “The mafia isn’t something that you can easily check out of. Just because you decide to be out, it doesn’t mean that your enemies automatically drop whatever issues they have with you,” he started. “It crossed my mind when I was with Stephanie, especially when she told me she was pregnant. It ended up costing her life.”
“Your father is what cost her her life,” I murmured, sitting up to look at him.
He nodded slowly. “And he took her life because he thought I was using her as a way out. They say the only way out of the mafia is in a pine box. Even if I gave everything up today, my past will always follow me, follow us. So, it wouldn’t do us much good to leave. We’re no safer out of the mafia than we are in. At least we have other men to protect us if needed than we would if it was just the three of us as a family.”
I guess he was right. It wasn’t like we could call up Alec and tell him that we were disbanding the organization and was no longer a threat to him. It wasn’t like we could bring back Mikhail or the previous two bosses that Bennett killed during their meeting nearly two years ago. The bloody history left in our wake would follow us forever, regardless if we decided to go down the straight and narrow path. As much as I hated it, the mafia was our life until the death of us, the legacy going down to Liam and future children by default.
“Why’d you ask?” Bennett asked, breaking me out of my musings.
I shrugged. “Just curious,” I said. “I mean I figured that it wouldn’t be so simple to leave the mafia life behind. I guess I just didn’t take into account how the ripples of past actions could make the future so complicated.”
“Well, regardless of what happens, our men are on it. Hilcrest and his men have also been briefed and are ready as soon as we give the word. We’ll be ready for Alec whenever he’s dumb enough to strike,” Bennett said, just as we reached the city limits.
I focused my gaze out of the window, hoping he was right. “Yeah,” I said idly. He kissed my forehead and grabbed his phone again. I twirled a lock of my hair around my finger as I listened to Bennett giving instructions to Bruce on the phone as we pulled up to the bridal boutique in downtown Los Angeles. When he got off the phone, he looked over at me.
“Ready?” he asked.
I nodded. “I’ll try to be as quick as possible. I just have to try it on and make sure it fits right,” I said.
“Need me to come in?”
“You can’t see me in the dress. It’s bad luck,” I said with a smirk.
He smiled. “I mean we’re already married, so does that really matter?”
“We’re doing this the ‘right’ way, remember?”
“Okay, okay,” he said with a chuckle, leaning over to kiss me. “We’ll be standing outside the store, okay?”
“And no peeking,” I said, pointing a finger at him.
“And no peeking,” he repeated with a grin before opening the car door.
He slid out of the car and stepped onto the sidewalk, offering me his hand. His head was on a swivel as I got out. Savannah gave Bruce a quick kiss before skipping over to Bennett and I with a huge grin on her face.
“Sorry to steal her away, Mr. Moreno, but we have dresses to try on,” she said as she looped her arm through mine.
Bennett grabbed me by the throat to stop me, pressing a firm kiss to my lips. “I love you,” he murmured. “I’ll be right out here waiting for you.”
I blushed and smiled. “I love you too, babe. I’ll be quick,” I called over my shoulder as Savannah pulled me away.
The inside of the boutique was rather quiet, only two or three bride-to-bes milling about as they looked through the dresses on the racks. I glanced over my shoulder to see Bennett and the guys practically forming a barricade in front of the door, no one able to get in without having to go through them. Bennett glanced into the store, giving me a subtle nod before he said something to Saint. My shoulders dropped a tiny bit, feeling a little less anxious. My eyes traveled around the open space, making sure to clock the exits in case I needed to find a way out. I zeroed in on the red exit sign at the very back of the store, making a mental note as I walked over to the lady standing behind the register.
“Hi, appointment for Moreno,” I stated.
The woman gave me a soft smile and nodded. “You’re right on time. I literally just pulled your dresses to prepare for your appointment. Follow me,” she said.
Savannah and I followed her toward the back of the showroom, the back wall covered in mirrors with circular platforms in front of them to stand on. There was already another woman trying on dresses, frowning at herself in the mirror as she turned in different angles to examine the dress before shaking her head, murmuring to the associate helping her. Another employee already stood waiting in front of another platform, my dress draped over her arm. She smiled brightly at me as she approached.
“I bet you’re excited about trying this baby on,” she said, holding out her free hand. “I’m Erica. I’ll be helping you today.”
I returned her smile and shook her hand. “Aurora. And yes, I’m definitely ready to see how this will look now that it’s the perfect fit,” I said.
“Perfect! If you’ll just follow me to the dressing rooms back here, I’ll help you get into the dress,” she said, gesturing toward the back.
&nbs
p; I glanced back toward the front, the wall of men still in place. Taking a deep breath, I followed Erica to the back. I quickly slipped out of my clothes, taking the dress from Erica and carefully slipping into it. Once I was zipped into it, I carefully walked back out to the showroom, smiling when Savannah gasped. I stepped onto the platform, immediately becoming overwhelmed with emotions. The sheer floral lace dress fit me like a glove. The sheer bodice gave a slight off-the-shoulder look thanks to the nude tulle and lace throughout the bust and waist. The floating tattoo-like designs covered the body of the dress and the long sleeves, the extra long train fanning out behind me as Erica arranged it for me.
“You look absolutely stunning!” Savannah exclaimed, walking over to me.
Emotions clogged my throat as I looked at myself. It wasn’t until I saw myself in the dress that I realized how important this was for me and how much it meant to me that Bennett was giving me this moment. I couldn’t wait to see his face when I walked down whatever aisle we’d create on the boat to say our vows. I wondered if he’d feel the same emotions coursing through me in that moment. I wonder if he’d think I was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
“This dress was literally made for you,” Erica gushed, her eyes watching in me the mirror.
I turned in different directions, noting how the dress dipped low and exposed my entire back.
“How does it feel?” Savannah asked, looking over the dress.
“It fits perfectly,” I said, smiling. “As long as I don’t gain a single pound within the next week, it’ll be perfect for next weekend.”
“That’s a beautiful dress” the woman called from two platforms down. I glanced over at her and smiled.
“Thank you,” I said, noticing that she wasn’t in a dress anymore. I shook off the unease that worked its way back into me, focusing my attention back to my reflection. “This dress is so perfect. I almost don’t want to take it off.”
“And it fits you perfectly. Looks like the measurements are good,” Erica said with a nod.
“Seriously,” Savannah agreed.
Rules of Bennett: The Complete Collection Page 82
