by Sam Mariano
“Fuck, you feel good,” he tells me. “Hang in there, baby.”
“Oh, God,” I whine.
With a few more thrusts, he groans and pushes deep, emptying himself inside me. There’s almost no strength left in my body, but I use what I have to keep my ass up until he releases my hip and pulls out of me.
Then I collapse on my side, rolling over to look at him. God, he’s beautiful. I don’t know how he’s still standing, but his shirt hangs open so I can see his toned abs. He didn’t even take his pants off, just unzipped and pulled his cock out. Now he’s tucking himself back inside his slacks and zipping up, his eyes on me.
“See, I’m up now,” I murmur.
His lips curve up faintly as he buttons his shirt up. “Good. Now, get your pretty little ass in the kitchen.”
“Still hot,” I tell him. He starts to walk away, so I call after him, “Wait, what about my cuddles?”
“I’ll cuddle the shit out of you later,” he promises. “Right now I have a meeting.”
“Here?” I question, pushing myself up into a sitting position.
“Yep,” he says, already on his way out of the bedroom.
I give myself another minute to recover from Sin’s equivalent of ‘good morning’ before I drag myself out of bed. I’m the one who could use coffee, but I’m not allowed to have any. I grab my robe and go to the bathroom, attempting to make myself look less like a girl who was just mauled by a randy tiger. It doesn’t work, but I splash some water on my face, do what I can to tame my hair, then pile it on top of my head and tie it up in a bun anyway. I put on some lip balm and mascara, pull on my robe and some panties, and head for the kitchen.
Breakfast for nine, huh? That’s a lot of fucking people to cook for. I open the refrigerator and grab his carton of eggs. There are six eggs. I check for other breakfast possibilities and see he has five slices of bread, two bananas, and an orange.
What the hell am I supposed to serve these nine men for breakfast? I guess I’m going to have to go grocery shopping today. That’s normally a boring chore, but I like the idea of stocking Sin’s house with food. I like taking care of him. I need to find out everything he likes to eat and everything he hates.
I have cheese, milk, eggs, and a whole host of things on the counter as I attempt to throw together something I can call breakfast when the doorbell rings. Ordinarily I wouldn’t answer the door at Sin’s house, but since I already know he has people coming for this meeting, I assume that’s probably Rafe. He has seen me in a robe before. No big deal.
When I swing open the door, however, it is not Rafe Morelli standing on the other side. It’s a Morelli, all right, just not the one I expected to see.
My eyes narrow as Alec Morelli has the audacity to stand on my doorstep, a swarm of unfamiliar men trailing down the stairs behind him.
“What are you doing here?” I demand.
Looking past me dismissively, he says, “I’m not here for you, troublemaker. Where’s your—I don’t know what the fuck to call him. Where’s your keeper?”
“My keeper?” I demand, glaring at him.
“Move aside, sweetheart,” he says, practically shooing me as he steps inside.
To keep his stupid arm from touching me, I move out of the way. As he walks past, I tell him, “If I had known this breakfast was for you, I would have poisoned it.”
“Don’t poison me just yet,” he calls back as he heads up the stairs. “Your keeper needs my help.”
By the time Rafe shows up, Alec and all the men I don’t know are assembled around my kitchen table. I’ve managed to put together a plate for everyone, but I didn’t save one for Rafe. For one thing, he is still on my shit list. Also, I miscounted plates and I only dished out enough for the guys already present. If he asks, I’m only going to tell him the first part.
When he strides into the dining area, hands shoved into his pockets, he looks at the men eating and drinking their coffee, then looks at me.
“Look at you, already getting your mob wife hostess skills sharpened up.”
“I didn’t make any for you,” I inform him.
“That’s all right. I have a maid,” he informs me. Then he smiles, but promptly tones it down a little. My gaze drops to his split lip. It might hurt to smile. He’s wearing the evidence of his fight with Sin last night. In addition to the split lip, one eye is swollen and discolored. I almost feel bad for him until I remember he sent someone to kill Sin—then I want to bring my palm up and smack him right in the eye to make him hurt some more.
“I was going to apologize to you for all the really mean things I said to you yesterday, but after finding out the things I found out, I rescind my apology,” I tell him.
“You rescind the apology you never gave me?” Rafe asks, sounding faintly amused.
“Yes,” I state decisively.
“All right, kitten.”
“Don’t call me that.”
His lips curve up again. “You can’t hate me forever.”
Completely uninvited, Alec butts into our conversation. “Yes, she can.”
“No one asked you, Alec,” I inform him.
Lifting his dark eyebrows, he addresses Rafe and points to me. “This one holds lifelong grudges. I went on half a date with her before either of you ever met her. To this day, she hates me so much she would shoot me in the face for a piece of fuzzy floor-candy. She’s gonna hate you forever. Welcome to the club.”
Sin is seated at the head of the table. Upon hearing Alec’s summary of our relationship, he scowls and demands, “Half a date? How the hell did you go on half a date?”
Alec shrugs. “I bailed halfway through. A work thing came up, I had to leave.”
“Bullshit,” I accuse, pointing at him. “You’re such a liar. No wonder you’re still single.”
Sin shakes his head, gesturing to Alec. “This asshole clearly has shitty judgment. This is who Mateo sent me?”
Rafe shrugs his broad shoulders. “What, you expected him to send Adrian? He’s not going to send his best guys and leave his own business unprotected. You know what a paranoid motherfucker he is.”
Wide-eyed, Alec objects. “Are you serious? I brought my guys out here to help you assholes; you want to be a little appreciative?”
“I think you should apologize to Laurel,” Rafe suggests.
Sin nods, leaning back in his chair. “Sounds good to me. You apologize to her, then we’ll be nicer to you.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Alec demands.
I smirk, crossing my arms over my chest. “They’re not. I’m waiting.”
Alec laughs lowly, shaking his head. “I’m glad to see this family is as fucking crazy in Vegas as Chicago.”
“That didn’t sound like an apology to me,” Rafe says with a mock-grimace.
Sin nods his agreement. “Decidedly not an apology. And we asked so nicely.”
Rafe taps his black eye. “See this, Alec? Know how I got it?”
I don’t know where he’s going with this. Surely he’s not going to admit Sin just beat his ass yesterday, right?
Alec shrugs like he’s not sure why he should care.
“Pissed Laurel off and didn’t apologize fast enough. She’ll punch you right in the face. You want to join my club?”
That makes me snort. Rafe looks back at me and winks with his good eye. Damn him. I probably won’t be able to hate him forever.
Alec rolls his eyes. “This clearly means a lot more to you people than it does to me. Laurel, I apologize profusely for not falling madly in love and marrying you after our half-date. I don’t know what I was thinking. I will live the rest of my days in miserable regret.”
I nod my head. “I accept your incredibly insincere apology. I still don’t like you though.”
Alec waves me off, taking his seat. “Whatever. Let’s get back to work before I change my mind about helping you dickheads and go back home.”
I smile, feeling a little more cheerful now and grab the coffee
pot. I didn’t make Rafe any breakfast, but now I pour him some coffee and take it over to him.
“I get coffee?” he asks, as I hold out the mug to him.
“Baby steps,” I tell him.
He smiles faintly and nods his head, taking a sip of my peace offering. I retrieve the pot and take it around the table, topping off cups to empty the pot so I can make more. I’m all out by the time I get to Sin.
I put the coffee pot down on the table and straddle him. Then I drape my arms around his neck, and his hands move to my ass. “Can I help you with something?” he asks.
“I ran out of coffee. I can’t refill your cup.”
“How will I survive?” he inquires.
“I thought I’d make up for it with kisses.”
He smirks at me. “You just wanted kisses. You probably dumped the coffee so you had an excuse.”
“I would do that, but since we have 85 men here today, I didn’t have to. Anyway, about this kiss situation. Am I allowed to kiss you when you’re working?”
“In this setting, yes. If I have my gun out, maybe wait until later.”
“Good,” I murmur, leaning in to steal a kiss. His grip on me tightens and he tugs me close, one of his hands roaming down to cup my ass. He gives it a squeeze, briefly deepening the kiss before pulling back.
I sigh and nuzzle into his neck, nipping him one more time before climbing off his lap. “All right, now I’ll make some more coffee.”
Sin swats me on the ass, then leans forward and gets back to work.
47
Laurel
After all the men leave, I make a grocery list, take a shower, and promptly realize I have no idea where to get groceries. I also have no money to buy said groceries. Sin didn’t leave me anything, so all I have is the pocket money I have left from Rafe. I hesitate for a minute to use that, but then I decide, screw it, I will. It’s only $40, but it should get some staples in the house. Breakfast completely cleaned us out.
I don’t want to contact Lydia. I have her number in my phone, but she’s so terrible, I can’t stomach the idea of actually calling her. The only other woman in Vegas I can reach out to is Virginia, so I shoot her a text and ask how she’s doing and what she’s up to.
Instead of texting me, she calls. I am initially alarmed—who the hell answers a text with a phone call?—but I answer anyway. “Hey.”
“Hey,” she says brightly. “What’s up?”
“Um, not much. I actually wanted to ask you a weird question. I’m obviously new to Vegas, so I don’t really know where anything is. I need to buy some groceries, but I don’t even know where to tell the Uber person to take me.”
“You have an Uber?”
“Not yet, but I will once I know where to tell them to take me.”
“Oh, God, don’t waste your money like that. I’m off today, I can swing by and pick you up. I need to pick up a few things anyway. My refrigerator looks like it belongs to a sad bachelor. Are you at home?”
“Yes—Um, not Rafe’s. I’m at Sin’s. Do you know where he lives?”
“I do. Why are you at Sin’s?”
I hesitate, realizing she’s not caught up. “Um, we’re actually together now. I’m going to be living here with him.”
“You and Rafe aren’t—That’s over?”
“Yep,” I verify, nodding even though she can’t see me. “Sin and I are official. Sorry, is that weird? I know you and Rafe… Actually, I don’t understand what you are at all, but I know if sides are being taken, you’d be on his. Not that this is a side-taking situation. It’s not. At all. He was just at my house for breakfast. I mean, things aren’t back to normal yet, but, you know, I’m still pregnant, and he’s still the father, so they probably will be.”
“You’re a nervous talker, huh?”
“Yeah, sorry,” I mutter.
“No sweat. We’re cool. I can pick you up at Sin’s if you’d like a ride.”
I’m not convinced it won’t be weird, but since I have my heart set on making Sin dinner for our first official night living together, I also really need the groceries.
Shortly after we hang up, she pulls into the driveway. I invite her inside while I try to figure out where Sin put my house key, then I go to set the alarm. Virginia turns away.
“You should be more careful setting that when people are around,” she informs me. “Sin would kick your ass if he knew you pushed in the alarm code in front of anyone who isn’t him.”
Lifting my eyebrows as it beeps that it’s secure, I ask her, “Are you planning to break into my house?”
“No, but someone else could be. I’m just saying, you can’t be too careful. Don’t trust people. People generally suck. I don’t suck, but you haven’t known me long enough to know that.”
Thinking back to last night, I have to agree. “Good point, people do suck.”
“The Morellis have a lot of power around here,” she tells me, as I pull the front door shut behind me and follow her to her car. “If you’re going to be involved with them now, that puts you with them. Thankfully you’re not with Rafe now—that was bound to be a headache. Ambitious, money-grabbing bitches trying to kill you for your spot in his bed. It would have been a hassle. You’re probably better off with Sin, really. He’s dangerous as fuck, but also mean, and all the women in the know basically understand he’d just as soon kill them as fuck them, so he’s not really the guy a scheming ho will go after. Rafe, though? There’s basically a bull’s eye painted right on that muscular back of his. A single boss? It has literally never happened before.”
“You know an awful lot about the Morellis,” I tell her, sliding into the car. It’s still faintly cool, so she must blast the air conditioner.
“Yeah, I do,” she murmurs. “I get bored easily. I research things, but I absorb so fast I’m on to the next thing. I run out of things, so… lots of idle research. Plus, I technically knew about the Morelli family before I came out here. When I was lost down one of my rabbit holes I stumbled across a news story online—one thing led to the next, I was researching as much as I could online. Then I moved out here for school and, what do you know, I ended up working for one of them.”
Casting her a skeptical look, I remark, “That’s an odd coincidence.”
“Isn’t it?” She flashes me a smile. “Don’t worry, I’m on your side. I heard how faintly suspicious all that sounded once it was out of my mouth, but I would never do anything to hurt Rafe.”
That I can believe. I don’t know why, but her voice softens anytime she says his name. She was nice to me even when I was the one he was snuggling at dinner—while she served us—so whatever fondness she has for him, it has to be pretty pure. She’s even above jealousy, and God knows I never was.
“Well, I’m glad,” I tell her. “It looks like I’m going to be staying out here for good now, and I’m going to need a friend. I don’t even know how much my sister will be able to visit, because Rafe won’t let her husband come to town.”
Virginia nods. “Vince. He seemed volatile. Very touchy. Like the smallest thing could set him off. Your sister sure is a lucky gal,” she adds dryly.
I wave off her concerns. “He’s fine. He’s calmer at home; being around his family just gets him all riled up. He doesn’t like Rafe. I think Rafe slept with his ex-girlfriend or something.”
“Probably,” Virginia agrees with a nod. “That sounds like something Rafe would do.”
Spending the afternoon out with Virginia was nice. All day I’ve been fitting together pieces of my new life in my head, thinking about how lovely it can all be. I never found myself doing this with Rafe. Now that I’m in the right relationship with someone I actually want, I can see that I never really wanted it to work out with him. Rafe was never right for me, while Sin is so right for me. I know it’s new, and it won’t always be exciting, but I was moved into a literal mansion when I had to stay with Rafe and I couldn’t muster enthusiasm for anything. Today I am excited to do Sin’s laundry.
I’m grossly, disgustingly in love, and I couldn’t be happier about it.
I don’t hear from him much today, though. Since his job is obviously non-traditional, I have no idea what kind of hours to expect him to keep. I figure he’ll send me a text to let me know when he’s coming home for dinner.
What I don’t expect when the phone finally rings and it’s Sin, is for him to greet my pleasant “hello, handsome” with a short, to the point, “Get to Rafe’s. Now.”
“What?” I ask, my face falling. There’s urgency in his tone—maybe more than that. Maybe actual fear. “Sin, is everything okay?”
“Laurel, get the hell out of the house.”
I jump up off the couch and run to grab the purse I left on the counter, my heart hammering in my chest. “I don’t have a car,” I tell him, my voice shaking. “Where am I supposed to go?”
“I’m sending someone to pick you up, I just don’t want you in the house alone. Rafe’s at his house, he can keep you safe.”
“Are we positive we want to trust the guy who held a gun to my head last night?” I inquire.
“He’s not behind this. It wouldn’t benefit him. Listen, I know you’re nervous, but I need you to get out of the house now. Walk around back and keep walking until you’re on the next street over. I’m going to send Rex to pick you up there. He’ll be in a silver car. He’ll be looking for you, but stay out of sight, just in case, okay?”
“Is someone coming here?” I demand.
“I don’t know, okay? I just need you out of the house in case. Gio knows I turned on him, and he knows how to hurt me. I need to know you’re safe or I can’t concentrate.”
“Okay, I’ll be safe,” I assure him, setting the alarm and heading down the stairs, turning off the lights.
I feel paranoid the moment I step outside. I follow his directions, going around the house and walking until I get to the road behind ours. I keep stealing looks back toward Sin’s house as I walk, looking at the road to make sure no one pulls in. Sin stays on the phone, but he doesn’t talk. There are noises, voices in the background. Periodically he breaks away to say something to someone, but he comes right back.
