A Carpino Series Collection, Books 1-3

by Brynne Asher

  “Jude. That’s not nice,” she exclaims. “We all know what those pain meds can do to your body,” she says in a sing-song voice while raising her eyebrows with big eyes.

  “Yes. Yes, we do,” I agree laughing as I back out of Tony’s driveway to make the short drive home.

  It’s been four days since Gabby was kidnapped, four days since Tony was shot, and four days since I killed Pope. My shooting was investigated immediately and it was immediately found that I was justified in that shooting. But even more, it’s been four days since Gabby has learned that her parents were killed, their death being no accident.

  I’ve asked her repeatedly how she’s doing and she all but ignores me. Gabby’s kept herself busy taking care of Tony, scurrying back and forth from the hospital. Tony went home today, alone I might add, and she’s finally going to have to slow down to process everything. Her uncles and Tony are worried she’s upset with them for not telling her but she says she understands.

  I pull my truck into the immaculately clean garage next to Gabby’s Tahoe. I’ve learned Gabby appreciates the benefits of Let’s Make a Deal. Shortly after I officially moved in, I cleaned her garage, organized her shit and rearranged an unfinished room in the basement to create a workroom for her to labor on the shit she calls treasures. I even painted the garage floor with industrial strength paint made specifically for the task. In exchange for me getting to move her shit and make the garage the shrine it is today, new stainless-steel appliances, granite countertops, and a stone backsplash are being installed in the cabin two days after Christmas. We made a quick trip to Colorado two weeks ago to order everything, which included shopping all weekend. I finally quit bitching about it when Gabby talked circles around me explaining the massive weight of these choices because, in her own words, “It’s not like you make over a kitchen every other year, Jude. These are huge decisions. Decisions that I might add will last years, if not decades, and cannot be made in fifteen minutes.”

  The thought of decades with Gabby made me so happy that in the middle of the granite showroom, I pulled her close to me and put my lips to her ear. “Okay sugar, you shop as long as you need to, but I get to tie you to the bed tonight and drive your sweet body crazy.”

  I could feel her take in a breath as she pulled back to look up at me. “But you always drive me crazy.”

  “Not while you can’t move.”

  I could see her eyes working and she finally smiled. “Deal. But prepare for a long day, Jude. I have lots of decisions to make.”

  “Not a problem, but you need to prepare for a long night. I’ll go get us coffee while you chew over the grout color for the backsplash.”

  Although it was a long day of shopping, the long night with Gabby in bed in our cabin, begging for all kinds of things from me totally made up for it. In the end, it was a deal well made. I’m pretty sure she would have let me restrain her anyway and I would have shopped as long as she needed. But it was sexy as hell standing in the middle of the granite showroom having Gabby agree to being tied to our bed.

  We walk in the house, the dog attacking us wanting our attention. Gabby makes kissy noises while I ignore her. I watch Gabby move around the great room, turning on Christmas lights.

  I thought Gabby liked pumpkins, but she might like Christmas trees even more. She has a twelve-foot tree set up in the great room decorated in all white and old looking silver ornaments with brown twigs sticking out every which way. Then she has another skinny tree in the dining room covered in sparkly-girlie-glittery fruits and vegetables. Who knew there could be so many ornaments of fruits and vegetables? And why would one person own so many, not to mention, any at all? There’s yet another tree in the kitchen covered in Christmas cookie cutters, and not new ones, but old rusty ones that hang between fake looking berries dipped in sugar strung on a string. Then, if you can believe it, there’s one more in the basement by the fireplace, but it can barely be seen for all the ornaments. And not one of them match.

  Under the largest of the Christmas tree collection sits a mass of presents wrapped with huge bows. Gabby explained to me that over the last few years, her family has decided not to buy for the adults anymore, everyone just buys for the kids. But she added, “Although, my aunts and uncles break this rule when it comes to me since my parents are gone. I keep telling them not to, but they insist.”

  Watching Gabby go through the laborious process of flipping on all the Christmas lights, I can’t help but think how much I’m looking forward to it this year and I haven’t truly enjoyed Christmas in a really long time. But I need to make sure Gabby’s okay first. She hasn’t talked about everything that’s happened. I’m afraid she’s burying shit and not dealing with it.

  “Gabby, come here.”

  “Hang on, I need to turn on the lights in the basement. I want them on for Leigh when she gets home from work later tonight.”

  “Sugar, it can wait, she won’t be home for hours.”

  “It will only take a second, Jude,” she argues.

  That’s it. I move to cut her off after turning the lights on over the fireplace hearth as she starts to move toward the stairs. I tag her hand and she exclaims, “Jude. I said one second.”

  “The lights can wait.” I pull her over to the sofa as she tries to yank her hand out of mine. I turn to sit, give her a good tug and she lands in my lap sideways. I right her, turn her to the side to look at her and say as she narrows her eyes glaring at me. “There.” Now I’ve got her where I want her.

  “You know that’s super annoying, right? You couldn’t wait three minutes?”

  “No.”

  She huffs out a breath. “Fine. What?”

  I take a few moments to let her cool down, take in her beautiful features, her blue eyes and put my hand up to the side of her face. Pushing my fingers through her soft, thick hair, I hold the back of her head in a grip. Her eyes immediately look to mine. The look on her face changes and she gives me a retiring look as her body slumps.

  She’s finally ready to listen to me. “It’s been a hard few days. I need to know you’re okay.”

  “I’m okay,” she returns.

  I tighten the grip on her scalp and pull her to me. “Gabby. You were kidnapped by an awful man. You learned he ordered your parents death and found out their car accident was no accident. Then you witnessed your cousin, who you love and are closer to than anyone, get shot. For you, no less. To top it all off, you saw me kill a man even though it was justified.” She takes in a small breath and her hands fist in my shirt while she bites her lip. Lowering my voice even more, I say, “I need to know you’re okay. And if you’re not, that’s fine, but we need to make you okay by talking it out or getting you to someone who can help you straighten that shit out in your head.”

  She sucks in air and pulls on my shirt, closing the distance between us. Shaking her head, she says quietly, “They’ll never know you.”

  “What?”

  She opens her eyes. “My mom and dad. They’ll never know you. See us together, see me happy. It’s awful what happened to Tony, don’t get me wrong because you know I love him. I’m so thankful he’s going to be okay and will make a full recovery. And Pope deserved everything that came to him—I’m losing no sleep over you shooting him. But what I can’t get out of my head is that my parents won’t know you and see us together. They won’t get to be grandparents or enjoy that part of their life that they should get to live. That was stolen from them and me. Knowing it’s no accident that they won’t get that hurts in a whole new way.”

  I pull her in, crushing her to me and put my lips to her hair. “I’m sorry, sugar. I would love anyone you love, so I’m sorry I won’t know them, either. But I think they know you’re happy. And I hope they know how much I love you.”

  At that, Gabby squeezes me tighter and burrows even deeper. “I hope so, too.”

  “You need to talk to me about this stuff, I can tell you’ve been holding it in. Are you sure we don’t need to find someone for you
to talk to? A professional?”

  “I’ll let you know if it doesn’t get better, but I promise to talk to you.” She pulls back and wraps her arms around my neck, her hands going into my hair. “I love you,” she whispers, then kisses me lightly.

  “Love you, too. And thank you for talking to me. I need you to talk to me so I can take care of you.” Changing the subject, trying to lighten the moment and get her mind on something else, I go on, “I’m hungry. Are you ready for dinner?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay. Go flip on the rest of your lights, I’ll pour you a glass of wine and try to find something for dinner.”

  She pulls back and her brow furrows. “You’re going to make dinner?”

  “I did eat before I met you, Gabby.”

  “But it’s too cold to grill,” she says.

  “I’m not grilling. I’m pretty sure I can figure something out,” I say sarcastically.

  “Ooookaaaay,” she drawls, just as sarcastically.

  “Enough.” I need to end this, so I put her on her feet, point her toward the basement and smack her ass lightly. “I’m not promising anything fancy or homemade, I just said dinner. There is a difference.”

  “I can’t wait,” she mutters under her breath.

  I grab her hand again and pull her into me for a kiss. “Go turn on your Christmas lights, sugar. I’ll get you wine, find something to feed you, and then we’re goin to bed early. It’s been a long few days.”

  With her forearms up my back, she pulls up for one more kiss. “Okay.”

  She heads to the basement and I turn, moving to the huge ass walk-in pantry in the kitchen that is usually stocked with everything under the sun, while hoping like hell there’s a jar of store bought spaghetti sauce. But seeing as my girlfriend is half Italian and since she does all the shopping, I’m thinking my chances at finding store bought jar sauce are slim to none. I smile to myself, not caring what we eat but just happy that we’ll eat it together. Whatever it is.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Christmas Eve

  Jude, Mia, and I walk through the house as I start flipping on Christmas lights. We just got home from Gino and Emma’s where we celebrated Christmas with my whole family. It’s late, but not that late. My cousins with little kids needed to get home to get their little ones in bed and asleep to prepare for Santa.

  It was a great night with my family. Tony is looking stronger, although I don’t think he’ll be playing basketball anytime soon. Even though he seems to be in a perpetually grumpy mood since he’s been released from the hospital, I’ve not pursued him as to why this is because I figure I’d be grumpy, too, if I was shot. I’m just so thankful he’s okay and I try not to let my brain think about how our Christmas could be a lot different this year if things had not turned out like they did last week. I look over at Jude and smile at him as he’s carrying in boxes and bags of presents my aunts and uncles showered on us unnecessarily.

  “Your family is something else. That was Christmas mayhem at its best.”

  He is not exaggerating. The Carpinos are a crazy group any day of the year, but at Christmas, it’s raised to whole other level altogether. The kids are hyped on sugar and pure Santa adrenaline as the adults try to keep up while loving it all the same. Drinks flow freely and food is aplenty during this favorite holiday.

  “Yeah,” I agree. “We’re quite a clan, that’s for sure.”

  Jude and I set about putting things away. Leigh is working a double holiday shift at her new job, so we’re here by ourselves. I tried to get her to come with us tonight, but she insisted on volunteering to work Christmas. She has no desire to see her mom or sister and informed me that if she worked, other nurses could be home with their families.

  She’s really throwing herself back into her job, enjoying it for the most part, but it’s plain to see she’s using it as a distraction so she doesn’t have to focus on her own life, messy divorce, and thinking about the baby she lost. She keeps telling me she’s saving money to set herself up so she can move into an apartment, but I’d rather her stay here. I hate the thought of her burrowed up in an apartment by herself, depressed and lonely with no one to keep an eye on her. She’s keeping herself tied up tight, not talking to me at all about what happened with Preston, the baby or anything for that matter. Getting to the bottom of all things with Leigh is my number one New Year’s Resolution.

  “Gabby, come here,” Jude bosses gently, pulling me from my thoughts of Leigh. He’s started the fire and is standing by the Christmas tree. He’s also looking hot in his cargo style khakis, a black V neck sweater that fits great across his chest with a white t-shirt peeking out of the V. His hair is messy like usual and even though it is Christmas Eve, he didn’t shave today, so he has two days of growth on his face, which is seriously my favorite of all of his looks.

  Without thinking twice, I go right to him. He pulls me into his arms tight and says, “Did you have a good night?”

  “Yes. It was perfect. Thank you for spending it with my crazy family.”

  “It was fun, but you know I’d do anything for you.”

  Letting that seep through me, knowing that he would do absolutely anything for me, I hold on tighter. “Tomorrow it’s just you and me. But I have to warn you, it’s not unheard of for the Carpinos to make late Christmas visits, pulling out left overs creating a whole new party. We should appreciate the quiet while we can and then brace for a possible second round. I am looking forward to spending time with your dad, brother, and his family in a few days at your mountain home. That will be fun, too.”

  “Babe, quit calling it a mountain home. It’s a cabin.”

  “Whatever,” I shoot back. “Cabin’s don’t have granite, stainless steel appliances, and newly made over kitchens.”

  Jude looks to the ceiling and shakes his head while sighing. I grin when he looks back down at me. I know it bugs him for me to call his so-called cabin a mountain home. But it’s not a cabin, so I’m not calling it one.

  “Okay,” he says with a sigh. “Moving on. It’s time for your Christmas present.”

  “What? You weren’t supposed to get me anything. We agreed the appliances and granite were enough to cover presents for at least the next couple of years,” I argue, but at the same time think about the present I have for him that I wasn’t supposed to get, either. Although I didn’t spend any money on him, I want him to have my dad’s TAG Heuer watch. I would love for him to have something of my dad’s and even though it’s old, a TAG never goes out of style and last forever.

  “Don’t forget about the backsplash,” he says, smiling down at me. “And the grout.”

  “Exactly. You weren’t supposed to get me anything else. You wouldn’t even let me help pay for the kitchen remodel and it was my idea.”

  “Well, it’s just one more thing, but I would’ve gotten it for you anyway. You need it,” he says.

  I semi-frown, thinking there is nothing more on this Earth I need more than I already have. But he pulls his hand out of his pocket and produces a small rectangular black velvet box with a simple pink organdy bow tied around it. I pull in a breath because really nice, expensive things come in velvet boxes. He pulls back a bit but doesn’t hand it to me. He yanks the end of the simple pink bow himself, unwrapping my present for me, and drops it to the floor. I look up to his eyes only to find his on me, his face intense and meaningful. I hear a snap and look back down to his hands where he has popped open the hinged box only to find the most beautiful solitaire diamond that looks like it’s almost two carats, in a delicate setting hanging on the most delicate white gold chain I’ve ever seen.

  “Jude,” I whisper, but he still says nothing as he pulls out the necklace, releasing the chain, letting it hang on his fingers and tosses the box with the bow. I decide to give him grief later for unwrapping my Christmas present because I’m too in awe of the necklace dangling from his hand.

  “Turn around, sugar,” he rasps. I turn as he brings his arms in front
of me, working the double locking clasp and then pulls it around my neck. It’s a shorter chain, so I hold my hair for him as he works the clasp at the back of my neck. I feel the diamond settle at the indention of my collar bone and bring my fingers up to feel it since I can’t see it now.

  Jude’s left arm comes around me, yanking my back into his chest, his lips to my ear and says strangely, “Talked to Lizzie.”

  “What?” I exhale, wondering what he’s going on about, not having time to process my beautiful necklace.

  Then his right hand grabs my left one as his arm snakes around me to hold me tight. I look down to see what he’s doing and gasp when I see my mom’s engagement ring sliding onto my left ring finger. It’s been in my safety deposit box and I haven’t seen it since I put it there after she died. Seeing it now, I realize how much I’ve missed looking at it. It’s a princess cut diamond set high in a platinum delicate band with a string of diamonds down the band on either side.

  Everything becomes blurry as tears fill my eyes. “She said you’d want to wear your mom’s ring. I can’t imagine she’s wrong, so I had to put my diamond on you another way to show that you’re mine forever.”

  My sob hitches and I look down at my left hand and feel the diamond at my throat with my right. All I can do is nod in agreement against Jude’s face that’s still at the side of my head, because nothing would be more perfect than wearing my mom’s ring and having Jude put it there.

  “You’ve got three months, babe,” Jude goes on. “We can have whatever kind of wedding you want, you plan the whole shebang. But I get to plan the honeymoon. Do we have a deal?”

  “Deal,” I barely get out my one-word acceptance to his bossy non-proposal slash demand. Although three months is not near enough time to plan a wedding, but we’ll talk about that later.

  Jude turns me and I look up to him as he frames my face with his big hands. “I love you, Gabby. Thank you for making me happy.”