8. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Gianna

As I'm flagging down a cab, I remember that I didn't get my underwear back from Dom. So now I'm going home in a cab with my bare ass on the seat. Delightful.

I'm not sure how I feel right now. The sex with Dom was unbelievable. He's amazing at pleasing me, and our chemistry seems to be effortless.

But his remark as I was leaving stung. I didn't think we would leave the club as a couple, but I also wasn't sure that I wanted this to be a "one and done", or make that "two and done", kind of affair.

He's taken the choice away from me completely, though.

***

Nausea wakes me from a deep sleep a couple of weeks later.

I roll over and squint against the bright sunlight peeking into my room. God, I feel terrible this morning and I don't know why.

I sit up and swing my legs over the edge of the bed, then slap a hand over my mouth as I realize I'm going to throw up. I race to the bathroom and just manage not to vomit all over the floor.

Leaning against the wall near the toilet, I close my eyes. I must be getting sick.

I've been so down since Dom told me he didn't want to see me anymore that I haven't done much of anything except go to a couple of my friend's get-togethers.

I've always bowed out and gone home, turning down invitations to go out and party. I just don't want to risk running into Dom again when my heart still feels so bruised.

It's only six, but I'm feeling a little better, so I walk downstairs for coffee. William is already in the kitchen. I'm not sure my brother ever actually sleeps.

"You okay?" he asks. "You look awful."

I shrug and pour my coffee. "Just woke up feeling sick," I tell him. I sip at my coffee and make a face as nausea rolls over me again.

William shakes his head. "You just aren't used to American illnesses yet. You've been away too long."

I chuckle, and set down my coffee. Maybe I can drink it in a little bit when my stomach settles.

William tops up his mug, and walks by me. He pinches my cheek like he used to do when I was little.

"At least you know you're not pregnant," he says with a laugh before he leaves the room.

A bolt of shock races through me.

Pregnant .

No, I can't be. I'm on birth control.

I wince as I remember forgetting to take it here and there during my first wild week at home. The week when I had sex with Dom multiple times. Without protection.

I feel my heart racing and I press my hand to my belly.

No. No, I can't be pregnant with the baby of a mafia hitman. I cannot be that stupid.

Setting my mouth in a determined line, I go back upstairs to get dressed. There's only one way to know if I've made the biggest mistake of my life.

***

I stare at the stick I'm holding in my hands, wanting to refute the damning evidence. But it matches the three other tests that I just took.

They all say that I'm pregnant, loud and clear. I hang my head and lean on the counter in my bathroom. What am I going to tell my mother? What am I going to tell Dom?

I realize that I have no idea how to navigate this mess I've gotten myself into. I know my options. I could end the pregnancy and no one would be the wiser.

I press my hands flat against my belly, contemplating what my life will be like if I keep this baby. I think of Dom's beautiful face, his kindness toward me when I needed help, and his intelligence.

A baby that we shared would be smart, and beautiful and we could make sure that it was also kind.

But he's The Reaper.

He's a hitman.

He can't help me raise a baby. I feel a tear slip down my cheek as I acknowledge that there is no way that I am not going to have this baby.

I can already feel it's tiny little presence, hovering by my heart, warming me. I have felt alone for all of my life, but now, in this moment, I don't feel lonely.

I've been looking for meaning in my life, and this baby will offer me the anchor that I need to feel like my life has a purpose.

I stand up straight and sweep the tests into the back of a drawer in my bathroom.

I don't know how I'm going to manage a baby and trying to get my own life in order, but I'm not going to miss out on being a mother, no matter what anyone else says.

***

"Gianna, you don't have a choice with this one. If you want to get involved with helping those troubled teens, you need to show up to this gala. This family is the one pumping money into that program." My mother is talking to me as she walks on her treadmill, and it's distracting.

"It's just…I feel like I've had about all the fancy parties I can take, Mom. I understand that this is an important one, but if Will goes and excuses me for being sick…"

"You're not sick." My mother is barely listening to me.

I open my mouth to blurt out the truth but shut it. I just have no idea how to tell my mother that I have been sick. Every morning. Because I'm pregnant.

I shrug, and my mother rolls her eyes.

"This conversation is over, Gianna. Tomorrow at three."

I sigh and give up. There is often no point in fighting with my mother because she always gets her own way. Sometimes, I just put up a fight for the adrenaline rush.

At three o'clock the next day, I'm ready to attend this gala with my brother as my plus one.

He's going to try to convince the host to buy a property that William and my father have for sale. It's worth the same amount as ten normal houses, and this might be the only man in our town who can afford to buy it.

We arrive at the party along with a huge crowd, so we slip in unnoticed. I love it, but my brother is annoyed.

He tells me he's going to find the host, and I let him know that I'll probably be down at the stables.

This house is a mansion. Much bigger than my parents' home. There are stables at the back of the garden, a greenhouse, and three stories inside the home.

This place could hold three weddings at the same time, and the parties would never bump into each other.

I don't make it out to the horses, though, because Dominic is standing in one of the doorways to the courtyard.

Seeing him here astounds me. Why are we crossing paths so often all of a sudden?

"Hi," I say, walking up to him. He looks like he's alone, which makes me strangely happy.

"Gianna." He says my name as if I am the last person he expected to see here.

He looks at me for a second, and then his eyes look over my head to stare at a crowd of people behind me.

"Do you know the host?" I ask, trying to get his attention back to me.

"What?" He looks at me with some annoyance.

"Of the party? I assume that's why you're here."

"You know the family?" He looks shocked, which I find funny because surely, he knows how wealthy families operate in this city. All of us know one another.

"Not exactly. We do business with them."

"Okay. I'm just here on business, too." He looks confused by my answer. I think back to the articles that I found on "Reaper".

I look at Dom, imagining how he could possibly be that person. I decide not to keep questioning him for now.

"Right. Anyway, good to see you." I brush past him, and he grabs my arm, hiding his grip between us.

"I'm sorry. I'm just distracted. It's good to see you. You look ravishing in that dress." I see his eyes narrow on me, and I'm giddy at the thought of him craving me again.

I want to tell him that I'm pregnant. I want to blurt out that I need help finding a job and figuring out how to stand on my own two feet, but I don't. I can't tell him such earth-shattering news here, at some stupid fundraising event.

"Thank you. You look quite ravishing yourself." I can't control my tone, and it immediately switches to flirty mode. "Do you want to dance?" I ask him.

"No. But if you want to meet me in the bathroom, we can choreograph our own dance." His eyes are scanning the room. I'm not sure if he's looking for my brother or the host of the party, but I don't care.

"See you there." I wink at him, walking around the hallway to reach the furthest bathroom.

I enter and wait, checking my face and making sure the windows are closed. Dom walks in and locks the door behind him, immediately grabbing me and lifting me onto the counter.

We don't strip this time. Instead, he lifts my dress up and slides my underwear to the side, slipping his cock out of his pants.

With our lips locked, he enters me, and I gasp as I feel him filling me completely.

He's so different today than he was at the club. He seems more desperate, eager to be inside me, less controlled, and more passionate.

I wrap my legs around him and let him pump his cock in, and out, and in again, keeping my groans as soft as I can.

His hands explore under my dress, clutching onto my skin where he can. I bite his lower lip and suck it as he keeps pushing deeper into me.

After a few minutes, he breaks free from our kiss and takes a breath. Dom lowers me to the ground and turns me around, bending me over the counter.

He spreads my legs wide; I can feel my tight pucker is exposed. Vulnerable.

I can see both of us in the mirror now.

I watch as his face floods with pleasure, a mischievous look in his blue eyes.

He slaps his hard dick against my ass cheeks, hitting both sides, then finally he's slapping my asshole with his cock. An electric shock pulses through me like I've never felt before.

At the same time, Dom licks his hand, using the moisture to get my tight little hole ready for something new.

"Wait, you've got to go slow, Reaper," I beg, barely able to speak, as he pushes the very tip of his dick into my unwilling hole.

"You've got to relax for me. Let me in," he growls as he slowly enters me, opening me where I've never been opened before.

I can tell he's being more gentle than maybe he's ever been. He's not driving in all the way. Just slowly inching his way in and out little by little, a little deeper with each pump.

Maybe he knows I'll break. "Are you okay?" he asks through his growls. His voice alone is enough to break me right now. But I want to let him in, just like he asked.

"Yes, I'm okay, Dom, but you're going to make me come."

This time his thrusts are even slower but deeper, and I bite my own lip to stop myself from screaming.

Watching him in the mirror as he fucks my asshole pushes me over the edge. I've never been this full. I don't want him to stop. But I also think he may be splitting me in two.

I warn him again that I'm close, and he asks me to wait. He pulls out, ever so slowly. I can feel each inch of him leaving my body. A body that will never be the same.

He makes quick work of using the sink to make sure he's clean, then he's lifting me up again. As our mouths collide into each other we move over to the door.

My body is jelly now. But he holds me against him, his body is so firm, so sure, and he hoists one of my legs up over his elbow.

I hold onto his inked neck and grip his leg with my free one. The door creaks behind my back, making me grateful that it's locked.

Dom comes at the same time as me, filling me once again, the explosions in my body have wrecked me. I'm not sure I'll be able to walk out of this bathroom.

Dom lays his head down on my shoulder as he shudders in his own release, grunting softly into my ear.

His hair smells amazing, that familiar sandalwood, and I soak in the moment before we separate and clean up so that we can leave the bathroom, pretending that we weren't just in here together in the most intimate way.

"This really can't happen again, Gianna," Dom tells me as he's getting ready to exit the bathroom.

He keeps saying that, like I've forced him each time. It makes me want to giggle.

"I agree," I say, my voice more steady than my legs. "But you're going to wish it could, Reaper."

Two can play at this game, and I'll be damned if I'm going to allow him to act like the unattached one here.

Dom leaves first after giving me one final, deep kiss, and I wait four minutes before stepping out myself.

As I come out of the bathroom on wobbly legs, my brother is there to greet me. I look around to see if he noticed Dom, but the look on his face tells me he didn't.