34. Sal

Elio hasa shooting range in his backyard.

Today, I am taking full advantage of that fact.

I have earmuffs over my ears. My eyes have protection on them.

And I'm absolutely pulverizing the target in front of me.

In my mind, it's just a stand-in for all the things that I can't control, and all the issues that I have with the world at large. It's just me, shooting the hell out of everything that bothers me.

It's no wonder that I don't hear Elio come in.

He waits until I need to reload, then hits the button on the target that drags it closer to me. I turn, not realizing it's Elio until I see him behind me.

I don't say anything.

He steps forward and looks at the target. "Well. That's one way to do it then."

"What do you want?"

He looks at me square in the eye. "You're going to be a father."

Ah. "Gia told you?"

"She did. which begs the question as to why my own brother-in-law, and my second in command, did not?"

"That's complicated."

He sighs. "You know, you and Gia are two fucking peas in a fucking pod."

"Is that a good thing?"

"No," he grunts.

I turn back to the target, hitting the button that will pull it back out into the space. I aim my pistol at the target, emptying another magazine into it.

"So, what are you shooting?"

"Nothing specific."

"A certain Irish bastard?"

I lower the weapon and look back at Elio. "Why do you ask?"

"He left; you know."

I blink.

"Liam MacAntyre. Left a phone number and walked right on out. Asked for Stassi Novikov's number too."

"Did you give it to him?"

Elio shrugs. "Si, I did."

"Why?"

"If he marries the Russian girl, he'll stay away from the women in my family, no?"

It's a little brutal, maybe even ruthless.

But it is practical as hell.

"Stassi isn't what you think," I say.

Elio shrugs. "Are any of the women in our world?"

I don't answer that.

He sighs again and sits on the metal bench next to me. "Marry Gia."

"No."

He looks up at me. "You're going to knock up my sister and not marry her?"

"I would if she would let me," I sigh.

Elio nods. He puts his hands on his knees.

"You know, Gia sometimes gets in her own way."

"You don't say?"

"You can't tell her what to do. You can't change her mind. But the thing about Gia is that, pretty reliably, she can be convinced."

"Convinced?"

He nods. "For my dad, it was money. He could buy her anything and she'd be happy to do what he asked. My mom would bring her to the spa to get her nails done. For me, I'm her twin, so I just have to annoy her into it."

"And this has what to do with me?"

He stands. "I'm sure you have your way of convincing her," he grunts.

With that, Elio leaves.

I'm more than a little stunned. Because if I'm not mistaken, I think Elio just told me to seduce his sister.

And I think, unfortunately, he might be right.

Of all the things that Gia and I have, the way we connect best?

It's with no talking whatsoever.

* * *

I don't really knowhow to go about this.

While I know that I need to step in there and show Gia exactly who we are and why we work, I'm also… hesitant.

There are doubts, each one circling my mind, preying on my own concerns like sharks in the water.

For all that Gia and I have been through… maybe it's for the best if we don't fight for this.

I know that I want her. Badly. She's the most important person in the world to me.

I also know that I can't take another rejection from her. I have shown up at Gia's side through everything, and she has consistently pushed me away.

At what point do I accept that she just doesn't like me all that much?

She does.

There's a war inside of me. The certainty of knowing that Gia and I are meant for each other battles against the fear deep in my stomach that she's just not that interested.

Both feel equally present in my mind.

And, both cause me equal amounts of anguish.

Which means that both, effectively, prevent me from walking in to see her.

I'm standing outside of Gia's room, practically twiddling my thumbs with anxiety. I know that Gia's in there. No doubts about that whatsoever. According to Caterina, she hasn't moved in days, and that seems like a big problem.

It kills me that she's trapped herself in her room.

One way or another, if I go in there, at least she'll have some kind of motivation to move.

Caterina walks up to me. She looks at the door, then looks at me. "Elio filled me in on what you're doing right now," she says with a smirk.

"Going to pretend you didn't say that because it's pretty weird," I say as I screw my eyes shut. No one wants their little sister to know that they're planning on having sex with anyone, let alone said little sister's sister-in-law.

Caterina laughs. "Listen, in our family, I think it's probably time we talk about sex more, since all of us have fucked it up somehow."

"Luna is hardly a fuck up," I give her a glance.

"Yeah well. Neither is your baby," she smiles. "Honestly? I'm excited to be an auntie for once."

I make a mental note to force Dino to tell her about his twins and nod. "Yeah. Well. I'm pretty scared to be a dad."

"You're going to do great." She smiles. "But you need to get in there and do a little magic first."

"Gross, please don't say it like that ever again."

"What, you want to call it something else? Like making…"

"Okay, thanks, sis." I visibly shudder. "I'm going to crawl into a hole."

"I think Gia can help you with that," Caterina snorts.

"Oh God. Please stop."

She sighs. "Remember how Dad used to talk about his grandpa being in World War Two, and how nervous he was before he got off the boat in France?"

"Yeah," I mutter.

"I hate to say it Sal, but this is it. The boat is done. The shore is in front of you. Get off of it and just get it over with. D-Day can only happen once, so might as well get in there." She nods.

"I'm also going to pretend you didn't refer to my… to Gia and I as D-Day."

"Whatever floats your boat, brother," she laughs before she turns, Luna's voice summoning her from another floor.

I watch her go. My baby sister is hardly a baby anymore, but the way she knows how to annoy me?

That will never get old. And probably never go away.

She's right though.

I'm wasting time just sitting here in the hallway. The place I need to be is inside that room, with the woman that I love.

Gia and I have always been doing this kind of dance.

But, when we were in Ireland, I realized that the thing that has always worked between us isn't begging or pleading.

It isn't a bargain or negotiation or trying to change Gia in the slightest. Gia doesn't want me to be weak for her. She doesn't need me to be the one who is asking her what to do.

Most of the time, Gia knows exactly what to do.

But now, like all the other times when it's been just us?

She doesn't.

So, the thing that works between us isn't up for debate or negotiation.

It's me.

Telling Gia what to do.

Telling her to take her pleasure.

And in that…

I always take mine.

My body settles into a strange kind of stillness as I reach for the handle. I turn it and propel myself into the room, shutting and locking the door behind me.

The sound echoes in a very weird way as I survey the room.

Inside, it's very still. The door closing is definitely the loudest sound that happened, and for a minute, I wonder if Gia is even breathing.

The bed rustles slightly, though, which lets me know that she's in there. The room is just so quiet…

And dark.

Gia has all the lights off and the curtains drawn. She's laying on the bed facing away from me, and I can just make out the curl of her hair in the dim light.

"Gia," I say softly. "Are you awake?"

"No," she mutters.

Okay. I guess we're starting then.

Purposefully, I stride over to the bed. I sit so that my hips bump against the curve of her ass.

I'm not going to scare her.

But I am going to get her the hell out of the darkness.

"I think you're awake, and we need to talk."

"We've done a lot of talking. I'm tired, Sal. Just…"

I gently run my hands up her neck and fist them in her hair. I tug slightly until Gia's turned over, laying beneath me.

Her eyes are wide, and her lips part slightly in surprise.

"You're right," I say roughly. "I think we're done talking."

Then, I kiss her.

For a heartbreaking second, I'm terrified that Gia won't kiss me back. Then, she moans and melts into my mouth.

And from there, everything sets itself right.

I tighten my grip on her hair as she sits up to put her nails on my scalp, running her fingers up and down as she devours my lips. My other hand drifts down to the curve of her hip, where her soft silk nightgown has risen up over the tops of her thighs as she writhes closer to me in the bed.

"Fuck, Gia," I pant, breaking the kiss for a second to lick the skin of her neck. "You fucking wore this for me, didn't you?"

"No," she says aggressively.

I growl. "When you put this—" I roughly tug the dress up, exposing the naked curve of her hip, "on, you put it on for me. Because no one else is going to do this to you," I grunt.

I punctuate my grunt by sliding two fingers inside of her.

We both moan at that.

"This is mine," I say against the skin of her neck as I pant against the wetness I feel. "All of this is fucking mine, do you understand?"

"Yes," Gia breathes.

"Say it, Gia," I groan.

I'm like a fucking animal right now.

Her smell, the sounds she's making, the fact she's pregnant with my baby… it's lighting something up in my brain that runs deeper than anything I've ever felt before.

I feel like I'm beating my chest and screaming at the world.

This woman is mine.

And if you want her, you have to fucking go through me first.

She moans, but I bite the tendon where her neck meets her shoulder. I do it a little hard and she gasps.

Good.

"Say whose you are," I snarl.

"Yours," Gia whispers. "I'm yours, Sal. I've always been yours. It's always been you," she whispers.

The words send that same primal hormone spiraling through me. My muscles flex and my cock is harder than steel against my pants.

I need to fuck her. Right fucking now.

"Good girl, Gia," I croon as I gently push her back on the bed. In one motion, I tug all of the covers off, revealing her on her clean white sheets.

With the other, I take off my belt. Gia watches, eyes round as I unhook it and slide it from my pants.

My grin feels wicked. "Not today, amore mio," I say, letting the words come from me. "Today, the only thing holding you is me."

Gia's lips part, but I'm already shrugging out of my shirt. Her eyes rove the tattoos on my chest, and I smirk.

"You're mine, Gia," I growl.

I fall down onto the bed, parting her legs as the soft silk of the nightgown reveals her to me. I notch myself at her entrance, watching her eyes roll back in her head as I push inside.

"Tell me again," I groan as I'm part of the way there.

"Fucking… You're so fucking big, Sal," she whispers.

A flush of satisfaction has me pushing in more. "You take me so well, Gia," I purr. "You're meant to take me, all the way, understand?"

She bites her lip and nods. "I…"

I push in all the way, and Gia shrieks.

I need to make sure that she's not in pain.

The thought is alarmingly dim against the reptilian roaring in my brain. Part of me is pleased that she knows, that she remembers how I feel inside her.

Part of me wants her to feel it so she never forgets how I fuck her.

But I also want her to love this as much as I do, so I free one of her beautiful breasts and roughly palm it, pinching her nipple between my fingers.

"Oh fuck." She arches back. "Careful, they're so sensitive," she groans.

Oh.

Oh.

I forgot that the pregnancy hormones might make these a little more tender. Instead of pinching, I let the calluses on my hand rasp against one nipple, and then the other, abrading them into perfect peaks that beg to be licked.

Gia, meanwhile, is writhing on my cock, and from the way she slides on me, I would say that I've done my work.

"Good, Gia," I whisper as I slowly start to pump in and out of her. "You're doing so well, amore mio. See, I told you that you could take me so well."

"Fucking hell, Sal," she moans. She's arching off the bed, offering her perfect breasts up to me. "Just keep fucking going."

"Only if you come for me, my love," I say.

I can tell that the l-word gets to her, but I don't stop. Instead, I push my hips to a punishing pace, slamming into her so that I steal the breath from her.

"I love you, Gia," I grunt. "And unless I'm wrong, you fucking love me too."

"You're…"

I lean forward, scooping one hand under her hips and pulling her up higher. She wraps her legs around my back, and I pound into her.

The new angle is going to drive her absolutely crazy.

"Here's the thing, love," I say, my breath harsh and hissing between each word. "I am. Not. Wrong."

I press down on her clit at the same time as I lean down, pressing a kiss on her lips. She gasps as the orgasm swamps her, and I can feel her tight walls tugging on my cock, draining me as I steal the scream from her mouth.

When I come, it feels like the stars themselves have realigned for us. It rips over me, taking my own sanity as I pour everything I have, everything I am, into Gia.

I'm not sure how much time passes as we stay connected, my hips flat against hers, our bodies one. I'm staring down into her eyes, daring her to say I'm wrong.

That she doesn't love me too.

Gia's staring back. Her cheeks are flushed. I can see tracks where tears have come down her cheeks. With one of my hands, I gently wipe one of them away.

She sighs. "Okay. Fine. I love you too."

The smile that blooms across my face is so filled with joy, I want to shout. "Was that so hard to admit?"

"Yes, you giant oaf." She wiggles a little, but the movement makes us both moan.

"Unless you want to go again, I'd advise you to stop." I smile.

Gia snorts. "And I'd advise you… yeah. Maybe we need a minute," she whispers.

Gently, I extract myself from her. I get a towel to clean her up, but Gia waves a hand. "Make me a bath. And get in it with me."

I smile. "Done."

* * *

Not twenty minutes later,I'm holding her in the bathtub. There are so many bubbles that I can't see her beautiful curves, but I feel them against me, and I'm not going to hide it.

The fact that she's cuddled into my chest makes me very, very hard.

Gia plays with the bubbles in front of us. "I do love you, Sal," she says finally.

"I know."

"You didn't know."

"I knew the minute you were in my arms after Belarus."

I can't see her face, but I'm sure she's making that cute little frown that she makes when she doesn't think I know what I'm talking about.

"I knew every time you asked to spend the night in my room. I knew from when I kissed you in Prague. I've always known, Gia Rossi, that you're the one for me. Mostly because I know that you love me."

"I literally tried to dump you. Multiple times."

"And if you ever try it again, I'll take you up on it," I warn her.

Gia sighs and melts into my arms. "What else do you know about me that I don't know?"

"Nothing. That was it. You're an amazing woman, Gia. You're my queen and I'll do anything for you. But all I ask…" I shuffle, shifting her so my lips are next to her cheek. "All I ask is that you love me."

"Fine. I can do that," she grumbles.

But I can hear the smile under it.

"Good. Now. Are we ready to talk baby names?"

She shudders. "No. This little jerk already tried to kill me."

"No way."

"Seriously. That's how I got kidnapped by Benicio. Liam had to take me to Ireland for treatment."

"Well. Maybe he was just allergic to Irish fuckers," I say thoughtfully.

"Liam isn't that bad…" She doesn't finish that sentence because I pinch one of her nipples.

Hard.

"I thought we were waiting," she pants as she wiggles against me.

"That's overrated." I smile, pulling her in for a kiss. "Never say his name again, okay?"

"But what if…?"

I seal my lips over hers.

Gia Rossi is mine.

My queen.

My heart.

My whole world.

I'm never letting her go.