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I glare at him. “Do not make me kill you in front of the girls.”
Dillon hands me a glass of champagne and glances around at the blue and pink balloons and streamers. “Are we seriously having a baby shower for a dog?”
Mateo shakes his head. “It’s the Trinity years all over again.” He looks around. “Where is she?”
Sin smiles. “Father Marc drove her to the airport. They’re picking up Leo, Ivy, and their brood.”
I chime in, “It’s the first time their tribe meets ours. Z’s kids will meet Sofie and Lili, and everyone is excited. We’ve got tents set up out back, and I’ll be arm wrestling Leo to see who gets to read to them all.”
Smoke chuckles. “Just so we’re clear, I have no intentions of patting either of you down. So, no weapons.”
Suddenly, Sofia wraps both hands around my leg and growls up at “Uncle” Smoke. I’m not sure what that’s all about, but I kiss her head, knowing this will make for an interesting first day of school.
Then my wife reemerges, radiant and glowing. “We have puppies!” she announces, all smiles and a little weepy.
We all file in, the girls first, then the rest of us. I’m last because I need a few minutes alone with my Bella to make sure she’s all right.
Before I even ask, she’s already nodding, reading the concern etched on my face. “I’m fine. Just emotional.”
My hand automatically finds her belly, and she looks at me lovingly. I kiss her lips, losing myself in this woman the way I always have. Since the first moment I laid eyes on her, a spark of want and possession so deep ignited, it could only be love.
Machiavelli once said it is safer to be feared than loved, but only if you cannot have both. For all my life before Kennedy, I ruled by fear. But now, with a growing family and this woman who brings me to my knees by my side, I choose both.
“What’s with you two?” Dante asks, taking a breather from snapping photos and makes his way over, smiling as he notices my hand around Kennedy’s belly.
“Nothing,” we both say in unison. Innocently, though, I don’t move my hand. That wish is too fragile and precious to voice out loud, so for now, it remains a quiet secret between us.
But I suspect my Bella will be right behind Katarina in the baby parade. The cat’s already out of the bag on that one, and she’s just starting to show.
“I took a ton of pics for Riley,” Kennedy says hopefully. It’s been a difficult time. Riley’s not ready to talk to anyone about her sister marrying me—the man responsible for her father’s death—and from her point of view, we understand. Still, it’s been months.
I kiss her lips. “Give it time. She’ll come around,” I assure Bella.
She better. Kennedy has no idea the surprise I have in store for her: a baby moon in Elafonisi Beach with the kids, the dogs, and her sister. A trip which is currently on hold until Riley returns.
My Bella nods and shifts her attention to the girls, joining them as the laughter of two little girls fills the room.
The moment she’s out of earshot, my demeanor hardens. “You’re taking care of it?” I ask in a low voice. Riley missed the adoption. If she misses the birth of our child, it would devastate my Bella, and that’s not happening.
Dante nods. “It’s handled.” The situation is delicate, and I know it. It took Trinity four years to speak after her attack. Patience is my strong suit. As a family man and a torturer, it’s a trait that serves me well.
My brother, though, not so much. People mistake his smile for being easygoing. If only they knew.
Get on Dante’s bad side, and he makes my temper and thirst for blood look like a domesticated pussycat.
I pat Dante’s shoulder. Weeks ago, I told him to handle it, and I know he will. “Your assurance is all I need. I trust you implicitly.”
Bella waves me over, and I join them, staring down at the infant pups, which look like strange little wriggling potatoes.
“Aren’t they perfect, Papa?” Lili asks.
I brush the curls from her face. “Not as perfect as you and your sister, but they’re a close second.”
Kennedy looks up at me, and I see the glint in her eyes—the fire. In a few short hours, I know that one of us will be in total control while the other will be tied up and slowly tortured for hours.
A slow grin spreads across my face. Who’ll be begging for mercy? I haven’t got a goddamned clue.
Hate sex with Kennedy is heaven. But her like this—supercharged on hormones and eager to please—it’s like having my entire body doused in kerosene and set on fire. It’s so next-level, so beyond anything I’ve ever felt or experienced...
