AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Angela studied his impassive face for a moment. He was very good at that particular expression. But she had gotten better at reading him. Initially, the realization bothered her, but now she kind of liked it. “You did name them. What is it?”
Roman put up a token fight, grumbling for a moment before saying, “Slap and Tickle.” He waggled his eyebrows like an eighties pornography producer.
Angela laughed. He looked ridiculous. But oh, so handsome. How had she not noticed how fun he was before now? She’d been so focused on finding reasons to push him away, that was why. He might kill people as easily as blinking, but he was a funny guy. And kind, she added, thinking of the way he was allowing Claire to stay there rent free. “I’m not calling them that! Can you imagine me saying those names when I have the windows open? What would the neighbors think?!”
“That you’re a lucky, lucky lady,” he said with a smirk.
She snorted in good humor but shook her head. “Come on. Tell me.”
Roman rolled his eyes as if he was irritated and the whole thing was no big deal. “Smith and Wesson. I’ve been calling the white one Smithy and the black one Wes.”
Angela scrunched her nose. “You named them after a gun?”
“I named them after your gun,” Roman corrected her. “You know, the one you threatened me with the day after we met? The one you held onto the entire time we fucked against your kitchen wall?” he asked rhetorically. “That gun.”
Angela’s throat suddenly went dry, thanks to the images bombarding her mind. Roman’s words painted a very accurate picture of what had occurred over six months ago now. She had to clear her throat before she could talk. “Umm, why would you do that?”
“Because it’s one of my favorite memories of all time,” Roman replied.
“Of all time? Seriously?” she asked, thinking he was making another joke.
“I am being serious. You were angry and hurt and scared. You were vulnerable and raw and wide open. I saw it on your face. In those beautiful eyes of yours. And still, you gave yourself over to the pleasure—to me. You hated me, but you still gave yourself to me. You hated being so attracted to me—a criminal and a mafioso. But at that moment, you hated yourself more. You hated whatever past was coming back to haunt you.”
He stepped closer, cupping her cheeks with his palms. “I was happy to be the one you took out your punishment on. And honored. So, yes. It is one of my best memories. And I hope, one day, you’ll be ready to make many more memories with me.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“Angel agreed to a timeshare type of arrangement for Smith and Wesson,” Roman revealed.
Luca’s eyes lit up, and he clapped. “Yay! I’m so happy she’s taking one. I think the little guy will be good for her.” His excitement dimmed a little, and he frowned. “But why didn’t you give her both? I thought that was the plan.”
Instead of heading straight home, Angel was taking a detour with Morrigan. His cousin had challenged her to a duel—her words, not his—upon hearing Angel was trained in Krav Maga. The headstrong doc had been putting it off for months, but she happily handed Smithy back to him just moments ago and followed Morrigan out of his office with a radiant smile on her face.
He had a hard time wiping the grin off his face as well. And it wasn’t because he had two sleeping kittens in his lap. It was because Angel had shared something about her past voluntarily for the very first time. He wanted to fist-pump the sky but didn’t want to wake Wes or Smithy. He wondered why he was so happy over something so small. And why he was settling for crumbs when he had never settled for anything in his life.
Shaking off the disillusioning thoughts, he focused on Luca. “I had intended to give her both, but she noted Wes seems attached to me. It was her idea that I keep him.” He left unsaid how he had fallen for the mischievous little cat in return.
“Uh-huh. It has nothing to do with the fact that, this way, she has to keep coming around so the kittens can play,” Salvatore said from his place beside Luca. “Or that it gives you more liberties to visit her place.”
Luca’s eyes—the exact same shade as their mother’s—widened. “Oooh. Smart.”
Roman tipped his head towards his brother. “That’s why I’m the boss.”
“And as the boss, I think you should see something,” Abel said, striding into the office. The two pit bull mixes followed loyally behind.
Roman stood and carefully deposited the kittens into the basket on his desk. Mario and Luigi had proven themselves to be wonderfully tempered dogs who showed no aggression towards the cats. In fact, their tails wagged a mile a minute whenever they saw them. Like now. Mario’s butt moved madly from side to side with the force of his happiness. But none of them were taking any chances, and they were still being overly cautious. Triggers were hard to predict. Roman was confident time would take care of the minor trust issues.
“Mario! Luigi!” Luca cried, getting onto his knees so he could hug the big dogs. Claire had been the one to name the dogs. Apparently, she was a closet gaming nerd.
“What do you want me to see?” Roman turned to his second-in-command. “And will you please knock? What if I was doing something private?”
“Like wanking,” Luca supplied. He looked up at Abel and Sal. “He does that a lot these days.”
“Mario. Luigi. Kill,” Roman commanded, pointing at his brother. The two dogs attacked, jumping on Luca and licking his face off. Or so it looked to Roman. But based on Luca’s happy laughter, that wasn’t the case.
He ignored the subject of his solo sex life and addressed Abel again. “What’s going on?”
“Turn on the security feed for the gym,” he said, already moving to the large monitor on the office’s west wall.
