Page 22 of The Boss's Revenge

Hana patted the floor next to her. She and Kat, formerly Katya Ivanov, weren’t technically married to Lucianos. Between the women in the room, they managed to cover three out of the five major New York city families. Lucianos, Songs, and Ivanovs, united by blood and matrimony. They were unstoppable.

“This is the tour,” Chiara said and raised a bottle of champagne and drank directly from it. She offered it to me and it felt like a test.

“She can’t. She’s pregnant, remember?” Kat smirked and met my eyes. Tension eased from my shoulders as Suna snorted.

“Right, and I’m the Queen of England. If you’re worried about Vincenzo, don’t be. He already knows Rocco only said that to make him understand how serious he was.”

I took the bottle from Chiara with a smile that was altogether too shy for someone that used to be more familiar with slicing a man’s face up, than gossiping in a walk-in wardrobe. I felt like an alien.

I took a drink, and tipped my head back, leaning it on a shelf of shoes behind me.

The expensive bubbles tickled my throat and sent warmth through my chest.

“So, this is it, isn’t it? We are all accounted for?” Suna said after a moment.

I looked around, wondering what I’d missed.

She looked at me. “We were just waiting for you to brave the upstairs, without your bodyguard Rocco at your side. The man barely leaves you alone.”

My cheeks warmed. I didn’t confess that I’d made him promise, at knifepoint, never to leave me alone with his family.

“What are we meeting for?”

“We are meeting for our first, Sunday lunch Wives club er, meet up,” Suna trailed off.

“We need a better name than that,” Elena said.

“Yeah, we definitely do. Anyway, we are the wives. There’s no one else that can join this exclusive club. So, from now on, with just as much seriousness as we took our wedding vows, let us pledge – we have each other’s back, no matter what.We are the wives,” Suna said. Something stirred in my chest. An unfamiliar kind of feeling, a melancholy to belong, a gratitude to stay in one place. A curiosity about what the future held. What kind ofperson would I grow into, with five other women at my back and Rocco at my side?

“Are you in?” Chiara turned to me with mock seriousness, raising her little pinkie in a cute gesture.

It was quiet as I hooked my finger around hers.

“I’m in.”

Rocco

Kira seemedrelaxed and tired as we left lunch, and drove home. I had Alberto drive because I wanted to be alone in the backseat with my wife. Yep, three hours with other people had been far too long. With my father retired and returned to Italy, Vincenzo had continued his lunch tradition. I’d thought I’d have to bribe Kira to go there, but to my surprise, she seemed to have had fun.

“So, how did it go upstairs? Did you make any friends?” I wondered, sliding my fingers between hers.

She turned a smile at me. She wasn’t a person who beamed or even knew how, but that was ok. Kira’s smiles were hard won and I cherished every single one.

“I actually think I might have, five of them,” she said with quiet disbelief.

“I’m not surprised. They’ll love you, who wouldn’t?” Pressing a kiss onto the back of her hand, my hunger stirred, something I hadn’t thought possible after the five-course meal we’d just eaten. Being around Kira did that though. I was insatiable for my wife. I turned her so she slid down the seat, and I settled myself between her legs. She blinked at me, clearly surprised.

“Surely you’re too full to do anything right now?” Her continued innocence, contrasted with her cynical street smarts never failed to make me smile.

“I am sleepy, but don’t forget, we told our entire family that you’re pregnant. We swore in front of your father, and the capo of the Luciano family.” I leaned in and started to kiss her neck. Her head fell back, giving me further access. “So, it’s my duty to make sure that it’s true. It’s a matter of honor,” I murmured.

Her slim body bounced under mine with laughter. “Well, you do have a reputation to uphold and responsibility as a Luciano not to mislead people,” she whispered breathlessly, arching her back into me, as my hands slipped under the silk hem of her top.

“Hmm, that’s correct, so, no matter where we are, or what we’re doing, if we’re alone, I’ll be inside you, filling you up, until you have your own pregnancy test to show the family at Sunday lunch. Sound good?”

Kira laughed and held me tight.

“Sounds good.”

My grin could no doubt be seen from space. “Then, Mrs. Luciano, let’s get started.”