“Thoroughly satisfied.”
I pursed my lips. “Dante.”
“Your hairdo is messed up.”
I peered into the window and let my hair down. It was a mess.
Dante headed toward the door, and I perched innocently on the desk.
The moment Dante unlocked the door, Leonas stumbled inside. When he spotted me, his frown deepened. “Mom, why are you here?”
Anna’s eyes twisted with horror as if she had a suspicion. “Oh man,” she got out. She turned on her heel and stalked away.
Leonas watched her disappear with confusion.
“What’s so important that it can’t wait until I’m done with work?” Dante asked firmly.
“Anna’s done with homework and wanted to dress up Bea. I told her she can’t.”
“That was so important you tried to rip out my door handle?”
Leonas glanced at me. “Anna thinks Bea is her responsibility because she’s the older one, but I’m the boy. I will be the man in the house when Dad’s gone.”
“Already planning my early death?” Dante asked with a hint of dry humor.
Leonas’ eyes grew wide. “No! I mean when you’re out for business. I’m the man then.”
Dante touched Leonas’ shoulder. “When I’m not home, you’re supposed to keep an eye on your sisters and Mom, but that requires that you follow orders, especially the guards’ orders as long as you aren’t old enough to protect yourself and our family. A man needs to know his responsibilities and right now yours is to make your homework.”
“Okay,” Leonas said reluctantly.
He trudged away.
I gave Dante a lingering kiss before I went in search of Anna to see how disturbed she actually was. I found her in Bea’s nursery, looking through outfits. “Are you okay?” I asked.
“Please don’t give me the talk again,” Anna begged, her cheeks turning red. “I just want to pretend you and Dad aren’t doing stuff.”
I bit my lip, stifling amusement. “All right.”
“I’m looking for a cute outfit for Bea for the afternoon. Luisa is coming over and I want to show her how cute Bea is in plaid.”
Anna was growing up so fast. Now her interest in fashion was almost as big as in art. Almost thirteen, my God. Time flew. Sometimes she already drove me up the wall with her first tentative teenage antics.
Bea began squirming in her crib. “I think you’re in luck.”
I lifted Bea out of her bed and she beamed up at me with sleepy green eyes. She had inherited Dante’s blond hair and my eyes, a combination that always got admiring glances.
“This?” Anna held up a plaid dress and a white romper with frills around the neckline. I let Anna change Bea’s nappy and dress her, then took over so Anna could put on a matching outfit.
She came out of her room in a plaid skirt and a beige cashmere sweater, beaming. She looked so grown up then, and absolutely stunning. It was strange to hold one baby girl in my arms while my first baby girl was ready to hit puberty with full speed.
* * *
An hour later, I stood on the porch, wrapped in a thick coat and a blanket around Bea and me while I watched Leonas, Anna, and Luisa engage in one of the most enthusiastic snowball fights I’d ever seen. They laughed loudly as they pummeled each other with snowballs. It had snowed all morning and our garden had turned into a winter wonderland.
Anna giggled then shrieked when Leonas’ snowball hit her butt.
One moment half grown-up, the next back to being children. What a strange phase in life, but one I didn’t want to miss. Despite Bea’s need for attention, I was determined to spend as much time with Leonas and Anna as possible. Before I could blink, they’d be adults.
Hands came down on my shoulders and Dante brushed a kiss against my cheek, then pressed another one to Bea’s head. “Isn’t it too cold for you?”
I shook my head. “I’ll come in soon. I don’t want to miss this. Who knows if Anna’s still going to enjoy snowball fights next year?”
Dante wrapped his arms around me. “Already becoming wistful?”
I shrugged. “I just want to enjoy every day, every single second. I’m so happy right now. I want to conserve this exact moment and keep it in my memory forever.”
“So many moments of happiness still lie ahead of us, Val.”
I turned away from the fight to look up at Dante. “That’s my line.” I was the one who always tried to see the positive.
Dante chuckled. “You’ve rubbed off on me over the years.” He kissed me and Leonas groaned loudly. Then cried out in surprise as Luisa hit him in the face.
I shook my head, laughing but then became serious at the look on Dante’s face.
“Fourteen years, and I’m still waiting for the day when you don’t make me love you a little more every second I spend with you.”
I blinked. “That’s a lot of love over the years,” I got out. “But you started on a very low level.”
Dante ran his thumb over my cheek. “I’m not without failure. I’ve made so many mistakes over the years. You and our children aren’t one of them, and every moment of suffering, of pain, of uncertainty was worth it, because it ultimately brought me to this moment.”
“I love you,” I said quietly, trying very hard not to cry. Anna had already suffered one moment of mortification today. If I started bawling in front of Luisa without any apparent reason, she’d experience her second.
Dante’s hold on me tightened. “And I love you, and every day a little more even if it seems impossible.”
“It’s a good thing that love’s infinite,” I said softly. Dante pulled me even tighter against him and Bea beamed up at him. Leonas and Anna laughed boisterously.
Surrounded by endless love. It couldn’t get any better than that.
BOUND BY BLOOD
Anthology
AUTHOR’S NOTE
This is a collection of short stories featuring different couples plus a novella about Matteo and Gianna.
I don’t like to give trigger warnings because they spoil the storyline, but this book deals with a topic that might be upsetting to some readers. I can’t say more, so proceed with caution.
SHORT STORY # 1
Aria & Luca Gym Scene
(from the Books for Boobies Charity Anthology, 2015)
Aria
Luca and I entered the shabby brick building that harbored the gym of the Famiglia, the mob family that ruled New York and most of the East Coast. Behind the rusty steel door, one of Luca’s soldiers sat guard, a middle-aged man who was busy cleaning his guns; outsiders weren’t really welcome, not that I thought anyone ever came here by accident. This wasn’t the most inviting part of New York after all.
The guard straightened in his chair when he spotted his Capo. Over time, I’d grown used to the looks of respect and fear that Luca evoked in others. Even if he weren’t the head of one of the most notorious mob families in the country, his tall frame and imposing muscles intimidated most people. Not to mention the fierce brutality in his gray eyes. They only ever softened when he looked at me.