On The Ropes (28 page)

“
N
o
, no, not there. Put it a little higher. No, move it to the left. No, hmm, maybe the right?” I studied the framed painting of cupcakes and cocked my head. “It’s still not working. What do you think, hon?” I asked offhandedly, wanting to include Gio in the process, though to be honest his opinion was an afterthought.

He didn’t ask my opinion in the ring, and I didn’t ask his opinion on where to stack my cupcakes. We had a system, and it worked just fine for us.

“I think your sister’s about to break that painting over your head, and then my brother will be pissed because it took him a month to get the colors just right.”

I sighed. My sister was all twitchy today, and evidently Dante was Mr. Sensitive Artist. And jeez, people accused
me
of being the hormonal one. “Fine, just put it wherever.”

My sister slapped it on a hook right where she was and got down off the stepladder, leaving my cupcakes at an almost diagonal angle.

Yeah, well, I’d be fixing
that
the moment the lot of them had cleared out. I’d just have to wait, because at six and a half months preggo, everyone flipped the hell out every time I even touched a stepladder.

Apparently looking like a beach ball wasn’t enough evidence you had plenty of cushioning.

“I’m going to go downstairs and finish setting up the books,” Mia said, moving to the door of my café/bakery/happy food place. “Then we can take pictures, because this place is almost freaking done, and Safe House and Dangerous Treats will be ready for opening day next week.”

I bit my lip at the name of my place. I still worried about it. Did it seem to be making light of Safe House’s mission? I hoped not. I’d just thought it was a cute play on words, and you know, with my being with a former mob dude, it was kind of ironic.

“Do you think I should change—” I began.

“No,” all three of them said in unison.

I scrunched up my nose. “Fine, fine. You’ve done your duty here, now scram.”

“About damn time,” Fox said, unfolding himself from one of my brand new white chairs, that went with the adorable round pedestal tables that had cost a mint.

They’d actually cost Gio and Mia a mint, because I still wasn’t bringing in much on the moolah side of the street. But I would be. I still wasn’t fond of letting other people pay my way, but right now, I needed help. They loved me, and I would return the favor for all they’d done as soon as I could. This place was going to be a success if it killed me.

And if it wasn’t, once the baby was born I’d just go back to stripping.

Kidding. No stripping for me. I was done with that, for good. Besides, my stretch marks were killer these days.

“Hold it. I have something I’d like to take care of,” Gio said, rising from the little settee in the corner that was supposed to be casual seating and yet most often served as a bed for Princess, my Yorkie puppy. Even now she was sitting there with a hopeful expression in her big eyes and her floppy pink bow hanging halfway off her head.

“Uh, now? You probably want privacy.” Mia gripped the door handle. “We’ll give you privacy.”

“No, we won’t,” Fox said cheerfully, sliding his arm through Mia’s. “We’re just going to stand right here and watch.”

“Pervert,” she muttered.

I frowned as Gio kneeled before me. The only time I saw him in that position was when he was praying…or uh, serving at the altar of
me
. And my thighs definitely were not open at this time.

Then the lightbulb flashed in my mind and I covered my mouth. “You’re not…oh boy, yes you are,” I said as he popped open a navy blue jeweler’s box and showed me a baseball-sized diamond.

It really wasn’t the size of a baseball. Maybe a golf ball. But my hands aren’t big, and compared to them, that was some freaking rock.

Compared to
anything
, that was some freaking rock.

“Yes,” I said, holding out my hand.

Gio started to laugh. God, I loved that sound. “I didn’t ask yet.”

“No need. We can expedite this. Yes, I’ll marry you, yes, I’ll wear that gorgeous ring, and yes, I’m so going to climb up that stepladder the minute any of you turn your back.” I grinned. “Now gimme. Please.”

He slipped the ring on my finger, and it fit perfectly, even accounting for swelling. I wasn’t the least bit surprised. The guy had a way about him. When he set out to do something, he always nailed it, one hundred percent.

He nailed me pretty often too, especially when the second trimester had kicked in. Hoo boy.

“Thank you,” he whispered, rising and drawing me into his arms. We didn’t quite embrace like we once had, considering the belly, but it was still the best hug I’d ever had in my life. “Thank you for giving me the honor of becoming my wife.”

“No problem.” When Fox snorted behind him, I tried to backtrack. Lately the always dubious filter on my mouth had been completely missing. I blamed hormones, and possibly an alien abduction. “Um, I mean, thank you also, and when can we get married?”

“Anytime you want. Dante said he’d fly back whenever we needed him to.” Gio’s brows lowered. “If you want him there. Your call.”

Dante hadn’t yet managed to mostly extricate himself from the mob life, unlike Gio, but from what I could tell, he wasn’t even trying. He enjoyed the women and the power and oh, the women. Now that he was in line to take over his father’s place, he was spending more time on the west coast and less in New York, which meant he was probably getting even deeper into the roots of the organization in Vegas, their hometown.

I didn’t want those kind of people swarming around us—or my kid—but Dante was Gio’s brother, and I owed him my life.

“Of course I do,” I said, pressing a kiss to the dark thatch of hair peeking out of the open vee of his shirt. “As long as I’m getting married to you, I don’t care who else is there.”

“He’s not going to be my best man,” Gio said quickly, stepping back to point at Fox. “That one is. Even if he’s still a pussy who won’t fight me again, fair and square.”

“Same dance, different day. Stop your whining.” Fox grinned and came over to kiss me on the top of the head. “Congratulations, lovely lady.”

“Thank you. What, no more squirt?”

“Nah. I’m saving squirt for this one now.” He gave my belly a quick pat and returned to my sister’s side. My sister, who had suspiciously bright eyes.

“Oh my God, I can’t believe you’re really getting married.” She bundled me up in a huge hug and we dance-rocked back and forth, sniffling, as we had since the beginning of time when something amazing happened. Or awful. We pretty much always cried and dance-rocked. “I’m going to be your maid-of-honor, right?”

“Well, duh. You had that on lock.” I grinned up at her and tapped her nose. “Though you know, you could always make that
matron
of honor,” I teased, glancing over at Fox.

“Funny you should mention that,” he began.

Mia’s eyes went wide. “Uh, I gotta go outside. Because it’s hot in here, and I’m feeling faint. And oh yeah, the books downstairs. Those really need shelving. Congratulations, love you, see you!” She bolted out the door and down the stairs so fast that Fox and Gio nearly busted their guts laughing.

I just smiled. “You’re softening her up. Keep working at it,” I told Fox.

“Oh, I intend to. Because I picked up something when I went ring shopping with this jerk.” He took a black ring box out of his pocket and just as quickly tucked it away again. “Just waiting for the right time. Hopefully it’ll be before we’re both in walkers.”

“Aww, that’s awesome.” I rushed over to hug him again. “I’m so excited for you. Maybe if you make it happen, even Slater will come.”

The mention of Slater’s name made the amusement fade from Fox’s eyes. Slater wasn’t any more of a fixture in his life now than he’d been six months ago, after the whole Olivia thing had blown up, and I knew he still missed his best friend a lot. We all did.

“Yeah, maybe,” he said quietly, glancing out the door. “I’m going to go make sure your sister isn’t breaking things downstairs out of sheer panic.” He grinned at me, then at Gio. “Congrats again. I’m really happy for you two.”

Once the door had closed, I glanced back at Gio. And giggled. I sounded drunk, and I hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol in forever. “I have to call a lot of people.”

“You do,” he said, drawing me back into his arms. My favorite place to be.

“Jenna and Kizzy first. Kizzy will start screaming at me, but I’ll deal.”

“Why would she scream at you?” he asked, leading me in a slow dance, sans music, around the high-polished black-and-white tile floor. While we moved together, he slid one hand over my full belly, cupping the baby as he did so often these days.

It had been a bit rocky at first. He still had a lot of guilt concerning Emilia and the child they’d lost, and I knew he feared losing me and our baby the same way. At first he’d seemed hesitant to develop too strong of an attachment to our kid, maybe fearing it would be snatched away, but in time he’d fallen as in love with the baby as I had. He’d helped redecorate the spare bedroom in his apartment into a nursery, and was on track to buy enough toys to fill a stadium before he or she had even made an appearance.

We were keeping the baby’s sex a surprise until the birth. It was hard being patient, but I had to think it’d be the best surprise ever.

“Because I’m not fulfilling the feminist agenda by getting knocked up and married,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Men are supposed to be strictly for riding.”

“Maybe if she rode one more, she’d be less snippy about it?”

“Oh, she rides plenty. That girl gets more ass than the bathroom at the Kum and Go.” I giggled again. “The problem is she wants hottie hell boss’s ass, and she hates herself for it.” At the flare in his eyes, I frowned. “Did I say hottie? I meant homely.”

“Uh-huh.” He shook his head and grinned at me. “Hottie hell boss. This sounds like a story.”

“It does, doesn’t it?” I sighed and settled my head against his chest.

I’d lied. In his arms was my second favorite place to be. With my head on his chest was my first.

I was just so stupidly happy right now that I could burst. My baby was healthy, school was going well, the café was about to open. Now I was getting married. Not everything in my life was perfect—far from it—but it sure felt like it right now.

“Let’s get busy writing a new chapter in ours, then we’ll worry about Kizzy’s love life.” He stroked a hand down my hair. “What do you say, almost-Mrs. Costas?”

Grinning, I leaned up to kiss him. “Mr. Costas, I like how you think.”

S
UCKERPUNCH
, book 4 in the Tapped Out series, the story of Sutton Pierce and Kizzy Cavanaugh. Preorder coming soon!

B
LOWN OUT
, book 5 in the Tapped Out series, the story of Slater Walsh and Olivia Latimer. Preorder coming soon!

K
NOCKOUT
, a bonus novella in the Tapped Out series, the story of Emerson Knapp, JC O’Connor and Lily Matthews. More info coming soon!

S
he's
in for the fight of her life...with the man who only wants to be her lover.

Fighter Mia Anderson has faced the dark side of life and survived. But just getting by is no longer enough. To fund her new life with her baby sister, she’s determined to beat the reigning king of the male fighters in New York’s underground MMA circuit, Tray “Fox” Knox.

Tray refuses to fight a woman, until he learns Mia’s tougher than anyone he has ever known. He soon realizes he wants more from her than blows and blood, and he’s willing to hit below the belt to get it. He’ll fight her, but if he wins, she spends the night in his bed. All night long, his rules. No tapping out.

Mia agrees, certain that he’ll lose. What she doesn’t realize is that Tray loves to fight dirty…and that this match may end up being the most important one of their lives.

S
he wouldn’t take
no for an answer. Until he said yes.

Carly Anderson is tired of playing it safe, and a big, brooding MMA fighter seems like the perfect cure for her tendency to stay on the straight and narrow. But Giovanni Costas is battling demons she’ll never understand and has needs she’s never been confronted with before. Maybe just one night will be enough to change her life—change her—for good.

Unless he gives her no choice but to run right back to the security she’s always known…

H
e won’t stop
until she’s his, forever…

When former SEAL Liam Walsh walked away from Abby Sinclair over two years ago, he thought he knew how much he was leaving behind. After a combat injury forces him into medical retirement, he begins to pick up the pieces of his shattered life. First stop: to try reconnect with his estranged younger brother, Slater. He just never imagined the person who would open Slater’s door would be Abby.

Though her relationship with Slater is now strictly platonic, Abby knows how things must look to Liam. In spite of still being hurt by the way he dumped her, she can’t fight her feelings for him, especially when he pulls out the stops to seduce her. Giving him her body is one thing, but that doesn’t mean she’s convinced that he has changed enough for her to risk her heart again.

Time is running out and Liam only has one weekend to prove to Abby that he’s ready to be the man she needs. If only they can stop getting horizontal—and vertical—long enough to talk…