The Beauty and the Brawler (15 page)

          Samara’s nails dug into his chest, her head falling forward, causing her cascade of braids to shield her face, but he’d seen her expression so many times in this position that he knew she was chewing her bottom lip; eyes tightly closed. Didn’t mean he didn’t want to
see
that expression, over and over again. He moved her hair to the side, watching with excitement as her breath shuddered out. Pregnancy had made her insatiable.

          It was rare that more than two days went by without them on the bed...or couch...or counter...or the backseat of his truck. She’d cut back on her hours at the station and was choosing projects closer to home now so she had much more energy than in her first trimester, an energy he was more than grateful for.

          Everything about Samara made him eager to be home when he wasn’t out developing new products with the designers of his sports line, investing with Sansone, or visiting the boys’ home. No matter how many times she complained about how her chest wouldn’t fit into a certain shirt anymore, he saw no issue. No matter how many times she got irritated because she’d gained another pound, he simply saw more of her to put his mouth on. And no matter how many times she grumbled about getting aroused at the oddest moments of the day, he only saw more opportunities to make her scream his name.

          They’d done several magazine layouts and a few interviews where she’d expressed to anyone that would listen how she felt like a beached whale. Luciano, on the other hand, had no problem publicly disagreeing.

          In the last few months her breasts had become fuller, her hips a bit wider, and the essence between her thighs headier. He wanted to be in her pussy as many times as she let him. Just like now.

          “Luc...” Samara whimpered.

          He bit the inside of his cheek, lifting his hips as he held onto her waist. “Yes,
bella?”

         
“Need...”

          “Need what?”

          “Your hands on me...” She gripped his wrists, tugging them from her hips to place one against her chest and the other between her thighs. “
Please.”

         
How could he deny her when she begged so prettily? With one hand he tugged at her nipples, the areolas thicker and darker than they’d been months ago. With the other he placed his thumb on her lips, waiting until she swirled her tongue around it, and then put it to her clit and rubbed it in firm circles until he felt her suddenly go still before shuddering as a broken cry left her mouth.

          Luciano rolled them, getting her beneath him, spread her thighs farther apart, and watched his cock slide between her folds until the sight was enough to cause him to erupt. With a sigh, he withdrew and walked to the bathroom to find a clean cloth to cleanse himself. He tossed it into the hamper and grabbed another. By the time he made his way back to Samara, she was curled onto her side, soft snores leaving her parted lips every few seconds.

          Chuckling, he gently cleaned her before settling next to her ever-growing belly.

          “Hey there, little one,” Luciano whispered, placing a kiss just below her navel. “Not feeling too active today?” He pressed a palm to her side, knowing that usually got their son or daughter to move, and sure enough a solid thump came through from the inside. “Ah, there’s my girl. You know, Mommy thinks you’re a boy.” There was another kick and he laughed softly. “I take it you’re insulted.”

          They’d had discussion after discussion over the fact she was sure they were having a son. There was a fifty/fifty chance it could go either way. Absently, he ran his hand over her tummy as he wondered if there was a possibility he had more family out there, maybe even more siblings.

          “I think she’s a little doubtful as to what my intent is here,” he whispered. “But I think you should know how much I love you both.” It didn’t matter that he wasn’t sure about his own family history. He
had
a family. The baby had put things in perspective for him. He had so much love in his life, enough that it could overwhelm anyone else.

          Now he just needed to make it official.

          “
You
are going to be an Antonelli...and so is Mommy.”

***

“I don’t want your excuses!” Luciano bellowed at his brother. “Nor do I ever want to discuss your nefarious activities again.” He pointed a finger in Sansone’s face as several toddlers and a few preschoolers hung off the other man like marsupials, giggling. “But whatever you’re doing with Nyssa better end in love and marriage.” He was sure she didn’t need anyone to be protective of her; she was scary in her own right but he felt a need to make sure things between her and Sansone wouldn’t end with anyone hurt.

          “What do you think I’ve been trying to do for the last six years?”

         
Luciano waved a hand. “I don’t wanna hear it, defiler.”

          “Hello, pot!” Sansone stuck out a hand. “I’m kettle.”

          Narrowing his eyes at his sibling, Luciano took a few steps back and yelled, “Attack!” Then he watched with glee as his suave brother was pulled to the ground by dozens of boys jumping all over his nice new clothes and mussing all that hair.

          “You bastard!” Sansone yelled. “I’ll get you for this!”

          Luciano simply smirked and turned away, walking until he spotted one lone kid sitting on the double deck, staring off. He took a seat next to said kid. “What’s going on, De Rossi?”

          Marco shrugged. “Nothin.’” It wasn’t like him to be alone these days. He’d adjusted pretty well to his new surroundings, even made a few friends. His grades had upped during the school year, and that chip on his shoulder faded after just a few weeks of self-defense lessons with Luciano. There hadn’t even been any more fights.

          He nodded.

          “So...” the kid started slowly. “You gonna marry her?” He nodded toward Samara, who sat with Nyssa about a yard away on a picnic bench, coloring with some of the younger boys.

          “I plan on it,” he answered honestly.

          Marco went silent, and Luciano turned to look at him. “What’s on your mind, kid?”

          “I like her,” Marco answered. “She’s good for you.”

          “She’s good for you too.”

          The boy grinned. “Yeah. She is.” His smile faded. “But I guess with the baby coming you won’t have as much time to visit.”

          “Probably not,” Luciano said. “I’m sure the others will miss seeing me around here.”

          Nodding, Marco answered, “Yeah.” An air of sadness surrounded the boy, like he wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words. He didn’t have to. Luciano already had them. On his way up with Samara, they’d talked about his final decision to adopt Marco as his son. Her scream had hit decibels he hadn’t even thought possible, but he took it to mean she was happy if the tears were any indication.

          “But I’m sure
you
won’t miss me...I mean...since you’ll be seeing me every day and all.”

          The kid’s head snapped up as she stared at Luciano. “What?”

          Luciano shrugged again. “Yeah. The way I see it, I’ll be home most of the time once I go into retirement, even with this new business venture—something about gyms or whatever—Sunny keeps bugging me about,
but
you may get sick of looking at me across the breakfast table every day. Or is it a nook? The last house Sammie and I looked at had a nook. I dunno what the difference is there, I gotta tell yah.”

          “Are you...are you saying...you wanna adopt me?” Marco’s voice dropped to a whisper. If Luciano wasn’t mistaken, he’d swear he saw a sheen in the boy’s eyes.

          He swallowed the lump in his throat. “What do you say, kid? How do you feel about me being your old man?”

Marco twisted his lips, coolly replying, “Sounds good, I guess.” The tremble could be heard in his voice, though.

Luciano nodded once. “Great.” He ran a shaky hand through his hair. “I take it you don’t mind being a big brother.”

“Nope.”

“And you’ll probably want a boxing theme for your room, eh?”

“Yup.”

They stared at each other for the longest moment before Luciano said, “On the count of three, we’re gonna take a break from the man code law of never expressing feelings in public and hug each other. Then we’ll never speak of this moment again. Got it?”

Marco didn’t even allow him to get to the count of three. And Luciano was okay with that.

***

         
“Those two look mighty happy about something.”

          Samara looked up from coloring with the little guy beside her and stared across the yard where Luciano and Marco were locked together in a tight hug. She smiled. “He must’ve told him about the adoption.”

          “He’s finally going through with it?”

          “Paperwork is already in.”

          Nyssa’s squeal made Samara’s baby turn over. She palmed her belly. “Bring it down a notch, woman.”

          “Sorry. Can’t help it.” She clapped her hands. “You have a whole family coming together.”

          “Anybody but me know how much of a hopeless romantic you are?” Samara questioned her sibling.

          “No, and you’ll keep the secret or face my wrath.”

          They both watched Sansone run past their table, screaming for help as a tribe of boys chased him down holding water guns and balloons.

          “Your wrath look anything like that?”

          Nyssa winced as Sansone tripped and hit the ground hard
,
the boys swarming like a group of bees. “No.”

          “Then I’m not as afraid as I should be.”

          Her sister turned to her. “I think you should tell Luc you love him.”

          Samara’s eyes went wide. “I think you should never speak those words again.”

          “Sammie, the man is head over unnaturally large heels for you.”

          “He’s head over unnaturally large heels for the
baby.”

         
“
Wow,
you’re stupid.”

          Gripping Nyssa’s shoulders, Samara turned her toward a struggling Sansone, who was now screaming, “Not the hair! Oh, God, not the hair!” They both grimaced. “We gonna discuss your apparent new habit of finding yourself under Sunny’s person?”

          “Never,” Nyssa answered.

          “Then this subject is closed.”

          “I think you’re wrong about Luc.”

          “I think you’re wrong about a lot of stuff.”

          Nyssa looked like she was about to pop Samara in the mouth, but Sansone hollering, “Someone! Anyone! Save me from the demon seeds!” stopped her. With a sigh, she stood. “I’m going to help him.” She pointed at Samara. “The moment he proposes, I wanna know.”

          “He’s not gonna propose!” she called as Nyssa walked away. Turning, she saw Luciano standing now, eyes focused on her with a look that astounded her momentarily. “At least I don’t
think
he will...”

          “I really think this is the one, Luc. Look at the layout for upstairs. We can put the baby’s room right beside ours, and Marco down the hall—that way he has his own bathroom. It’d be a longer commute to work in the morning, but on the days I’m too tired to actually
go
in I can call in instead.”