“No,” Tommy says roughly, that edge to his voice again that makes my head spin. “Don’t clean yourself up. You’re marked. You’ll leave my mark on you.”
I practically feel like purring as I straighten up and look at him, rearranging my dress so that it falls naturally. “Because I’m yours.”
“Exactly,” Tommy breathes, lifting my chin with his fingers to kiss me deeply for just a moment.
“Boss?”
The knock on the door came not a second too soon. Tommy opens the door to reveal Ricky standing on the other side of it, looking nervous. “Donovan Bianco is here,” Tommy states. “I know. We’re coming.”
“He’s in the entrance hall,” Ricky says. “We didn’t know where you wanted him.”
“In the sitting room,” Tommy says decisively. “Clear everyone else out. We’re not to be disturbed, no matter how long it takes. And, Ricky?”
“Yes, boss?”
“I want you outside the room where I can call on you if I need you. But only if you’re called, understand?”
“Got it, boss.”
Tommy reaches for my hand and I take it, following him nervously to meet my father, wishing we could just turn around and go back to do what we just did again – something I’m not going to be able to forget, given that I can still feel him deep inside me.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Tommy
The air is tense and awkward from the moment we step inside the room to meet Carina’s father – with her hand still firmly in mine.
“I have the money,” he starts, but cuts himself off, looking between us.
“Dad,” Carina starts, clearly ready to explain everything.
“What… is going on here?” Donovan interrupts. I have the feeling that he really doesn’t want to know. “I have the money to pay her ransom. You must give her back to me.”
“She’s free to go if she wants to,” I tell him, short and to the point. “In fact, she’s been free to go for a while. I told her she could return to you, and I wouldn’t stop her.”
Donovan frowns. “Then… you don’t want the money?”
“I don’t,” I say, glancing at the duffel bag he’s brought with him and away. “But that’s not the point, really.”
“Then, what is?”
I actually feel sorry for the man. He looks totally lost, bewildered. This can’t be easy for him. He thought he was dealing with one situation, but he’s been thrust into another.
“Daddy,” Carina starts again. “Something happened while I was here.”
“What?”
“We fell in love,” I say, taking over as she hesitates. It must be hard for her to say it, to explain how we came together to her Dad. But I can take control of that part. Negotiating, after all, is what I’m good at.
Donovan barks a laugh. “That’s funny. The money is there on the table. Carina, we’re going.”
“No,” she says. “It’s not a joke.”
Donovan’s face turns thunderous. “It this a joke,” he says. “It has to be. Love? This man doesn’t know the meaning of it.
I snort. “Mr. Bianco, you don’t know me. We have not, in fact, ever met.”
“It’s Mr. Bianco now, is it?” Donovan turns on me. “Did you tell her I wanted to take her home yesterday? When you threatened me on the phone?”
Carina looks at me. “I didn’t really threaten you,” I shrug. “I told you to wait a day.”
“Why?” Carina asks.
“Because I wanted more time,” I say simply, looking into her eyes. I see her acceptance there. Even if she isn’t pleased that I didn’t tell her about her father’s call, she isn’t swayed. She will stay by my side.
“Dad, I… I’ve never met anyone who’s ever made me feel like this,” Carina begins.
“Of course not!” her father explodes. “You’re eighteen! You’ve barely met anyone!”
“But neither have I,” I interject. “And I was eighteen a long time ago.”
“… Exactly!” Donovan says, and I regret giving him another objection – though it most likely would have happened anyway. “You’re old enough to – well, to be me!”
“Not quite,” I say, raising an eyebrow at his greying hair and beer belly. “There is an age gap, yes. But it’s not insurmountable.”
“It doesn’t make a difference to me,” Carina adds.
“And he’s a violent man,” Donovan continues as if she hasn’t said a thing. “A man like that – you want to be with him? After knowing him a few days, you think he won’t hurt you? Won’t get you into trouble?”
I bristle at that, but it’s Carina who speaks up. “He’s not violent at heart,” she says. “He’s gentle. I shouldn’t say it, because he doesn’t want to show weakness. But he’s strong and safe, and caring, and gentle. Daddy, it’s true. I mean it. He would never hurt me.”
“The time we’ve known each other means nothing,” I add. “I know this feeling in my chest. Carina is the one I’ve been waiting for. The only one for me.”
“This is…” Donovan looks between us as if he still can’t believe it. I have to do something drastic – something to show him what I feel. It’s lucky that I’d already come prepared with such a gesture.
And so much more than a gesture, too.
“If you doubt me, then I will give you assurance,” I say to him, making sure I have his attention. “I will put my entire empire at risk. Do you understand? I will make it possible for her to destroy what I have worked for and walk away with at least half.”
He doesn’t seem to comprehend, and looking down, neither does Carina.
“Carina,” I say, dropping to one knee as I reach inside my jacket pocket for the box. “It’s been a short time, but I’m sure. Simply put, sweetheart, will you marry me?”
Carina stares at me for a long moment, then down at the ring. I know she must recognize it. The style is exactly the same as the necklace – part of a matching set that my great-grandfather gave my great-grandmother a long time ago.
“Yes,” she says, tears welling in her eyes as her hand springs to her mouth. “Oh, God, Tommy, yes!
I grin as she begins to cry with happiness. I jump to my feet and sweep her off hers, and into my arms. I spin her around, and when I set her down, I almost forget that anyone else in the room exists.
Except that one person does, and I can’t forget about him. The most important person in Carina’s life until now.
Donovan is staring at us with a misty-eyed expression, trying unsuccessfully to hold a frown. At last, he sighs. “I can’t say I’m fully on board with this,” he says, looking at Carina until he turns to aim his next words at me. “But if you make my little girl happy, there’s not much I can find fault with. You’d just better make sure you take care of her.”
“I will,” I tell him, a vow from the depths of my heart that will never break. “I will keep her in safety and in luxury. Whatever she wants or needs, she will have. And you – I will protect you, and your business. You won’t want for anything else. The money you were going to repay me – keep it, and invest it.”
Donovan nods slowly, and I look back to Carina. Now that he’s on our side, there’s only one person that matters. My future wife.
I just know we’re going to be the happiest married couple in the world.
“So, when do you want to set the date?” I ask.
“As soon as possible, please?” Carina says, her voice choked with emotion as her smile lights up the room.
EPILOGUE
Tommy
“I’m back!”
There’s nothing that can soothe away the stress of a business meeting with a rival family other than coming home and finding my own waiting for me.
As soon as I enter the house and shout those words across the entrance hall, like magic, people appear. Enzo, my second in command who now runs most of the day-to-day business, appears from the sitting room to hand me a sheaf of papers.
“Today’s reports, boss.”
“Thank you, Enzo. I’ll take a look at them later.”
He nods and disappears, knowing when he’s been dismissed. Across the other side of the hall, above me and starting to come down, are the people I really want to see. Carina looks just as beautiful and radiant as I always knew she would with our daughter in her arms, the baby twisting around to look at me with an excited smile.
“Look, Donna!” Carina says, bouncing her up and down on her hip. “Daddy’s home!”
Donna burbles happily and reaches out her hands, opening and closing her fists to tell us what she wants. As I meet my wife at the bottom of the staircase, I lift Donna into my arms, kissing first her forehead and then Carina’s mouth.
“Oh, boss lady,” Enzo says, reappearing with that magic touch he seems to have developed. “I have some reports for you, too.”
Carina tilts her head at the nickname the men have given to her, ever since she took on the work as official accountant for our business – both the legal side and the illegal one. She takes the papers from Enzo and tucks them under her arm, combining them with mine so I can hold Donna more easily. “Thank you, Enny,” she says. “I’ll take these upstairs, darlings. You go on through. The chef should be ready with dinner soon.”
I nod and move through the house. The whole place seems livelier these days than it ever has in years. The dining table is set, and all of the chairs but three are full. It was Carina’s idea that we all eat together on Friday evenings, not just our biological family but the family that works with us too, whoever doesn’t need to be on duty. It’s brought us all closer, and I know exactly who I have to thank for that.
I get Donna set up in her high chair, making sure that she’s strapped in securely, and sit back in my own seat at the head of the table. Carina soon joins me at my right, as the chef serves up a hearty Italian meal.
Conversation, good food, wine, and family. These are the precious treasures that we fill our lives with. I nod around the table, though I feel a little distracted today. I can’t wait for the men to leave for their own homes, to finish our weekly ritual. I want to be with my wife, my child.
I can’t help but burst into laughter, though, when Donna happily flings a spoonful of spaghetti sauce right into Ricky’s lap – leaving him gaping and furious, but equally flabbergasted by the fact that he can’t exactly yell at a baby.
“Christ,” is all he manages to mutter at last, amongst the laughter of everyone else around the table.
“I’ll get you a napkin,” Carina grins, getting up and disappearing into the kitchen to fetch one.
And I know exactly why she started this tradition because together, we’re stronger. As a family, we’re stronger. Through the good times and the bad, the tears and especially the laughter, we become bonded.
I have the family I chose, and the family that chose me. And I would never want to be without either one of them.
EXTENDED EPILOGUE
Carina
“Oh, God, Tommy,” I say, feeling his arms wrap around me from behind. “I didn’t know you were there.”
He chuckles deep into my ear as he kisses my neck. “I was just checking the rest of the house. Do you know what I found?”
“What?”
“No one.” Tommy gives the skin at my collarbone a significant nip. “We’re alone.”
“Except for the kids,” I point out, though his kisses are incredibly distracting.
“The kids are asleep.”
I frown. “It’s the middle of the afternoon. They can’t be.” Donna is five, and Tommy Jr had his fourth birthday last week – and then there’s Andrea, who’s only two. Normally they run around, wearing me ragged, never pausing for a moment. Having all three of them asleep at once – it doesn’t seem possible.
“I left them in front of a Disney movie, snoring their little butts off. They’ll be out for a good while, it looks like.”
I bite my lip. “If that’s true, then, Tommy…?”
“Yes?”
“Why are we still standing around down here?”
Tommy whips around in front of me, grinning as he lifts me into his arms. I resist the urge to scream and potentially wake the children as he carries me up the stairs, heading straight for our bedroom – the one with the lock on the door.
“It’s been too long since we did this,” Tommy says, unzipping the back of my dress and helping me wiggle out of it.
“We had sex last night,” I frown. If there’s one thing that can be said about our marriage, it’s that the passion has never died. He still can’t keep his hands off me, and I feel the same way about him.
“In the daytime, I mean,” Tommy says. His eyes dart over to the window with a wicked grin. “Do you remember…”
“What? This?” I say, doing my sexiest walk over to the window in just my lingerie. Then I stumble and swear, realizing I’ve tripped on one of the kids’ discarded toys, a miniature plane that seems to have become embedded in the carpet.
Tommy laughs as he follows me, helping me stand and regain my balance. “A lot of things have changed, huh?”
“Good thing some things stay the same,” I say, reaching to cup the bulge in the front of his pants.
“That’s true,” he says. “I’m never going to be able to resist you in lingerie.”
As he finishes undressing me, I think about how far we’ve come, and yet how we’ve managed to remain the same. Still so in love, sharing every day together, working together, raising the children together. As he slips inside me and I start to feel stars run through my veins again, I think of all the things we share, our family, the business and everything that comes with it, and our home. And when we both collapse on the bed afterward, panting for breath and contemplating round two, I think of what’s yet to come. The thing he doesn’t know about yet.
“So, Tommy,” I say, casually, turning to face him. “What do you think about Lorenzo?”
Tommy cocks an eyebrow. “You mean, Enzo? Uh, I think he’s doing a good job.”
“No, honey,” I say. “What do you think about Lorenzo as a baby name?”
It takes a moment for the penny to drop. “You mean, we’re…”
“Going to need another crib?” I grin. “Yes, baby. We are.”
Tommy pulls me into his arms with a shout that will almost certainly wake the kids downstairs, but for a moment, I don’t care. I have everything I could have asked for in the world, and every time I think it might be enough, the universe gives me one more thing and breaks my heart with the sheer happiness I thought it would be impossible to feel.
The stars are in my veins for a different reason now, buzzing and fizzing beneath my skin. And I know that no matter how long we’re together, Tommy will always find a way to make me feel like this.
And I always will be his, his captive.
Because he captured my heart the first moment I saw him.
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A MAN WHO KNOWS WHAT HE WANTS
Book 1: Baby Lust
Book 2: Veteran
Book 3: Built
Book 4: Bambino
Book 5: Rescued
Book 6: Leader
Book 7: Professor
Book 8: Burned
Book 9: Worldly
Book 10: Pistol
Book 11: Policed
Book 12: Driven
Book 13: Lucky 13
Book 14: Lumberjacked
Book 15: Protector
Book 16: Carpenter
Book 17: Italian Stallion
Book 18: Gardener
Book 19: Budapest Billionaire’s Virgin
Book 20: Billionaire’s Babysitter
Book 21: Cocky CFO
Book 22: Fireman’s Filthy 4th
Book 23: Mechanic
Book 24: SEAL’s Secret
Book 25: Police, Pooch, and Smooch
&nbs
p; Book 26: Fireman’s Fake Fiancée
Book 27: Billionaire’s Virgin Ballerina
Book 28: Bitcoin Billionaire’s Babysitter
Book 29: Veterans Day Daddy
Book 30: Cowboy’s Christmas Carol
Book 31: Police Officer’s Princess
Book 32: Statham
Book 33: Bodyguard
Book 34: Greek God
Book 35: Billionaire Single Dad's Babysitter
Book 36: Mountain Man
Book 37: SEAL’s Justice
Book 38: Royal Romance
Book 39: Doctor Mountain Man’s Special Delivery
Book 40: Crocodile Dan D
Book 41: Mountain Man’s Secret Baby
Book 42: Doctor Bad Boy’s Secret Baby
Book 43: Cop’s Babysitter
Book 44: Nanny for the Cop Next Door
Book 45: Small Town SEAL’s Saving Grace
Book 46: Cop’s Fake Fiancée
Book 47: Billionaire’s Nanny
Book 48: Cowboy’s Babysitter
Book 49: Steamy
Book 50: Brother’s Best Friend
Book 51: Possessive Professor
Book 52: Firefighter’s Babysitter
Book 53: Soldier’s Secret Baby
Book 54: Ward’s Independence Day
Book 55: Doctor Next Door
Book 56: Possessive Policeman
Book 57: Coached by the MMA Fighter
Book 58: Boss’s Babysitter
Book 59: Virgin in New York
Book 60: Rock Star’s Baby
Book 61: Possessive Protector
Book 62: Possessive Australian
Book 63: Best Friend’s Brother
Book 64: Possessive Cowboy
Book 65: Summer Romanced
Book 66: Possessive Prince
Book 67: Lovers’s Enemy
Book 68: Cop’s Best Friend
Book 69: Possessive Firefighter
Book 70: Football Next Door
Book 71: Doctor December
Book 72: Possessive Canadian
Book 73: Blue Collar Billionaire
Book 74: Possessive K-9 Cop
Book 75: Possessive Brazilian
Book 76: Hockey Obsession