Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 35106 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 176(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35106 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 176(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
She walked away, going to the door, and he couldn’t stand it.
“You’re the best toy I ever wanted,” he said.
She turned toward him.
“I fell in love with you, Avery Finch, and damn you, woman, I don’t know what the fuck to do with these feelings.”
He got to his feet, and Avery rushed toward him. She threw her arms around his neck, and regardless of the pain in his bruised body, he held her close.
For the first time in his life, he was brought to his knees by a woman. He closed his eyes, breathing her in, just basking in everything that was Avery. Her scent, the feel of her, everything, he didn’t want her to go.
“You’re going to marry me,” he said. “You’re not going to get another shot, and we’re going to have babies together.”
She pulled back, laughing. “Don’t you think you should ask me that first?”
“Nah, I think you get a kick out of being told what to do.” He ran his hand down her body to squeeze her ass.
She let out a gasp.
“I’ve missed this ass.”
“I’ve missed you.”
“Do you want to go back to your tower?” he asked.
“No, I think my place is in your bed.” She kissed him. “When you’re all better, you’re going to get a slap.”
“I am, am I?”
“Yes. For leaving me. For thinking you were done with me.”
“I was done with you. I just didn’t realize I was going to break my own fucking heart in the process.”
He lifted her up onto his desk. Tilting her head back, she stared into his eyes.
“I held my mom’s dead body when I was a little boy.”
“Gino?”
“My family, my father was Capo, and he, erm, he loved my mother so fiercely. Behind closed doors we were like any normal family. We ate together every single night. She was the love of my father’s life. She was one hell of a woman. No matter what was thrown her way, she was always by his side. Always loyal. Always loving. You remind me a little of her. The day she was taken, my father changed. He became a monster. He ruled over this city, and anyone who was even closely related to the men who killed her, he destroyed. When I took over, I promised myself I wouldn’t allow myself to be made weak.”
“I don’t make you weak.”
“It has taken me all this time to realize my mother didn’t make my father weak. Losing her was what made him weak.”
“Why are you telling me this?” she asked.
“You asked about sharing the table. Sitting together as a family. I can’t remember exactly what it was, but I used to do that all the time, until it was taken from me. I want it again. I want a family, Avery. Not just an heir, a family.”
The smile she gave him filled him with hope. “Then we better get started.” She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he pushed up the skirt of her dress. He needed to be inside her, now, without a second’s delay.
As he tore at her panties, Avery attacked his belt, working his pants down. He grabbed his cock, rubbing it through her slit, bumping her clit before sliding down to fill her.
They both moaned, and he held her as close as he could, going to the very hilt, needing to own a part of her soul.
“I love you, Avery, so fucking much.”
“Don’t ever leave me again. I don’t care what else happens. You took my body, Gino, and now you own my heart and soul.”
He kissed her hard, knowing he would give anything to keep this woman. She was his entire world, and he’d been lucky enough to find the one for him.
Epilogue
Five years later
“Dada. Dada.”
Gino Mazza smiled at his son.
“His first words,” Avery said, clapping her hands. “You’re such a clever boy.”
He kissed the top of his boy’s head as his little girl walked around the room, singing and dancing.
Avery’s father was in the kitchen, cooking up Sunday lunch, and Gino sat on his office floor, the two sofas pushed out to make room for himself, Avery, and their two children.
Joanne, named after his mother, kept on dancing and pulling books out of the shelves, glancing through them and shaking her head. She was a little firecracker at three and a half years old. He could still remember the long birth he had to sit through. He’d never been so afraid in all of his life as he was when Joanne finally came into the world.
Avery was such a strong woman, but she’d screamed in agony during the birth. After their girl was born, he’d held his wife in his arms, thanking anyone who would listen for keeping her alive.
During that first pregnancy, he’d been part of every single step of the way, and even Ben’s pregnancy, he wouldn’t miss it for the world.