Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 93425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
The logical part of me tells me it’s a weakness. Something I need to rid her of. If she ever ends up in a situation where she’s at the mercy of our enemies, her body is so damn responsive that she’ll give away all of her secrets without ever having to say a word.
I grimace at the idea. If I help her learn to lie with her body, then she can keep secrets away from me. The only looming problem our famiglia is facing at the moment is Petrov. I’m not worried he’ll get to her, not yet. She's too closely guarded. Teaching her how to conceal her truths better can wait until she trusts me more and she doesn’t feel the need to lie to me. Soon, she’ll be able to come to me and tell me what she needs.
Like a spanking. My girl has been dealing with everything on her own for so long she’s dying to hand the responsibility over to someone else. To let someone else make the decisions. With me, she can give up control.
“I don’t remember asking for all of this,” I say as I approach Andy. He’s smiling from the porch, watching as his wife directs the men moving furniture out of the trucks. I narrow my eyes. They’re all our men, I recognize them, but if they’re here moving furniture, Andy has pulled from other duties to do so.
Other men drag our old furniture out of the house and into a different moving truck. How many people did he bring in for this?
A sly smile creeps up on Andy’s face. “I told Bianca you wanted to do some redecorating for your new wife, and she jumped on it. She and Aunty Alice had been talking about redecorating forever, but neither of them wanted to pull the trigger without explicit permission. According to them, it was stuffy. I gave them your card and told them to go crazy. I’ll be getting one hell of a blowjob for this.”
I glance up to see my mom directing men on where to place the new furniture. She contemplates the placement of the couch and shakes her head before directing them to move it elsewhere. The men have a heavy layer of sweat on their foreheads. They must have been at this for hours.
“My mom realizes my father would never deny her anything, right? All she had to do was ask. By the way, has anyone mentioned the redecorating to my father yet?”
“Anything to make his soon-to-be daughter-in-law more comfortable in her new home. She gave him a grandkid. She might as well be made of gold. Besides, you see how thrilled your mom is? I don’t think I’m the only one getting lucky tonight.”
I shudder at the unfortunate picture he’s put into my mind.
“Is this everything?” I ask him.
I’ve counted at least a dozen men so far. I think there is more inside. Emma hasn’t made a dent in my bank account today, but several rooms’ worth of furniture might do it.
“Oh no, they have more furniture being shipped to the stores to pick up tomorrow. I gave them an obscene amount of money to make sure it gets there as soon as possible.”
Karma for my assholery.
“Did they pick out white dining room chairs? They realize a toddler lives here, right?” Emma asks me. She comes up right behind me, watching in wonder at the entire house redecorating project I’m now sponsoring.
A bit of guilt creeps in because I realize they haven't consulted her at all on the decorating. This is her home now. If I’m sponsoring the redecoration, it's only fair my fiancee should have a say about how she wants the house to look. And, if I had known what my phone call would lead to, I would have made sure she was here when everything was happening.
“If there is anything you want to change, just let me know,” I tell her.
Her eyes glimmer as she looks at me. “Oh, I plan on it, but let’s see what they have planned first. They have excellent taste. I just question how sustainable some of their decorating choices are with a small child running around.”
And I plan on bringing several more children into the house, so some things may need to change.
“Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!” Matteo runs up to Emma, launching himself into her arms. The normally reserved little boy is practically vibrating with energy as he wiggles and squirms in her arms. “Nonna got me a racecar bed!”
His eyes are shining with a joy I’ve never seen there before. The expression even catches Emma off-guard.
“Nonna?” she mouths at me from over his shoulders.
A silent laugh shakes my shoulder. My mom has given herself a grandma’s name. I nod towards my mom in the living room, and Emma catches on to what I’m saying. I watch her closely for a few moments to see how she reacts. Introducing Matteo to my family has been slow going. Most times, I’m not sure how to explain to him who everyone is. I’m not sure if he even knows I’m his father.