Chapter Thirty-Six Lila
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
LILA
For a few short weeks, life was almost blissful.
Imma and I did some nesting, went to doctor’s appointments, and cooked.
Tierney visited me twice a week with tea.
Both herbal blends from exotic places, and Mafia gossip about key players in the underworld.
Mama still hadn’t answered my message from weeks ago, but I no longer sat and stared at it like a kicked puppy.
Sleep and I finally got reacquainted. All thanks to my husband.
He spent every night worshipping my body, sucking my nipples, kissing and licking between my legs, sometimes putting his fingers there, too, and bringing me to soul-destroying orgasms after which I slept like a baby.
Something about the way he exhausted my body awarded me with a peaceful slumber no brisk walk or a workout ever managed.
Tiernan still showed no interest in the baby, in his kicking, ultrasound pictures, or well-being.
The pregnancy was a black cloud hanging over our heads.
It seemed to serve as the thickest, most indestructible wall between us.
But it always boiled down to the same thing—if Tiernan truly cared about me, he’d accept my child, too.
Because me? I’d welcome everything and anyone he brought with him.
My brothers visited me often enough. I took lunches with Enzo and Luca, who practiced their ASL with me.
Even Achilles dropped by whenever he checked in on his so-called investment next door.
Every time he popped up at Tierney’s apartment to look for signs of a lover, he made sure to bring me something from the deli.
Calzone or gelato. His visits surprised me the most. Because I knew Achilles didn’t try to impress anyone, myself included, so if he chose to spend any amount of time with me, it was because he truly wanted to get to know me.
As for Mama, she sent things with Enzo. Books she thought I’d like, cookies she’d baked, and maternity clothes she’d bought for me.
“What is she trying to achieve by not speaking to me? My secret’s already out,” I vented to Enzo one day, when we were both watching Parks and Recreation on my couch.
“You were the only thing she could control.” Enzo shrugged, looking fifty shades of the golden boy that he was. The prettiest of the brothers. The kindest. The most secretive. “You know she loves you. She just doesn’t know what to do with herself, now that you have a life of your own.”
“Is this because I didn’t want to marry Angelo?”
“Doubt it,” Enzo admitted. “She dropped the subject like a hot potato after her talk with Tiernan.”
“How’s the search for my attacker going?”
I knew Tiernan was working on it, but I didn’t ask about it. I didn’t want to poke my own raw wound. But I also wanted to know when they found him. I needed that closure.
“There’re a few roadblocks in Tiernan’s way,” Enzo said vaguely, rubbing the back of his neck. “But he’s working on it. He needs some hard evidence before he calls in more people for interrogation. Anyway, back to Mama.” He changed the subject. “Just remember she loves you to death, yeah?”
“She should be happy for me.”
“She thinks it’ll blow up in your face. Tiernan doesn’t have the best reputation.”
“And what do you think?”
Enzo ran his knuckles along his jawline. “I think if anyone could melt the iceberg also known as Tiernan Callaghan’s heart, it’s you, sis.”
_______
My blissful lucky streak came to an abrupt end one morning when Tiernan was pouring me a cup of coffee and Imma was huffing and puffing, scrubbing the same spot on the already pristine kitchen island with a frown.
“You have to visit your mama today,” she declared in Neapolitan, her stern glower warning me off arguing. “It’s her birthday, and she misses you dearly.”
I grabbed my phone and texted Imma since she didn’t know ASL. If she misses me so, she is welcome to visit me. Write a letter. Maybe even an email. I have an address now.
Imma read the text, her scowl deepening, and shook her head. She blew away the silver flyaways framing her tanned face.
“She is a prideful woman, and she spent her entire life protecting you. You’re being a brat.”
She took away my chance to go to school. To gain an education. To have friends.
“She did what she thought was right at the time.”
Tiernan slid my coffee across the island, leveling me with a questioning look.
“There’s a formal dinner at the house. Tonight at seven,” Imma said. “You should go.”
With that, she turned around and left the kitchen, leaving her phone behind so I wouldn’t be able to answer her.
I watched her back disappear behind a door.
She was completely unreasonable. Mama was the one who cut me off for wanting to live a normal life.
I felt like I was living in an upside world.
Tiernan slid onto the stool next to me. His smirk was as menacing as nightshade.
“What’s funny?” I scowled at him.
“Your attitude.” He grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl, taking a juicy bite. Even the way his white teeth sank into the flesh of the apple made my insides clench with desire. “You act like a rebellious teenager. You sass back. You’re growing the fuck up.”
I didn’t like his patronizing words, though I privately admitted he was much older than me. Beyond the ten years that stood between us. He was forged in a work camp, grew up orphaned and haunted. He built businesses, destroyed lives, orchestrated entire operations.
Meanwhile, I was still figuring out how to get a high school diploma so I could pursue a higher education.
I took a sip of my coffee, shrugging off his comments.
“What’s going on?”
I put my cup down. “Imma is making me go to Mama’s birthday dinner today.”
“Is she now?” He gave me a wry once-over. “Maybe you should stop taking orders from the help.”
“I think we should go.”
“I’m going either way,” he surprised me by saying. He didn’t ask me how I felt about it or invite me to come. And it was yet again a reminder that he may worship my body, but he didn’t care one iota about the rest of me.
“That’s news to me.”
“Brennan’s gonna be there. We have some Bratva shit to discuss. Tierney is also bringing the Keatons.”
He intended to go without me. That infuriated me. It was my family. And he knew how I felt about my mother.
“How dare you make plans with my own family behind my back?”
“Careful now, Lila.” He put his coffee cup down. “That was never a part of our agreement.”
“I don’t recall ever agreeing to anything other than sitting on your face.” Anger tainted my cheeks pink. “Everything beyond this scope is open for negotiation.”
He ran his tongue over his teeth to suppress a smile.
“That includes being your wife, by the way. We make the rules as we go. One of them is you share your social calendar with me. Always.”
He sat back, looking almost like a proud father. “Excellent spine, Gealach. I suggest you use it on your mother tonight. I, however, don’t take orders from anyone. Least of all a teenybopper.”
“So you won’t do it?”
“No.”
His answer scorched a hole in my chest.
“Guess you’ll have to see my next move, then.” I forced out a smile. “We should take her a gift.”
I couldn’t shake off the sting of his rejection, though. I loathed when he made plans without me. Even more worrying was that there was Bratva news. Did that mean Alex was back on American soil? That soon a Mafia war would follow?
“I’ll handle it.” Tiernan stood up swiftly, grabbed his coffee, knocked it back like it was a shot, and shrugged into his light jacket.
He stopped briefly on his way out, assessing me with that precious gem eye of his.
He tipped his head down, fusing his mouth with mine.
I immediately groaned and surrendered to the kiss, feeling his hand cupping my bare knee under my summer dress, climbing up, brushing the seam of my opening ever so softly through my panties. Another yelp escaped me.
I opened my thighs for him automatically, craving more.
His mouth disconnected from mine, trailing down the side of my throat, nibbling and biting as he tugged my underwear sideways, his rough fingers teasing and stroking my entrance.
I shuddered all over, knowing Imma was in the other room, and that she could walk in on us any minute now.
See me with my legs spread for him, fully dressed, letting him toy with me like I was his own personal plaything.
His middle finger grazed my slit, penetrating me halfway, while he pushed his thumb against my clit.
I loved how he touched me. How he read me.
How he took my cues and followed through.
He was an assassin in every fiber of his body.
Attentive to the shallowest breath of his target.
I arched my back, offering him my strained, taut nipples through the dress.
Tiernan used his free hand to tug at the top half of my dress. My breasts bounced out, so heavy and full I barely recognized them as my own. My nipples were also two shades darker.
My husband leaned down to pluck one of my nipples, sucking it into his mouth, trailing the tip of his tongue over the outline of it, picking up speed between my legs, shoving two fingers in and out of me.
I moaned harder, louder, squirming, knowing I was being shameless and improper, and that Imma could no doubt hear us.
And I didn’t care.
I could excuse myself by arguing he was my husband. But the truth was, even if he were nothing but an acquaintance, I would still let him have his way with me.
The first tingles of an orgasm spread like wildfire through my body, heating it to a dangerous temperature.
“I’m close,” I panted, placing my hands on his face, moving his mouth to my other nipple that felt exposed and bare and cold.
A thick, tight knot of pleasure uncurled beneath my bellybutton, threatening to tear my body apart. My orgasms were always so…violent.
“Yes.” I tugged at his hair roughly. “Yes, yes, yes.”
I was now riding his two fingers. He was knuckles-deep in me, and I knew I was ready for more. I wanted his entire cock. And I knew he wanted that, too. He always stared at my center a little too hungrily, even after he went down on me. Like he was leaving a place that was dear to his heart.
Suddenly, Tiernan ripped his mouth and fingers away all at once.
A squeal of protest tore from the back of my throat.
“Never threaten me again, darlin’.” He dipped his head down to my mouth. The kiss he gave me was dirty, hard, and punishing. Tongueless. He smeared my wetness on his fingers over the side of my cheek with a mocking smirk. “I’ll pick you up at five thirty.”