Chapter 13 #2
“We’re getting flour everywhere,” she murmured.
“Do you mind?” he asked before he stole a soft, hot kiss. He loved the feel of her smiling lips against his. Tasting her joy was intoxicating.
“Hmmm… no,” she decided, still smiling as he briefly opened his eyes to study her face. For an instant, he saw her unguarded, open to him, and he took immense gratification in knowing that she could let her walls down, even for just a few minutes.
“Good.” He kissed her again, enjoying the taste of her lips and the soft sound she made as he used his tongue to entice hers to play with his. Kissing her was a pleasure he would never tire of.
Kara wrapped her arms around his neck and he picked her up, lifting her up onto the counter so he could she could wrap her legs around him.
He groaned at the delicious contact of their bodies as he pressed his groin against hers.
He swallowed the flash of pain his staples caused as he lifted his face to hide his expression from her.
He didn’t want her to see him in pain, to remind her what had happened.
It would be a setback neither of them wanted.
Kara’s lips kissed hot little paths up and down his throat as he let the pain in his abdomen subside beneath the building pleasure of her exploring kisses.
What a true pleasure it was to experience her desire for him, to know she was as lost in this moment as he was.
He threaded his fingers in the silky, red waves of her hair and held her captive to his mouth while he deepened the kiss.
She sighed and tilted her head back to let him kiss her chin, her neck and then back up to her mouth.
He could have savored her for days, for weeks…
for the rest of his life, just like this.
The floral scent of her skin, the slight salt of it beneath his exploring tongue.
She was a feast for his eyes and his mouth.
“I could get lost in you,” he confessed against her skin.
Kara shivered at his words and held on to him a little tighter. “Then lose yourself…”
Her words sent a bolt of lightning straight to his heart and he knew in that moment he was in love with her, truly irrevocably in love.
He was already lost so deep in her eyes, her smile, her trembling lips, and he marveled at her strength and survival.
She was his goddess, and he wanted to kneel at her feet and worship her with his body and soul for the rest of his days.
He pulled his head away from hers. “Kara, I—”
“They’re early. You two better clean it up a bit.” Asher’s voice broke up the spell of the moment.
The words of love on Angelo’s lips were trapped as he turned to face the personal protection specialist who at that moment was checking his gun.
A moment later Asher slipped the weapon into the holster at his hip.
Angelo hadn’t even heard the man come into the room.
How much had he seen of them kissing? Not that it really mattered.
Asher understood there were feelings… and attraction between them, but it might upset Kara to think they’d had an audience.
“Who’s early?” Kara asked, still drowsy in the moment of their kisses.
“The Cabrinis,” Angelo told her.
The dazed, delighted expression on her face was stripped away to reveal stark terror.
He cupped her face. “It’s okay. I have you. You’re safe. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I know,” she replied, but she didn’t pull away from him.
Angelo carefully lifted her off the counter as two black SUVs rolled up to the curb outside his home. Three men wearing long, black coats exited the vehicles, a security team escorting them to the house.
“You’re safe,” Angelo murmured to Kara again, taking her hand in his as they left the kitchen to meet the infamous, dangerous Cabrini Kings.
I’m safe.
Kara kept repeating it to herself. Angelo was here.
Asher and his associate, Colton, were now standing beside them.
Everything was going to be okay. She watched the men come up the walkway to Angelo’s door.
Asher went to open it, his manners casual but Kara could still feel the tension in his ever-ready posture.
His hand lingered close to his holstered weapon and his muscles looked coiled, ready to spring into action.
“Come in.” Asher stepped back, allowing the three Cabrini brothers and their handful of armed guards to come into the house.
It was easy to tell who the brothers were because of the similarity of their features and the more expensive, but refined clothing choices.
Despite the expensive clothing and their polished appearances, it was clear the Cabrini brothers were dangerous.
Their eyes were cold, calculating as they took in her and Angelo.
The three brothers had tattoos on the backs of their hands which became visible as they removed their gloves.
“Angelo.” One of the three brothers stepped forward. The hint of salt-and-pepper in the hair at his temples was the only hint that he was perhaps the eldest. A rose tattoo covered the back of one of his hands as he smiled at Angelo.
“Leo,” Angelo shook the man’s hand and then turned to nod at Kara. “This is Kara Gallagher, my fiancée. Kara, this is Leo Cabrini, the eldest of the Cabrini family.”
“Kara,” Leo murmured as he nodded his head slightly in greeting. “These are my brothers, Tommaso and Gabriel.” He introduced her to the other two men.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Kara’s voice was convincingly strong and confident.
Angelo cleared his throat. “I also want to introduce you to Asher Fleming, my private security specialist and his associate, Colton.”
Asher shook hands with the Cabrinis. Colton did the same before politely stepping back.
“You mentioned an Irish problem?” Leo’s gaze slid to Kara as if examining her red hair curiously.
“Yes.” Angelo looked toward Kara as if silently seeking permission, so she nodded.
“Kara is the only child of the late Sean O’Brien of Dublin. He ran the Westies in New York as well.”
“I recognize the name,” Leo replied. “Thankfully we never crossed paths with him.”
It was strange, Kara realized, that she had never met her father either and yet he’d fully upended her life. Even the Cabrinis were relieved to never have met him. She never imagined she would have something in common with the Italian mafia.
“Kara’s mother fled Ireland when she learned she was pregnant with Kara,” Angelo explained. Now her father is dead and it seems her father’s second-in-command, a man named Cormac Callahan, is coming after her.”
Leo’s hazel-brown eyes settled on Kara again. “He must want to do legitimize his claim on your father’s business.”
“But why? I want nothing to do with his life or his business,” Kara responded. “How could I possibly matter to him? I don’t know anything about his business.”
“It’s about bloodlines,” Leo explained to her.
“Blood matters to many men in these businesses. You have your father’s blood, and perhaps Callahan needs to convince the other men who once worked for your father to follow him.
Having you at his side might make his takeover look official.
” Leo paused, considering. “If he’s desperate to have you it means that someone has challenged him, possibly denying his claim to take over. ”
“How do we stop them from coming after her?” Angelo asked. “Is there no way to tell them to leave her alone, so she can live her life?”
“You can certainly try, but an in-person meeting itself would be incredibly risky. They might try to grab Kara rather than talk,” Leo explained.
“What can we do?” Angelo asked. “Callahan left Ireland and is in New York City.”
Leo’s brows rose. “He’s already here in the states?” The smoothness to Leo’s voice vanished, and his gaze turned deadly still, sharp as his gaze flicked to Kara.