Chapter 14
Abel
“Inoticed you and Marcello seem to be getting along again,” Mazzi said as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. We were in the gardens, taking in the afternoon sun, and I had to admit that the weather here was absolutely gorgeous.
“A little.” I sighed as I leaned my head back as well. “Okay, more than a little. We’ve said some things that are wonderful,” I said dreamily. “And in doing so, he’s opened his bond up to me completely. It was…a lot to suddenly be flooded with.”
“Ah. Yes, I can see that. I remember when Naldo and I first claimed each other, and I was hit with everything he’d done.” Mazzi sat up and shook his head. “It was a lot more than I was expecting, and it took me a few days to come to terms with who I was mated to.”
“How did you?” I asked as I turned my head to look at him. “I’m trying. I mean, I love him, and I wouldn’t ever leave him, but yeah, Marcello has done some seriously horrible things.”
Mazzi shrugged. “I just looked at it this way. They did bad things. True. But the people they did them to? The vast majority of them were worse than our guys ever were. Is that the best way to go about things? Probably not, but it was what I could come up with.”
I nodded slowly. That sounded good. I mean, I knew that Marcello had killed people. I did. But seeing those memories, I was struggling with the man in those memories and the one who held and touched me so tenderly being the same person.
“I can’t tell you how to feel about your mate,” Mazzi said. I sat up and blinked several times, then focused on the warlock beside me. “But despite who he is, he would never do anything to intentionally hurt you. Hurting you would cause him emotional pain, if not physical pain.”
I nodded in agreement. “I’m not disgusted by him. I love him.” I sighed. “I never thought falling in love with my mate would be like this. Sure, I knew I’d love him. It’s how I’m wired. But the intensity of it is so much more than I expected.”
Mazzi smiled. “Yes, it can be that way for some. Be happy that you are included in that group. I would do anything for Naldo and have.” Mazzi sighed.
“My family was not happy with fate’s choice of One for me.
I’m not young. I’m actually older than Naldo, and there was absolutely no way I was going to deny our connection and hope that I would be paired with another One someday.
Naldo has been nothing but romantic and amazing toward me, and I couldn’t ask for a better One.
” Mazzi grinned. “That and the sex is absolutely explosive.”
I laughed because I was completely in agreement.
I was sure that sex with an alpha would be just as amazing and would also turn my legs to limp noodles.
But what was so great about having a sire for a mate was the lack of knot.
Sure, I’d heard that knots were amazing, and they really added to the experience, but they also hindered things, in my opinion.
Once that knot was locked in place, you were stuck with your partner until it released.
Sometimes that could take up to an hour, from what I’d heard.
And what about round two? You couldn’t do much when you were knotted together.
But not with Marcello. He had no knot. What did that mean for us?
We could move right along to round two. And then three if we were up for it.
If I really needed him to stay inside me, he had no issues with that.
We’d fallen asleep more than once with his hard dick still inside me.
That always made for an amazing way of waking up.
“See?” Mazzi said, pointing at me while smiling. “You’re thinking about sex with Marcello.”
I grinned. “How can I not? I mean…he’s sexy.”
Mazzi nodded, but his smile faded. It turned to a grimace, and immediately, I reached out and grabbed his arm. “What’s wrong? Are you all right? Is it the baby?”
Mazzi nodded as he started taking deep breaths. “Please go get Rio.”
I nodded quickly before I took off toward the house.
I’d learned my way around a little bit, but I was still learning where things were.
I entered the kitchen door and was on my way to Rio’s medical area when I ran right into a familiar and solid chest. I grabbed Marcello and looked up at him with urgency on my face.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“It’s Mazzi. He’s in labor, and I need to get Rio.”
Marcello rambled off something in Italian, and it was then that I noticed he was with another somewhat familiar face. Nicolo took off before I could even blink.
“Where is Mazzi now?”
“In the garden. We were sitting by the fountain.” I pointed toward the door I’d just come through.
Marcello laced his fingers with mine and hurried to the double doors and pushed them back open.
He started walking in one direction, but I pulled him the other way, toward the fountain we were at.
I tugged Marcello to the right, where we’d been sitting behind some hedges on one of the more comfortable benches.
He rushed to Mazzi and knelt in front of him.
Mazzi looked up at me and chuckled. “I mean, I know he’s your mate, but he’s not Rio.”
“Yeah, but I literally ran into Marcello. He sent Nicolo.”
“Where is Naldo?” Marcello asked.
Mazzi’s eyes widened. “You don’t know?”
Marcello shook his head. “Is he out?”
“He said he was going to the airport. There was a certain someone you were expecting, and he was going to pick him up with Vincent.”
Marcello let off a string of words that I was able to pick out maybe two of before he stood, scooped Mazzi up into his arms, and started walking back toward the villa.
“Abel, mio angelo, I need you to pull my phone out of my pocket and call Vincent.”
I did as instructed and slid Marcello’s phone from his pocket. It wasn’t locked, and after I found Master Vincent’s number, I touched the screen and put the phone up to my ear.
“Marcello, ciao.”
“Umm…it’s Abel,” I said. I pulled the phone away and held it up to my mate, who shook his head.
“Tell him that they need to get Naldo somewhere private so he can be magicked back here immediately. Mazzi is in labor.”
I nodded, but by the time I put the phone back up to my ear, it was obvious that Master Vincent had already heard. “I will do that,” Master Vincent said. “Has it just started?”
“Yes, if you’re asking about labor.” I looked at Marcello and Mazzi. “Why didn’t Mazzi tell him through their bond?” I whispered.
Mazzi smiled at me but then grimaced when another contraction hit. And then there was the sound of water dripping to the floor. “Oh, that’s unfortunate,” Mazzi said.
I looked at the mess that was running down the front of Marcello, as well as dripping from Mazzi. “Umm…yeah, Master Vincent. But his waters just broke, so I’m not sure how much time is left. You might want to get Naldo home right away.”
“We are pulling over now so that can happen. Naldo happened to be driving, but I’m going to contact Rio now.”
I nodded and realized that Master Vincent couldn’t see me, nor did he know that Rio had just walked into view. “No, he’s here,” I said. “He just walked into the room.”
“Please pass the phone to him for a moment.”
I nodded again and took the few steps to where Rio was and held out Marcello’s phone. He looked confused but took the phone anyway.
“Ah,” Rio said after a moment of silence. “I understand. Yes, I will be right there. Let me get Mazzi sorted, and then I will be there to assist.”
Rio handed the phone back to me, took Mazzi from Marcello, nodded once at my mate, and then disappeared. Marcello turned toward me and pulled me into his arms.
“You did amazing, mio angelo.”
“I didn’t do anything really,” I said before I looked up at my mate. “Is Mazzi going to be all right?”
“He is,” Marcello said. “Babies are born all the time, remember? Did the council’s doctor not deliver babies all of the time?”
At the mention of the council, I felt a pang in my chest but nodded.
“Yeah,” I said. I moved closer and laid my head against Marcello’s chest and closed my eyes.
The sound of his heartbeat always soothed me, and now was no different.
I missed Montana, but I was trying my best to be accepting that home was now Italy.
“Come with me,” Marcello whispered. “I want to show you something while we wait for news of Mazzi and Naldo’s baby being born.”
I looked up at Marcello. “It’s going to take something like two minutes,” I said, remembering all of the babies born in Montana.
“Probably, but I still want to show you something.” Marcello pulled me toward the stairs, and about halfway up, I began to tug back. I wasn’t really in the mood to go have sex right now. Mazzi was in labor, and I wanted to be around for the news.
“I’m not…I don’t want to have sex right now, Marcello.”
He stopped and gave me a hurt look. “That wasn’t it,” he told me.
I stared at my mate for a moment before I started walking again. He led me the rest of the way up the stairs, and instead of stopping at our room, he took me to the one next door and pushed it open.
“I hope you love it,” Marcello said as he stepped out of the way, and I could see into the room.
It was smaller than the one I shared with Marcello and had been where my things had originally been stored when they’d first been brought here.
The room looked completely different now though.
It used to look much like the one next door, but now… no.
I entered, my mouth open in shock. Inside the room, where there were once warm-colored walls and tiles, had now been transformed into a winter wonderland.
Not literally, but yes. The room was cool and calming, and for the first time in a month, my fox took notice of something.
I was standing in the middle of the room on a super-plush white rug and turned to look at my mate.
“You did this?” I asked. “For me? For our babies?”