20. Santino #2
“It went as well as it could and I’m okay.” I cup her face, loving how those copper eyes look up at me. “I’m more than okay.” I dive down, capturing her lips with mine.
It’s gentle, sweet, no tongue, just a long appreciative kiss that I pour all of my love into.
“What was that for?”
“What wasn’t it for?” I brush the tip of my nose against hers.
I lock the door behind me, enclosing us in the silence of the shop. The rain pours, beating against the roof to provide the only sound.
“I need to tell you something, Santino.”
I lean against a nearby table holding a big fern and cross my arms. “I know you do.”
“You know?”
“I know you’re hiding something. I just don’t know what.”
“Um. Okay. I—” Her cheeks redden, and she chews on her thumbnail with anxiety.
I pull her close to me, wanting to ease her nerves. “Breathe, Sweet Girl. Everything will be okay. I’m here. I’m always going to be here. No matter what.”
Her eyes fill with tears. They become bronze pools that I’d happily swim in.
“Hey, hey, whatever it is, we will figure it out together, okay? Is it the conference? Did something happen? Do I need to call someone over there and threaten them?” I drop the playfulness of my tone, needing her to hear how serious I am about her.
She’s trembling beneath me, clearly terrified.
“Did Luca come by while I was gone? Tell me what he did. What did he say?” I do my best sound calm and in control.
The last thing I want is for her to be afraid of me.
“What? No, no, nothing like that, baby. Nothing.” She rubs my arms up and down, the pet name hitting me so hard in the chest, it knocks the breath out of me.
“Say it again,” I urge.
She tilts her head, confused. God, she looks so fucking cute when she looks at me like that. “Say what? No?”
I grip her chin between my fingers. “You know what.”
She wipes away a fallen tear with a smile. “Baby.”
“I like that.” I rub my thumb across her bottom lip.
“Do you?”
I press her against me, wanting her to feel just how much I like it. “What do you think?” I cup the back of her neck, staring at her in disbelief that a woman so beautiful would want to be with a man like me.
She gasps, pressing her hands against my chest, her head tilting back. Jovie blinks as if she’s pulling herself out of a trance. “Okay, I can’t focus when I’m close to you like this and you…” She waves her arm up and down my body. “Looking like that.”
“Looking like what?”
Her eyes narrow at my playful tone. “You know what. This is serious, Santino. I’m serious. What I need to talk to you about is serious and I can’t think when I’m close to you.”
I cover my mouth with my hand, hiding my enjoyment of seeing her so flustered.
“I’m serious, Santino.” She stomps the ground in her little tantrum.
I raise my hands in surrender. “Okay, Sweet Girl. I’m sorry. I love seeing you flustered is all. What’s going on? How can I help?”
“I’m…”
I lean forward, waiting for her to finish her sentence.
She takes a deep breath, then spins around, vomiting in one of her empty vases. I’m at her side in an instant, gathering her hair up and away from her face.
“Are you okay? Jovie, do I scare you? Is that why you’re so nervous?” A million pounds weighs on my chest waiting for her to answer.
She spits in the vase, groaning and shaking her head. “No, I’m pregnant, Santino. I’m pregnant. The baby is yours. Obviously. If you were wondering. Not that you were, but I felt the need to clarify.” She gags again, sliding a fresh vase in front of her.
“Jovie,” I whisper her name after a few seconds of silence.
“You’re pregnant? When did you know? How long have you known?
” There are tissue boxes all over the store and I snag a few from the nearest one, loving how thoughtful Jovie is with her customers.
She only has these tissues everywhere because so many people have allergies.
Another reason why I love her.
“Two weeks.”
I rear back. “Two weeks? Weeks, Jovie?”
“I know I should have told you sooner, but I was scared, and I needed time to wrap my mind around it. And I didn’t know how to tell you, but I knew I had to because our first appointment is soon, and I want you to go with me.”
She says every single word so fast, I’m barely able to understand half of it.
“And—And—” she scoffs, getting a new wave of confidence. “And I’m keeping this baby. There’s nothing you can say to convince me otherwise.”
The violence that lives within me every day that has me be the man I am, fades. It disappears. I slip my hand across her stomach, swallowing the emotion in my throat. Tears spring to my eyes knowing I get a second chance at a life like this.
I’m so lucky.
And I won’t ruin it this time.
“You’re pregnant.” I can’t hide the awe and happiness in my tone, then I chuckle. “I’m such a fool. You’ve been so sick. I should have known.”
She giggles next, placing her hand over mine. “You’re not mad?”
“Mad? Sweet Girl, when it comes to you, when it comes to life with you, there’s no way I could ever be mad. I’m excited. This is exactly what I wanted.”
She pokes out her bottom lip. “Oh? This is what you wanted? You planned this?”
“I didn’t make sure to fill with every drop just for the hell of it,” I growl, pushing her against the table. “I wanted to make sure you were mine and that you stayed mine.”
“Sounds very controlling, Santino.”
I lift a brow. “And?”
I’m a controlling man. Everyone knows that and so does my Sweet Girl.
I lift her into my arms to carry her to the apartment, my need to breed her all over again overcoming me.