Chapter 36 #2
She fishes her phone out of her dress pocket. “Ay, sorry, I was playing chess with your dad, and I may have gotten very competitive. He was trying to distract me. So, who did you fight?”
“I didn’t even finish my drink when a couple of guys walked in. They started getting rowdy and picked a fight with me. A lot of trash talk. They got in my face, then fists started swinging.”
“How about you stay away from bars, okay?” Sol narrows her eyes at me.
“Yes, ma’am.” I cup her face. “How about you get ready for bed? You need to rest. I’ll be up in a bit. I need to talk to Johnny.”
She gets on her tiptoes and kisses my lips. “Don’t take too long. I’ll show Leo to his room.”
Tapping her ass, she saunters up the stairs.
Glancing at Johnny, I say, “What have you heard? I did see Gary parked across the street.”
“Gary sent me a text. Carlos went straight home. I found that unusual. Then, forty minutes later, Daniel showed up,” Johnny says, handing me his phone.
In the photo, Daniel walks in nonchalantly with his men following behind. “I say this whole situation is unusual. In all the years, I’ve never seen anyone at Carlos’s house. Suddenly, the mafia leader is there.” Handing Johnny back his phone. “I have a strange feeling this isn’t over.”
My dad combs his fingers through his black-grayish hair. Guilt written all over his face. It’s not his fault. We didn’t know what Carlos was or is capable of. “We just need to keep an eye on him.”
Johnny nods. “We will. Well, I’m going to head home. Gary and I will be here in the morning.”
When Johnny leaves and Dad locks the door, he looks up at me. “Did you kick his ass?”
“Hell yeah, I did.”
“Good, he deserved it. Carlos is not one you can reason with. I know you had to do what you had to do. I can imagine it was hard for you. You cared for him. I’m sorry he wasn’t the man you thought he was.”
“It is what it is, Pops. You live and learn, and I learned not to trust easily and always be vigilant.”
His large hands clasp my shoulder. “A reminder, Max. You’re going to be a father soon. Your kids will be your eyes and ears. Just because you know how to throw a punch doesn’t mean it always has to be resolved in that way. Fighting became your defense mechanism.”
He’s not wrong. Although they started it, I always finished it.
“Thank you for the reminder, Pops.” I appreciate his advice. Although I’m not a violent person, I know when to use my fists. Let him feel the moment of fatherly wisdom. It cost me nothing.
I grip the stairway, each step creaking under my weight as I climb toward our bedroom.
Through the half-open door, Sol lies sprawled across our bed, her brow furrowed over her book.
Fresh from the shower, she wears a red tank top that’s inched up to reveal the swell of her stomach.
I rest against the doorframe, taking her in—cinnamon hair fanned across the pillow, lips pursed in concentration, chest lifting with each quiet breath.
My heart catches at the sight of her. If someone had told me five years ago that I would have the woman who occupied every part of my mind lying in my bed, pregnant, I wouldn’t believe it.
“Are you okay?” Sol sticks a pen in her book to save her spot, then sets it on her lap. She pats the space next to her. “Come here.”
“I’m fine now that I’m in the same space as you.” I push off the wall, then settle next to her. Sol takes my hand in hers and traces the letters of each tattoo.
“I’m sorry Carlos wasn’t the man you thought he was. I know he meant a lot to you, and it breaks my heart he would act this way.”
“Don’t be sorry, amor. No one means more to me than you. I can live without Carlos in my life. It’s you I can’t bear to live without.”
Her warm lips brush along my rough skin. “I have this gut feeling, Max. What if he hurts you, Leo, your dad, or our kids? A man who threatens to end an unborn child’s life is not mentally there.” With glassy eyes, she peers at me. “Should we get a restraining order?”
The unknown fear in her eyes shatters my heart. “We could, but how about we give it a couple of days, see if he backs off. I have the guys tailing him, and I can hire a PI who can dive in deeper.”
“Okay, whatever you think.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe,” I tell her, running a hand under her shirt, rubbing at her pointed nipples.
“I…I know you will,” she moans when I suck on the material of her enlarged breasts. She slams her mouth shut with her hand. “Oh god, I forgot Leo is next door.”
“He sleeps like the dead.” He really does.
“How do you know?” She yelps when I lift her ass and tug her shorts off.
“When I first met Leo, I brought him to my place to sleep. He stayed for two months, then I found him his own place. He would fall asleep on the sofa. Shaking him awake to move to the bedroom was impossible. When he’s out, he’s out.”
“Oh.” Sol exhales at the flattening of my tongue, licking my way up her thigh. “You don’t have to…”
“You seem very tense.”
“You’re right. My pelvic muscles are pretty tight.”
Her sense of humor always gets me every time. “Then let me take care of it.”
My tongue dives right in, exploring the warm velvet softness as if it were my first time, tasting salt and sweetness as it glides across sensitive terrain, each deliberate thrust drawing forth a shudder.
Her pupils dilate, dark with desire. I drown in her taste and moans.
This is my way of relieving tension by getting lost in her—stroke after stroke.
I can’t say this day has all gone to shit.
It was the highlight of my life to see the twins growing in her.
Carlos or the men at the bar goading me can’t take the happiness away from me.