66. Chapter 66
As soon as I get through the door to our condo, the kids bombard us.
“Mama!” and “Mom!” are repeatedly shouted until I help them all get settled on her lap with Mary’s permission. Little Cassie has to sit on both her brothers’ laps, but I could tell Mary needed this.
Mateo carefully stands up from the couch and I walk over to him.
“Which one?” he quietly asks, and I look over my shoulder, making sure none of them are paying attention.
“Stephan and someone called Derrick Rodriguez.”
Mateo’s eyes darken as his face hardens.
I arch an eyebrow at him. “You know him?”
His lips purse in a fine line and he gives a curt nod as his lips curl. “Yes. One of our men that Diego turned against us.” He hesitates for a moment and then nods to himself. “I know this is a stretch, but can I be in on the questioning? I want to know why Derrick decided to betray mi familia (my family).”
“That’s not something I alone can answer, but I’ll ask Thor and pull for you.” Turning toward the kids, I notice Mary is barely able to keep her eyes open. “Okay, kiddos. Give Mom a goodnight kiss. It’s time we all head back to bed.”
All three of them hesitate as they cling to Mary, and I make a gut decision, hoping she won’t be mad at me for it. “Go upstairs and change into clean pajamas. You can sleep with us tonight, but I need to help your mom wrap her cast so she can get cleaned up as well.” All three of them rush forward, hugging me and thanking me before quickly heading upstairs. I turn toward Mateo. “Can you watch them while I help Mary?”
He gives me a small grin as he tilts his head toward the stairs and clasps my shoulder. “Go, I’ve got them. It’s definitely not a hardship to spend time with mis sobrinos y sobrina (my nephews and niece).”
Clapping him on the shoulder, I turn and walk over to Mary, once again thankful that I started learning Spanish again when Mary had a few weeks ago. Kneeling in front of Mary, I slide off her shoe and nudge her slightly. Sleepily, she blinks awake and gives me a small smile.
“Let’s get you clean. I think we’ll save the bath for tomorrow when you have more energy to enjoy it.”
She hums and I wheel her into her room, shutting the bedroom door behind us. Mary heads to the bathroom, locking her wheelchair in place just outside the door. Walking over to the dresser, I shuffle through her drawers, looking for her favorite pajamas. Grabbing them as well as some fresh panties and socks, I follow her into the bathroom, stopping when I see her stripping and revealing her mouthwatering olive skin.
Then my lip curls when I see her fresh bruises again and I make a silent promise to her that if we’re able to handle Stephan ourselves, that I’ll make sure he endures as much pain as I’m able to deliver without killing him.
A dark satisfaction flows through me as I think about keeping him alive for a while and giving him a dose of his own ‘punishments’ day after day until he finally succumbs. While a part of my brain protests that my decision goes against the oath I took to help and take care of people, I also know that this needs to be done for Mary and the kids’ sake. He needs to either die or be kept in a dark hole, never to see the light of day again for them to be able to move on. Though, I’d much rather prefer the first one, just so the threat is completely eliminated.
“Are you just going to stand there and stare?” she asks, her voice while tired, is also teasing me.
“Sorry, Siren. You’re just too sexy.”
She bites her lip as her gaze lowers to my dick and I groan.
“Siren, I’m trying to be a gentleman here, and you are making it extremely difficult.”
She pouts and then gets a twinkle in her eye. “Can you help me wrap my cast?”
She sits back down in her wheelchair and I squeeze past her, turning on the water in the shower so it can warm up before digging under the sink for the plastic and tape. Turning back to her, my muscles go taut as my gaze immediately goes to the apex of her thighs, which are spread and giving me a perfect view of her glistening pussy lips.
“Siren,” I growl as I grit my teeth before adverting my eyes and quickly wrapping her cast. Taping it off, I breathe deeply to get myself back under control.
When I look back up at her, she bites her lip again as her hands cup her breasts, tweaking her nipples.
“You’re tired, Siren. You could barely keep your eyes open just a moment ago.”
“Well, seeing you staring at me like that got me all hot and bothered. Besides, I almost lost you again tonight. I need you, Luke.”
“Fuck,” I hiss before reaching forward and gripping her hips, pulling her ass to the edge of the chair and diving in between her legs, licking her pussy lips before latching onto her clit.
She cries out and slaps a hand over her mouth to muffle her cry.
I alternate between sucking on her clit and licking her before fucking her with my tongue. Her legs tremble and I gently nibble on her clit, which has her body tightening as her orgasm crests. I lower myself, and lick up her juices, humming as I do so, which has her body jerking as the vibrations prolong her orgasm.
When her body goes slack, I strip out of my clothes and help her stand, guiding her into the shower. She props her leg up on the stool I got for her and she’s at just the right position, that I grab her hips and thrust into her in one motion.
She bites my shoulder to keep from screaming as I piston in and out of her, making sure to bottom out on each thrust. Her eyes roll back into her head as I feel her body spasming around me. Reaching behind her, I grab the lube that I put in here a few days ago and dribble some down her ass. Her body tenses and she looks at me hesitantly.
“Trust me, Siren. Like I said before, I won’t hurt you. I’ll make it feel good. If you ever want me to stop, just say the word and it stops.”
She bites her lip before pulling my head down and I kiss her hard as I massage her hole while still thrusting inside of her. After a little bit, I feel her body melting against me and I push harder against her hole as I pick up my pace, thrusting hard into her pussy.
Finally, the resistance gives way and I’m able to push my finger inside to the knuckle. Her moans deepen when I start thrusting my finger in time with my cock and soon she’s cuming again. Her walls clamp down hard on me, triggering my own orgasm as I flood her pussy with ropes and ropes of my cum.
After her tremors subside, she reaches up and pulls me down for another kiss. “I think that’s something I’m definitely going to look forward to exploring more in the future with you.”
It takes me a moment before realizing she means anal, and my dick twitches and I kiss her again. Her body relaxes even further into me and when I pull back from the kiss, I carefully turn her into the water.
Reaching behind her, I grab her body wash and carefully wash her body. As I kneel in front of her, I look up and notice her gaze has turned hooded again, but I can tell she’s not going to act on it.
Every time that we’ve showered together, I always wash her—hair and body. And each time, it’s like I’m healing a part of both of us by taking care of her like this.
With her body washed, I move her to rinse all the suds off and then turn her back to the water, running my hands through her hair to make sure it’s all wet. Frowning, I pick out the few twigs and leaves that I come across, and when I’ve gotten the remnants of the forest out of her hair, I rinse her hair one more time.
Then we switch positions and I grab her shampoo, lathering it up and rubbing my fingers against her scalp. Her eyes close as she hums and fuck if that doesn’t make me go from half a chub to full mast at the sound. However, I’m not acting on it this time.
Turning, I rinse her hair and then we repeat the process with her conditioner.
When she’s clean, she leans back against the wall and I quickly wash myself. Her eyes are glued to my cock which is pointing straight up at her, but other than the cursory cleaning, I don’t give into my desires again.
She pouts when I rinse off one last time and shut off the water, and I shake my head.
“Later, Siren. You need your rest and we’ve got three kiddos who are probably anxious as all hell since you’re not in their direct line of sight.”
She sobers at that, lowering her gaze immediately, and I shake my head, grasping her chin gently.
“I didn’t mean that as a bad thing, Mary. We were all panicking when we couldn’t find you. They just need some reassurance that you’re here and that you’re safe.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispers, almost choking on the words, and I silence her with a kiss.
“You have nothing to be sorry about, Mary. As much as I hate that the asshole got his hands on you again, I completely get it as well. I would die if anything happened to any of you and I would have done the same if I were in your shoes.” I pause and give her another chaste kiss. She takes a deep breath and nods. “Let’s dry off and get dressed.”
Five minutes later, I’ve got Mary situated in bed after taking a pain pill and I head out into the living room, but stop in the doorway as I take in the scene in front of me.
The kids are piled around Mateo much like they were earlier and he’s reading a story to them.
Ash is the first to spot me and the others quickly take notice of my presence as well.
“Is Mom okay?”
“Yeah, Ash, she is. If you guys want to give Tío (Uncle) Mateo a hug, we can get him situated, and then we can all head back to bed.”
The kids help me take off the couch cushions and I pull out the mattress since Mateo is still recovering himself. I had thought about letting him use one of the kids’ beds, but they are all twin beds and much too small for his six-foot-something frame. At least we were able to find a decent hide-a-bed and Mary and I bought a good mattress for it for situations like this. Ash goes over to the trunk in the corner of the room and pulls out extra sheets and blankets.
In a matter of minutes, the bed is made and I get a bottle of water for Mateo in case he’ll need to take another pain pill later, which I confirmed he grabbed when they were allowed to go back into the clubhouse. We bid each other good night and I herd the kids into our room.
Mary is laying back on her pillow, barely able to keep her eyes open, but she smiles as soon as she sees us and opens her arms. The kids scramble up on the bed, lying in between us and I slip under the sheets on the other side of the bed. It’s a good thing we got a king-sized bed, otherwise this would have been tight.
“Is everyone comfy?” I ask and a chorus of ‘yeses’ answer me.
Shutting off the light, I get comfortable and reach over the kids. Mary does the same, holding my hand as we stare at each other over the top of our kids’ heads.
A resounding peace finally settles over me at having her back home and the kids all safe. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure they stay safe and her so-called-family won’t ever hurt her again.
With that thought, I finally drift off to sleep.
The next morning, I let Mary sleep in after everything that happened last night, but when it gets close to noon, I decide to make her a special brunch of finger foods. Cheese, crackers, grapes, sausage, with juice, coffee, and water.
Once that’s ready, I carry it into our room and start a bath for her, putting in a bath bomb that Levi said will help her relax more and help sooth her sore muscles.
When the water’s ready, I head back into our room and pause for a moment, just watching her sleep peacefully. She’d woken up several times during the night from nightmares, but thankfully, I was able to calm her down each time. I wished I could just hold her myself, but I think having the kids, especially Cassie with us, helped ease her nightmares a lot better.
Shaking myself, I walk over to her and lean over, kissing her forehead as I gently nudge her.
“Mary, baby. Time to get up. You need to eat something and take some medicine. I also drew you a warm bath.”
“Hmmm. That’s something I could get used to.” Her voice is heavy with sleep, but she smiles up at me, then she tugs my cut and I lean down, kissing her lips.
“Come on, I’ll help you up. I want to take a look at your ribs, wrists, and cheek again.”
She nods and I start to help her up, but when she winces, I slow down.
“Fuck, I’ve almost forgotten how much my ribs hurt after being kicked like that.”
I bite my tongue, knowing she doesn’t really want a response to that, but fuck does that make me want to hurt Stephan even more than I did last night.
Her bruising has spread even worse than it was to where her entire left side and the front middle of her stomach is black and blue. I never looked at what type of shoes Stephan was wearing, but from the size of the bruising, I’m going to guess some sort of a boot. Maybe even the same steel toes he used the night we rescued her and the kids.
After she uses the bathroom and brushes her teeth, she puts her hair up into a messy bun. Then I wrap her cast and lift her into the tub, making sure her cast rests on the towel I’d already set out. Turning on the faucet, I top off the water, making sure she’s able to comfortably soak and not have to maneuver around to do it herself.
“Now, you relax, read, or whatever. I’ve got the kids and if for some reason Thor calls Church, Mae has already said she, Mama Astrid, and Elvira would come here. Here’s your phone and your kindle. Towels are right here, along with extra ones if you need more propped under your leg or your neck. If the water gets cold, send me a text and I’ll come in and top you off so you don’t have to. Take as long as you like.”
Kissing her forehead, I ignore the stunned and shocked look on her face. Secretly, I make a promise to myself to frequently do this, or something similar, for her. To show her she can rely on me and that she’s allowed to take time for herself as well.
I shut the bathroom door behind me as well as the one leading into our room before making my way to the living room to check on the kids. Instead, I’m surprised to find my brothers, Mateo, Antonio, and Lorenzo, filling the room.
And my kids are nowhere in sight.
“The other ladies took them upstairs and they’re watching a movie in Ash’s room since it’s the furthest down the hall,” Levi says as she gives me a knowing smile.
“Thank you.”
“She resting?” Antonio asks.
I nod. “I got her up, gave her some medicine and food, and she’s now soaking in the tub. She’s sore and stiff, but her abrasions on her wrists are healing nicely, and it looks like her cheek is as well. Her bruising on her ribs spread significantly, but other than that, they’re just sore.”
Everyone’s face hardens and I decide just to ask the question that’s been burning in my mind all morning.
“Are we keeping Stephan here and doling out justice our way, or are we handing him over?”
“I talked to Sam, and right now, I think we’re going to dole out justice. Stephan is pebbles in the grand scheme of things and if he or the feds get anyone, he’d rather it be X or one of his men.” Thor pauses and glances at Antonio and Mateo before turning back toward me. “I think he realizes he won’t see hide nor hair of Diego, either. I talked to the others after getting your text this morning, and I think from here on out, we work jointly with Antonio and Mateo. We’ll do our thing with Stephan and Derrick, but keep them alive. Ol’ Leo is still hanging on as well, and maybe he’ll cough up some new information when he sees us work them over, or he will when he sees us deal with Diego. Either way, we need to plan how to lure Diego to a location of our choosing.”
“We could use the chip I dug out of her last night to lure him to wherever we decide as the location,” I said as I tilted my head toward Smoke. “Smoke has it and he’s been allowing it to continue to transmit. The thing I don’t know is if they both could see where Mary was at any given time or if it was only one of them.”
The others think before Mateo looks at his father. “Or we lure him out by letting the word out that you are planning to retire early. Since he thinks you think he is me, he’ll come around the estate more. The only problem is he doesn’t have mi daga de oreja (eared dagger) that’s needed in order to succeed you.”
Antonio looks between his sons, before settling his gaze back on Mateo. “Lorenzo and I could place ourselves strategically and let him overhear where it is. The truth is that will actually help our plan, since I am in possession of it. It is time anyway. I have been training you your entire life, especially these last few years to take over for me. I also think that when this is done, you should take your rightful place in our family as our Don.”
Mateo straightens and inclines his head slightly. “ Padre (Father), it would be my honor to lead our family forward.”
“There is only one thing that I request,” Antonio says as he looks around the room. “I deal the killing blow to my wife, children, and grandson.” He pauses and a look of regret crosses his face. “I should have seen the man Diego was turning out to be and yet, I did not, which in turn allowed him to hurt countless victims. Plus leading his stepmother, siblings, and nephew down that path as well. Taking their lives will be my final act as Don.”
Mateo and Lorenzo step forward, but it’s Mateo who speaks. “ Padre (Father), you do not need to be the one to strike the blows. I can do it. You should not have to kill your own wife, sons, and grandson.”
Antonio gives them both a sad smile. “And you should not have to kill your own stepmother brothers, twin, and nephew.”
“Diego and Isaac ceased to be my blood the day they killed Nikos and kidnapped Mary. Eileen was already dead to me long before her faked death. Carmen and Carlos signed their own death warrants when they followed the others down this path and started dealing in skin. We had a sibling meeting, and we all agree. Diego, Carlos, Eileen, Isaac, and Carmen are not our blood or our family. Not anymore.”
“You have always had a strong bond with Mary, which is something I have always admired. Be that as it may, it will be by my hand. No other,” Antonio replies and for the first time, I see a measure of the Don coming out in him.
Both Mateo and Lorenzo dip their heads, and they turn back toward us.
“Time to plan,” Mateo says.