Chapter Thirty-Seven Leo
Two months later
After being born and bred in New York, I never imagined spending so much time in Philadelphia.
But it was a necessary evil to get my casino off the ground.
First it was closing on the land. Then it was meetings with architects.
It seemed for every step forward, I took two steps back with delays.
Not to mention, I still had the Neretti family business to contend with.
All my time in Philly meant time away from Drea. She’d just entered her sixth month. The baby was growing like a weed and constantly measuring ahead. Dr. Dunbar assured us that considering Drea’s and my height, it made sense he was going to be a big boy.
Thankfully, Drea’s time was occupied with school. Her Submission collection had been a hit with her teacher, and it’d been featured in two art shows. Seeing the pride and happiness on her face with her art made me so proud.
That’s why I’d decided that an epic romantic gesture was in order to make up for all my time away. For this trip to Philly, I’d brought Drea with me. Since she sort of snuck into the city, she was able to meet up with Vittoria for lunch and shopping.
We met back up at the hotel around six. “Put on something sexy.”
“I’m six months pregnant, Leo,” she countered.
I laughed. “You’re still sexy as hell to me.”
“Where are you taking me?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Because I was kinda looking forward to ordering in room service and watching trash TV.”
“You can do that later.”
“Will there be dinner?”
“Absolutely.”
“Okay, I’ll go change.”
After putting on a new button-down shirt, I waited for Drea to appear. When she came out, she wore a sexy low-cut silk dress that hugged her curves and bump. “You look positively edible.”
She wagged a finger at me. “No eating me until I eat.”
“Deal,” I chuckled.
When we got into the SUV, Drea grimaced. “Are you okay?”
She huffed out a breath while cupping her bump. “I think we should sign this kid up for soccer at birth.”
I reached over to feel her stomach. I laughed as a tiny foot slammed against my palm. “Oh yeah, he’s going to be a football star.”
Drea cocked her brows at me. “Since we’re in America, you can call it soccer, not football."
“Are you kidding? No self-respecting Sicilian would ever.”
When we turned onto the street our destination was on, I said, “Close your eyes.”
“Seriously?”
“As a fucking heart attack.”
Sighing, she pinched her eyes shut. Just when she thought about cracking one eye open, I said, “No peeking.”
She grumbled, “Okay, okay.”
A few moments of silence passed before Drea said, “You know how they say your senses get heightened when you don’t have one?”
“Yeah. What about it?”
“It’s so true. Like I just heard the creak of the SUV door opening. The sounds of cars rushing by.” Jerking her chin at the front seat, she replied, “The rumble of Guilo's stomach up front.
“Do you need a protein bar?” she asked him.
“Excuse me, Mrs. Neretti?”
“Your stomach growled.”
He chuckled. “I can’t believe you heard that.”
“Me either,” I mused.
Guilio smiled at us in the rearview mirror. “Don’t worry about me. I’ve got a meal packed for when you guys are inside.”
“Inside where?” Drea prompted curiously.
“I’m not at liberty to say.”
“Just a little hint wouldn’t hurt.”
I tsked at her. “I can’t believe you just tried to work your magic to get Guilio to spill the beans.”
She laughed. “You act like I was using my feminine wiles to seduce it out of him.”
At my possessive growl, Drea shivered. “Guilio values his job and his life too much for that,” I informed her.
I then lifted her out of the SUV. As her eyes popped wide, she squealed in alarm.. Reassuring her, I said, “Easy now. I'm not going to drop you.”
“You sure as hell better not.”
“Close your eyes,” I commanded.
With a huff, she pinched her eyes shut. I eased her gently onto her feet before shifting behind her. “Am I going to be a human shield now?” she teased.
“Smartass,” I muttered as I brought my hands to cover her eyes.
“You’re going to mess up my makeup,” she whined.
“If you don’t stop being a whiny brat, I’m going to take you across my knee and spank you.”
Although a tremor ran through her, Drea snapped. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Try me.”
“Part of me wants to test you, especially since I can hear footsteps on the pavement and some conversation.”
“It’s up to you,” I replied.
“Fine. I’ll quit whining. Does that please you, sir?”
Her words sent an erotic growl echoing through my chest. “Your mouth is going to get you in trouble.”
Swishing her ass against my crotch, she teased, “Then let me say more.”
As my cock started to rise to half-mast, I shifted my hips away from her. “Not now.”
“But we both want it,” she purred in response.
“This is about your surprise,” I replied weakly.
“Slipping around a corner to fuck in the alley would be a surprise.”
“Jesus,” I muttered in a gravelly voice.
One of my hands left her eye to cup her mouth. “While there has never been a time I don’t want you to suggest filthy shit for us to do, I’m pleading with you to shut the fuck up.”
Apparently Drea’s libido had woken up and chose violence. She flicked her tongue out to lick my fingers. “Dammit, Drea.”
“Sorry. I don’t take direction very well when I’m horny.”
“I will pay you back for this.”
“Mm, I sure hope so.”
“Okay, enough,” I muttered.
After taking my other hand off her eye, I pronounced, “Surprise!”
I came around to her side to watch Drea’s reaction. Her gaze bounced around to take in the surroundings. Directly in front of us was a small, abandoned storefront. Beyond the enormous front window, candles in votives flickered in the dim light.
“Oh, it’s a surprise all right.”
Chuckling, I took a step back so I could wrap my arms around her waist from behind. After resting my head on her shoulder, I said, “To be an artist, you sure have a lack of vision.”
“Excuse me? Nothing about an abandoned storefront lights up my artistic sensibilities.” Glancing back at me, she argued, “Especially not after you not only advertised this as a big surprise, but wouldn’t fuck me in the alley.”
“Maybe you need to see inside?”
“If I risk getting my outfit dirty, there better be something fantastic inside.”
“I’m going to pretend that’s the pregnancy hormones and not that I married an absolute brat.”
When she glowered at me, I merely chuckled. Taking her hand, I then pulled her behind me up the sidewalk to the door. As I opened it, a bell tinkled overhead.
A trail of rose petals littered the floor, leading to a huge blanket where a picnic was set up. “This is where we’re having dinner?” she asked.
“Where’s your sense of adventure?”
“Not eating off the floor of a grimy empty building.”
“You’re so spoiled.”
“I think it’s more worrying if I could get tetanus from some of the exposed metal.”
“Nope. You had a dictate at your last appointment, remember?”
“You have a ridiculously good memory when it comes to my OB appointments.”
“One of us has to with your pregnancy brain.”
“Ass,” she grumbled.
She hesitantly walked over to the blanket. It took a moment for her to ease down on her knees. Then she shifted onto her butt. Looking up at me, she asked, “Okay, let’s get this picnic started.”
I held up a finger as I knelt down on the blanket. “Just one thing.”
After taking the silver lid off of one of the plates, I handed her an envelope. “This is for you.”
Furrowing her brows, she reached over and took it from me. After she opened it, she pulled out the contents. She flipped through the pages before looking up at me. “This is the deed to this property.”
“That’s right.”
“Why are you giving it to me?”
Motioning around the room, I said, “This is your gallery.”
At my words, the papers fluttered from her hands. “My gallery?”
“Obviously, it needs some interior work, but I have men coming to start on Monday. Of course, they have been instructed to take your instructions about how you’d like the layout to look.
“You bought me a gallery,” she whispered.
“I did.”
Tears shimmered in her eyes. “I can’t believe it. You made another one of my dreams come true.”
“And you are my dream come to life.”
Drea sniffled. “Stop. You’re going to make me a mess.”
“I’ve felt really bad about all the time I’ve had to spend here in Philly. I wanted you to have something to focus on here as well.”
“Is that why you bought it here instead of New York?”
Nodding, I replied, “And I also wanted you to have something successful to throw in your father’s face in his city.”
Drea grinned. “I like that a lot.”
I winked. “I thought you would.”
Waving her hand at me, Drea said, “Help me up so I can see around.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Once we got her on her feet, Drea started taking in every inch of the space. “I can’t believe how perfect it is. I mean, I didn’t need something huge to start out with.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“There’s plenty of wall space along with room to do some art in the round as well as sculptures."
“I have no idea what that means, but I totally agree.”
“Art in the round is like 3-D artwork.”
Nodding, I replied, “As for a name, I was thinking The Leandro has a nice ring to it.”
Drea laughed. “Not on your life.”
“I’m sure you’ll come up with a magnificent name.”
“Seriously? I can’t even decide on a name for our son, least of all a gallery.”
We’d been round and round for months trying to agree on a name. We seemed to shoot down each other’s suggestions. I wanted something badass like Damiano or Massimo while Drea liked names with biblical roots like Matteo or Daniele.
“We could kill two birds with one stone by naming the baby and the gallery the same thing,” I suggested.
“The Divine Daniele might work.”
“I was thinking more about the Mastery of Massimo.”
“Absolutely not,” she replied before walking over to one of the exposed walls. Her finger reached out to trace what looked like writing.
“What does that say?”
“It’s kinda hard to see, but from what I can read, it’s in Italian.”
“Yeah, the building has been in the same family for years. ”I turned the light on my phone and handed it to her.
“Dare alla luce March 17, 1973.” Drea smiled. “I’ve always thought it was so beautiful that to give birth in Italian meant to give to the light.
“It is.”
“For our bringer of the light, our Luca,” Drea read.
“That’s the name of the man I bought the building from. He inherited the building from his parents after they died. It makes sense they wrote the bringer of the light because he was their only child.”
Drea gasped. “Oh, Leo, it’s a sign.”
“Don’t tell me you believe in that old country stuff,” I chided.
“Of course I do. This building that will birth my gallery just happens to have exposed wood with Italian writing?”
Trying out the name, I said, “Luca Neretti.”
“It’s beautiful.”
“Luca Gabriele Neretti.”
“Yes, that’s wonderful.”
I smiled at her. “Yeah, it is.”
With a squeal, Drea threw herself at me. “Oh my God, you make me so happy.”
“Because I agreed with the name,” I teased.
“Because you’re the most amazing man I’ve ever met.” She gave me a sly smile. “And you’re going to take me from here and sweep me back to the hotel where after you make love to me, you’ll rub my feet while I watch trash TV and eat room service.”
“Seriously, after I went to all this trouble?”
“Oh, I promise when I tell everyone the story, I’ll include how you catered in the most amazing dinner by candlelight.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I countered, “Throw in a blow job, and you’ve got yourself a deal.”
Drea grinned. “Deal.”