Chapter Seventy-Five Ella
Chapter Seventy-Five
Ella
Eight weeks later
“How is he doing?” I ask Claudette as I step into the cabin that’s been our home for the past two months.
Tiero and I named it Second Dawn. Not that it’s ours to name… yet.
In his quiet preparations to leave la famiglia, Tiero set up a handful of untraceable offshore accounts, enough to secure a comfortable future for us and our children.
I’ve been trying to convince him to buy this place from Carl Freemont and make it permanent. He keeps countering with the idea of a private island somewhere in the Caribbean.
But I’m attached to this cabin.
This is where we were given our second chance, and where our daughter will take her first breath. And it’s also where our friends have made their home, at least for now.
Claudette lives with us, since this is the larger of the two cabins. Her room is on the far side of the house from ours, which I’m hoping is far enough for her not to hear us.
Rhia and Lex have taken over the other cabin on the property. Having my best friend close again after all those weeks apart feeds something in me that I didn’t realize was still aching.
They’re in Atlanta at the moment. Freemont arranged a secure space for Rhia to meet with her family without being seen.
I wish I could have gone with her, to support her through what’s bound to be a tearful reunion. She might spend Christmas with her parents, Connor and Zoe, though part of me hopes she’ll be back here for it.
My gaze drifts to the picture-perfect Christmas tree gracing one corner of the living room. Rhia, Claudette, and I cut it ourselves and dragged it into the house. It was no small feat. Tiero wanted to help, but he’s still restricted from lifting anything heavy.
Dr. Prozesnik, yes, I finally mastered saying his name after a lesson from the good doctor himself, is long gone. He checks in with Tiero once a week over the phone and has visited twice for physical examinations.
“Tiero is fine,” Claudette replies as I hand over the paper bags with the produce I picked up from the local store. “Not that he would ever admit if he wasn’t.”
I take off my heavy jacket and slide off my snow-covered boots, placing them in a tub by the door to catch the water when it melts.
Claudette takes the bags to the kitchen and starts unloading them, and I follow her to wash my hands.
“Do you think you bought enough lemons?” she asks, peeking into a shopping bag that’s entirely filled with them. “This will last months, even with your lemonade cravings.”
“Good,” I say unapologetically. “I don’t want to risk running out, and they might when the snow really hits. Barb said it’s been mild so far this winter.”
“This is mild?” Claudette huffs, but then shrugs it off in typical Claudette fashion.
Though something is different about her today, I just can’t put my finger on it.
I study her as she puts away the groceries. It takes her a moment to notice, too lost in her own thoughts.
“How’s Barbara? And how is the little princess?” she eventually asks. “Wait, did I ask you that already?”
See what I mean? Claudette is flighty, but not like that. Her mind is always sharp. I’ve never seen her this distracted before.
“Is everything okay with you?” I ask, not sure how to respond to this strange mood of hers.
“Who? Me?” She squints at me.
I only widen my eyes in response.
“I’m feeling a little weird. Like something is shifting around me,” she admits.
She gets a faraway look and then adds, “It’s like I can sense Jasper. But that’s ridiculous because we’re in the middle of nowhere. Hmm, who knows what that’s about.”
She furrows her brow and taps a finger against her chin.
“I’m going to head down to the water and go for a dip. That will clear my head.”
Brrr. The thought of jumping into freezing water makes me shiver. No, thank you. I’d rather sit by the fire.
Claudette, however, has embraced ice-hole bathing like everything she does, wholeheartedly. She goes several times a week and by now has found her favorite hole to relax in, nude, of course, with only a beanie on her head. As if that could keep her warm.
She steps closer and gives me a hug.
“Anyway, tell me about your visit with Barb?”
I’ve started to show more, and she rubs my little bump affectionately.
Barbara is my midwife and just lovely. In her late fifties, she’s delivered hundreds of babies. I feel in very good hands with her.
Claudette has been spending time with her whenever she can, which she complains isn’t often enough. She’s determined to learn as much as possible about delivering babies.
With Christmas only days away, this was my last checkup of the year.
“Peanut is developing beautifully. All is well,” I tell her.
She smiles. “I’m glad.”
“Is Tiero in the living room?” I ask, already heading that way.
It’s where he spends most of his recovery time. But even if he wasn’t so predictable, the swirling warmth and dancing butterflies in my tummy would guide me to him.
Even after weeks together, the telltale signs of when he’s near haven’t faded. I hope they never do.
“Yep. Have a look at what he’s reading. His expression is priceless,” she giggles.
Curiosity piqued, I enter my favorite part of the house. I approach the large sofa as silently as I can, taking in the picture before me.
Tiero is sprawled out reading, the flames dancing and wood crackling in the fireplace. I tilt my head to see the cover of the book he’s holding and cover my mouth to stop my chuckle.
Who’s ever seen a big, bad Mafia don reading a pregnancy book? And it’s not the first time I’ve caught him with it.
“Hello, angel. Glad you’re home,” he says without looking up.
“Learning something interesting?” I ask as I approach, bending down to kiss his delectable lips.
They feel like they’re on fire compared to my cold ones.
“You’re freezing,” he admonishes, his voice deep and rumbly. Just the way I like it.
He throws back the blanket and pulls me on top of him before covering us both again.
“Tiero, be careful… your wound,” I chide, shifting my weight so I’m not lying directly on it.
It’s healing fine, but with no doctor nearby, I’d rather play it safe.
He ignores my protests, of course. He’s still Mr. Bossy who does as he pleases. Mafia don or not, I don’t think that will ever change, and I’m happy about it. I love him exactly as he is.
He presses his body against mine, wedging me between himself and the back of the sofa. Beneath the blanket, I’m heating up fast.
“I’ve missed you,” Tiero whispers, his lips brushing mine.
God, I love this man and the way he loves me. Being apart for even an hour feels like forever to him.
I get to smile goofily for about two seconds before he deepens the kiss. His tongue slips into my mouth, claiming it thoroughly until we’re both breathless. A tidal wave of desire rolls through me, my core throbbing with need.
What this man can do to me with just a kiss.
Chest heaving, I try to ignore my blazing arousal. With Claudette only in the kitchen, now is not the time to get carried away.
“What did you read about?” I ask, trying to focus on something other than my growing need for my man.
He smirks against my skin. “The second trimester.”
“And what did you learn?”
His hand slides beneath my sweater and splays over the bump of my belly.
“That you’re going to start to show.”
Duh.
“That’s hardly news,” I reply, covering his hand with mine. Well, parts of it, because his is much larger. “What else?”
“It also talks about heartburn and that eating plain yogurt could help,” he says, his hand gliding a little higher. He hasn’t even touched my breasts yet and my nipples spring to life.
“Your horniness is likely to increase,” he continues, his mouth leaving wet kisses along my neck as his fingers trace circles over my bra-covered breast.
His touch sends heat straight to my core.
“Already there,” I moan.
The fire inside me demands to be fed. I’m seconds away from saying to hell with being overheard.
I’m pretty sure Claudette has gotten an earful many times already, and that’s with her bedroom at the other end of the house.
Tiero pinches my nipple and my back arches, wiping every other thought from my mind.
Thank god Tiero got the green light from Dr. Prozesnik to resume bedroom activities at his visit last week.
Though the good doctor warned him not to do anything too strenuous. And Tiero being Tiero, it’s been hard for him to hold back. Still, having that intimacy again with him is everything.
“Good thing for me you’re mostly recovered.” I pull on his hair to bring him back to me and kiss him again and again.
I undo the button on his jeans and slide my hand over his hard cock. When I give it a squeeze, he hisses in pleasure. This man is always ready for me. I love it.
“Very good thing,” he mumbles and tugs the cups of my bra down. “You’re wearing too many clothes.”
I couldn’t agree more. Flinging back the blanket, I rise to my knees, grab the hem of my sweater, and pull it over my head. My plaster came off the other day, just in time for Christmas. Having only one good arm to use sucked.
I toss the sweater aside and reach for Tiero’s shirt when a strange fluttering sensation in my abdomen makes me freeze.
I cradle my belly, trying to determine if the flutter is what I think it is.
“What’s wrong?” Tiero asks, immediately alarmed.
I close my eyes to shut out any distractions.
Nothing.
“Angel?” he asks again, his tone more insistent now.
And then it’s there again.
Not a gurgle. Not a cramp.
A flutter. Light. Delicate. Impossible to mistake.
My heart leaps into my throat. My eyes shoot open.
“Tiero,” I gasp, a tear rolling down my cheek. “I just felt our baby move for the first time.”
His expression shifts instantly from concern to something almost fragile.
I clutch his hand and guide it to my belly, pressing his palm flat against the small curve there as if I’m afraid the sensation might slip away if I don’t hold it in place.
We sit in complete silence, barely breathing, waiting.
Nothing happens.
The quiet stretches. My pulse thunders in my ears.
Come on, Peanut. Show your daddy you’re there.
“Close your eyes,” I whisper. “That worked for me.”
He obeys without question. I place my hand over his, holding us both still.
“At first I thought it was my stomach gurgling. But then it was more like a gentle flutter. It was amaz—”
Peanut kicks again.
Tiero’s breath halts beneath my hand.
A slow, disbelieving smile spreads across his face as his eyes open and lock onto mine.
“Our baby,” he says, the words filled with awe, like he can’t quite believe he’s allowed to say them.
He eases me down flat onto the sofa and slides down my body, carefully, reverently, until his cheek rests against my stomach. One arm wraps around my hips as if he’s anchoring himself there.
He starts talking softly in Italian to Peanut.
His voice is low, warm, and intimate. The same tone he uses when he speaks to me in the dark.
At the sound of him, she kicks again.
The smile he gives me is blinding. Pure light.
“He’s talking to me. He knows I’m his papa.”
Tiero’s eyes sparkle with a happiness I’ve rarely seen so openly on his face.
And dear God, a brooding, dark Tiero is sexy as hell.
But a happy, relaxed one?
I’m going completely gooey.
He kisses my belly reverently, and the gesture does something to me.
The way he touches the spot where our baby grows, the softness in him, and the awe still lingering in his eyes… I fall in love with him all over again in that quiet, unguarded second.
He sits back on his knees and pulls his shirt over his head. My gaze drifts over his exposed skin, over the hard lines of muscle, the familiar planes of him, and the red, angry scar running along his chest that reminds me how close I came to losing all of this.
My tongue slips out to wet my lower lip before I trap it gently between my teeth.
He really is a work of art.
The heat between my legs stirs and builds insistently. I blame the pregnancy hormones, but deep down I know it’s more than that.
It’s him.
God, I’ve never been so ravenous for anyone in my life.
I thought I had it bad for him when we were on his island. Now I could climb him every second of the day and still not feel like it’s enough.
Tiero’s mouth curves into a slow smirk as he rises from the sofa and pushes his jeans and boxers down in one smooth motion.
I sigh happily when his erection springs free. He wraps his hand around it, giving it a few lazy strokes, his eyes never leaving mine.
I groan. “You’re being very unfair right now,” I tell him softly. “You know exactly what you’re doing to me.”
His smirk deepens as he steps closer and tugs my leggings and panties down my legs before unclasping my bra.
“Much better,” he murmurs.
Yes, I couldn’t agree more.
He lowers his mouth to my breast, taking my nipple between his lips and sucking gently, his tongue flicking over it in slow, deliberate strokes.
Heat floods my veins. My pulse throbs everywhere at once.
He rolls me onto my back and comes over me, pinning me beneath him, his hips rocking into mine in a slow, playful grind.
“Stop teasing me,” I plead, my fingers digging into his shoulders.
His eyes are dark and smoldering as he bends to kiss me, trailing soft kisses along my jaw to my ear, nibbling gently at my lobe.
“Come here, then,” he breathes. “Let me show you how much I love you.”