“Yes, I’ll come right now,” my mom says, surprised, like she doesn’t know why I’m asking again.
“Okay, I love you, Mom. See you in a bit.”
“Hasta luego, bye.” My mom says in her customary Spanglish.
Relief pours through me. I’ve seen my mom perform miracles before. Quiet ones. The kind that people don’t even notice because it’s not in their frame of reference to attribute a sudden turnaround to a hands-on energy healing. And my mom doesn’t care if they acknowledge it or not. She doesn’t get attached to results. She just gives and says she gets something out of the act of giving. She receives at the same time, and that’s enough.
I pace around the house, my stomach in knots. Junior left one of his goons here-one of the guys who grabbed me from the parking lot, but I think I can handle him. Junior said he was here for protection, not to keep me prisoner. I’m just hoping my mom gets in and out before Junior shows up, because I know he’s going to freak.
I consider texting him, but I sort of chicken out.
This situation is serious, and I had to make a tough decision. My mom won’t pay attention to how Gio got his wound or why I’m treating him at home. She may put it together, but it won’t even matter to her.
She’s just not like that. She sort of operates in a bubble of kindness, my mother.
She shows up forty minutes later and I rush down the stairs to let her in.
“It’s okay, it’s my mom. She’s here to help,” I tell the bodyguard, who has drawn a pistol.
He gives me a doubtful look. “Junior know about this?”
“Of course he does,” I snap, using my customary bluster to get the guy to back off. Fortunately, he does. He opens the door a crack and when he sees it’s my mom, puts the gun away.
She envelops me in a warm hug, kissing both my cheeks.
“Here he is.” I lead her upstairs, wringing my hands. “He’ll go on a new antibiotic today, but I don’t like the way he’s burning up.”
My mom pulls up a chair beside the bed and puts one hand on Gio’s shoulder, the other on his hand. “Ay, he is hot, isn’t he? We’ll see what we can do.” She closes her eyes. I watch for a moment.
I swear I feel my own worries drain away as my mom works. Like the energy is healing me at the same time.
When I was in high school and I’d come home all upset about something, she’d tell me to sit down, and she’d put her hands on my shoulders and within fifteen minutes, all my angst would drain away.
I’m sure some day they’ll discover the science around energy healing-I even read a great book about a guy who could consistently and repeatedly cure mice of cancer-but I’m still content to believe she’s magic.
After twenty minutes, I’m completely soothed. The energy in the room pulses with a fine, pure vibration. My mom shifts her hand to lightly cover Gio’s wound, even though the blanket’s up, and I didn’t tell her where it was. She just sees where to go.
She lifts her hand above the area, flicking her fingers like she’s brushing away the heat. She circles her hand over it. Lifts and lowers it. It goes on for a while, but I don’t leave. The energy feels too pleasurable not to stay and witness the healing.
After another ten minutes, she stands up and waves her hands over his entire body, like she’s building an energy cocoon around him. Finally, she backs up, toward me and the door.
She turns to me and nods with a serene smile.
I hug her. “Gracias, Mamá. I love you so much.”
“And you?” she asks, pulling away and peering up at my face. “All good?”
I nod, hoping I won’t flush. I’m sure I’ve changed in the days since I’ve been here. I’ve had more sex than I’ve had in years. My emotions have been tested in all directions. I may be falling in love against my own will.
My mom nods as if satisfied by what she sees in my face. “Okay, I’m going. Have to get some lunch before my shift. I love you.” She gives me another two kisses on my cheeks.
I lead her downstairs and open the front door, congratulating myself for getting her in and out of here before Junior gets back.
And that’s when I see Junior’s car pull into the drive.
* * *
Junior
It takes me four stops to find a connection to give me the prescription Desiree asked for. I have to say, I’m scared as hell, because Desiree seemed to be on high alert, the way she was when she first got to my house and helped get Gio stabilized.
I admire the fuck out of how clear and professional she is, even when worried. I guess that comes with her job.
There’s a strange car parked in front of my house, which puts me on even higher alert. I sent Luca over to guard Gio and Desiree while I was gone, because we still haven’t found Vlad, but that’s not his car. His is in front of it. I park in the drive and draw my Beretta as I get out of the car.
The front door moves, like it had just been open a crack and someone shut it.
Holy fuck.
All I can think is that Vlad showed up for his revenge. Who else could it be? I run for the front door, gun palmed along my leg. I grip the handle and turn it slowly.
It swings open abruptly. “Hi, Junior,” Desiree chirps in a falsely cheerful voice.
I’d lifted the gun, but I lower it, because she’s the only body in front of me. I step into the house, peering past her at…
An older woman.
A short Hispanic woman with salt and pepper hair and Desiree’s eyes.
I put the safety on my gun and shove it in my pocket.
“I called my mom,” Desiree says breathlessly and the room suddenly spins around me.
What the fuck?
Black bleeds around my vision.
Was this some elaborate escape plan of hers? Did she make up Gio’s condition? I trusted her.
I give my head a shake, drawing in a harsh breath.
No, he really had a fever. I felt him myself.
“My mom does energy work, and I wanted her to work on Gio. Sometimes her treatments make all the difference in a person’s healing.”
Wait… what? I narrow my eyes, trying to understand what the fuck Desiree is talking about. She’s speaking in rushed sentences that are too hard for me to follow. Or maybe it’s my brain is too slow right now.
“Mamá, this is my employer, Mr. um, Jones. Mr. Jones, my mother, Flor de Liz Lopez.”
Mr. Jones. Okay, she’s trying to cover for me. But the woman is at my house. And just saw my wounded brother. She’s a witness.
Luca appears from the living room, totally relaxed. Dumb fuck. “You need me to stick around, boss?”
I just shake my head, because if I speak, I’m going to be a serious asshole.
Luca steps through the door and Desiree catches it and holds it open. “My mom’s gotta run to her shift at the hospital. Bye, Mom!” She shuffles her mom past me and practically shoves her out, shutting the door tight behind her.
Two seconds go by as I try to decide if I need to go after her or not.
But Desiree’s standing in front of me, twisting her hands. “Just chill out, Junior,” she says, but her words are pleading. “She doesn’t know anything. She didn’t see the wound, didn’t ask any questions. She just shows up and does her thing and leaves. Nothing to worry about.”
I take a step toward Desiree. I suppose it must come off as menacing, because she takes two steps back, her pupils narrow with alarm. I can’t reassure her, because I’m still teetering on the edge of doubt.
And the idea of Desiree not being trustworthy fucking guts me.
I don’t even know what I’d do.
I couldn’t hurt her. I don’t even think I have it in me to threaten her with something awful.
“What were you thinking?” I snarl. “You just made your mom a witness.”
“Junior, you’re not listening. She saw nothing. And even if she knew everything, you’re safe. She’s my mom. Her trust lies with mine. Always. I’m on your side, I’m Team Tacone, so that means she is, too. Without question, without a shadow of a doubt. We’re family.” She tilts her head. “Surely you understand about that?”
The haze around my vision starts to clear and I draw in a few deeper breaths.
I’m Team Tacone.
I’m on your side.
Her words do something terrible and beautiful to me. Shred me in half and reshape me into something new.
And suddenly I’m on her, kissing the fuck out of her, holding the back of her head captive as my tongue sweeps into her mouth. I nip her lips, suck them. Bruise them with the intensity of my desire.
I carry her upstairs, legs wrapped around my waist, never breaking the frantic kiss. In my bedroom, I lower her to stand and rip her scrubs off while she works on my clothes. I bite her neck, lift her up and throw her on her back on my bed.
I want to reward her for hours, but there’s too much pressure built up-like my whole life, my whole essence of being just undammed and wants to pour out to her. There’s no stopping it. I yank off her panties and shove one knee up to feast between her legs. It’s not nuanced foreplay-I’m not capable of precision. It’s more like I devour her. Suck and bite and plunge my tongue in her entrance. And then I can’t wait any longer. I yank off my boxer briefs and roll on a condom in record time and then I’m over her.
Spearing her with my erection.
Claiming her with every ounce of my being.
I slam in hard. She cries out, but her eyes are closed, her head tipped back with pleasure.
Fuck, I need her. I plant my hands up above her shoulders so she can’t slide and fuck her with all the force inside me. It’s rough.
Rabid.
It’s far more animal than man.
I didn’t know I had this amount of passion in me, but here it is. Pouring out, mingling with hers, making me a new man. Whole again.
She’s making her noises-cries and moans and incoherent begging.
“Desiree,” I choke. Because I need to speak her name. The name of the woman who did this to me. Who turned me inside out. Reshaped me.
Her eyes open and she reaches for me. Digs her nails into my back as I slam into her supple body. She wraps her legs around my waist and hooks her ankles behind my back, using her legs to encourage me even deeper, harder. To show me she wants this. Wants more.
And I don’t hold back. The bed slams against the wall, mattress bounces and shakes as I take my woman, give her every ounce of everything I have.
A stream of Italian comes out of my mouth. I’m babbling more than she is. My thighs tighten up, lightning strikes at the base of my spine. I roar like a fucking lion, slam in and out of her so hard I fear I’ll break her. And then I go deep.
“Fuck, Desiree, come, baby.” I’m begging her to come because I can’t hold my orgasm back, and I don’t have the coordination or brain cells to make sure she gets off.
She does. Her muscles tighten and squeeze my dick the minute I tell her to, a quick pulsing that makes her choke on a scream, head thrown back, eyes rolled up in her head.
I fill the condom. Fuck, I come so much I fear it won’t hold it all. And then I’m on top of her, panting into her neck, listening to her slowing cries.
“Did you get the antibiotic?” she asks after a moment and I curse and pull out. “Yes. Yeah, I got it.” I dispose of the condom and fish the antibiotic out of my coat pocket.
Desiree pulls on her scrub bottoms without panties and my undershirt.
I smile, satisfaction at seeing her in my clothes surging. I hand her the antibiotic and yank on my own clothes, then follow her into Gio’s room.
She’s already injected it into the IV. “Look,” she says softly, lifting her chin toward Gio. “He already looks better. I’m not that religious, but I swear my mom has a direct line to God. Or source energy-whatever you want to call it.”
I go still. I hadn’t even understood what she’d told me before. About why she called her mom here. But she’s right. There’s none of the usual pained restlessness around Gio. The lines of his face have softened, and he looks peaceful. His breath is steady. I touch his head. Still warm, but not burning as hot as this morning.
I pull Desiree into me and kiss the top of her head. And then, because she’s braless and her nipples are popping through my thin shirt, I have to palm her breast. Have to rub my thumb over the pebbled tip.
And then I’m squeezing her ass.
“Is my punishment over?” she asks, her lips curving into that taunting smile I love so much.
I work my finger between her ass cheeks, which is easy since she’s only wearing scrubs- no panties. “Baby, that wasn’t punishment,” I murmur. “That was your reward. Punishment comes later.” I curl my finger to touch her anus, showing her exactly how I’ll be taking her to task.
She moves restlessly, and I cup my other hand around her mons to stimulate her both places. Her breath comes in short pants. I release her, it was just a tease to keep her on edge. I’m still soaring from her revelation. Still soaked in gratitude, wanting to reward her in every way possible.