Sophie
After almost losing Joey, waking up beside him is the best feeling in the world. He feels like…safety. My rock. Even after nearly getting killed last night, with his brother’s life on the line, he was still the one taking care of me. He’s that kind of guy.
I run my fingertips lightly over his neck and kiss his shoulder.
“Sophie.” He rolls over and leans up on his forearm. “How are you feeling, baby?”
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. You have enough on your shoulders.” I’m a little queasy, but I’m getting used to that being my perpetual state. I keep crackers by the bedside table, and I’ve already eaten one to soak up the waking nausea.
“You’re what matters most to me. You showing up like that last night” He breaks off, eyes misting.
I kiss his lips, the stubble on his unshaven jaw scraping my skin. In a flash, he has me pinned on my back, his hands manacling my wrists.
“I don’t want to lose you again,” he says.
I blink, studying the handsome planes of his face, trying to figure out what he means. “You won’t.”
I sense some kind of turmoil in him, brewing under the inscrutable mask he wears. “You’re okay with what I am, angel?”
I hesitate, then nod. “I want you in my life. In our lives,” I say, including the baby. “I…I understand what that means.”
He drops his head into the crook of my shoulder, and I hear his breath rasp in and out a few times before he lifts his head again. “I…I’d just told Al I wanted to step back when the bomb exploded.”
“Oh Joey.” He did that for me. And now stepping back is probably impossible. I want to wrap my arms around his neck, but he still has me pinned. “I don’t want to cause friction for you. I’m not going to reenact my parents’ marriage. You are what you are. I’m going to stop judging.”
He looks down at me, his expression unreadable. “I may not have a choice now. If Al can’t lead, it will fall to me.”
My baby daddy. The don of the LaTorre family.
I draw in a breath and exhale. My priorities have rearranged. Being right, standing on some moral high ground no longer feels as important as love. As having the man I love in my life. In my baby’s life.
“Okay.”
He holds my gaze a moment longer. I realize what he’s telling me. His hands will be bloody before this is over. He’s the General in a war on the side that just suffered a terrible attack.
“You do what you need to do,” I tell him. Maybe it makes me a terrible person, but I want revenge on the parties responsible for nearly taking him from me, too.
He nods. “I’ll never let business touch you or our family.”
“I know.” I understand how this works. I know what I’m getting. I’ll take it. I’ll take Joey, exactly as he is. Family and all.
He nudges my knees open and rubs the head of his cock between my legs as he nibbles along the side of my neck.
“Yes, please,” I murmur. I’m ready for him. No foreplay needed. Waking up beside him was enough.
“I missed you so fucking much,” he growls in my ear. He presses inside me, and I gasp at the pleasure.
“Me too,” I whisper. My eyes roll back at the sensation of him filling me.
He rocks in and out, and this movement, this dance, this reunion feels like a clearing of everything we’ve been through. A reset. We’re coming back to the communion of our two bodies. Our two spirits. The two beings drawn together from the start.
He was there for me at my dad’s funeral because his soul recognized mine. His heart resonated with me.
I know now that Joey is my destiny.
My always.
The man I wanted but was afraid to claim.
I couldn’t be more grateful that he claimed me.
“You’re marrying me,” he says on a thrust.
I smile. “Are you asking or telling me?”
“Telling.” His eyes glitter. “You’re mine. No chance I’m giving you up ever again. Capisce?”
I smile. “Got it, bossman.”
He thrusts harder. “You’d better.”
My internal muscles start to squeeze and clench around his cock.
“Aw, Sophie. You feel so good. I’m not gonna last long.”
I arch to receive him even deeper. Reach around and grip his ass, sinking my nails into his skin to urge him on.
“Fanculo. Sophie,” he chokes, his thrusts growing faster. More erratic. “I need you so much right now.”
Those words send me toppling over the edge into full orgasm.
Joey curses and pounds into me, and another dozen strokes, and he comes, too, shoving deep to spend inside me as I spasm and squeeze around him.
“I love you,” he whispers, wincing from his injuries as he settles on his side.
I hold his stubbled face between my hands. “I love you so much.”
Joey
Sophie brews coffee while I make her eggs and toast. She’s everything to me. The reason to make sure this all comes out right.
While she eats, I call the hospital and learn Al’s still in a coma.
Last night, I took the reins with a show of furious leadership because Sammy was right-it’s imperative to demonstrate I have control, have a plan, and am not taking shit from anyone. I owe it to Al to keep shit in line until his recovery. Besides, I have no desire to get a bullet in the back of my head from someone who thinks he can lead better.
All the men in the organization are shaking down every contact they have to get information.
I send a message to Ned, my FBI contact.
“Would they let me in to see Al?” Sophie asks.
I raise my brows, surprised. “You want to see him?”
“I could try giving him some energy.” She shrugs. “Maybe it would help pull him out of the coma.”
I don’t know what I did to deserve Sophie’s complete change of heart, but I’m so fucking grateful.
“Yeah. That sounds great. It can’t hurt, right?”
“Right.”