Page 72 of Family Secrets

Chapter Thirty

Gino struggled not to climb out of his skin. He wasn’t accustomed to being kept in the dark with anything involving him. When Elizabeth came to him with a plan to take him away for the weekend and not tell him where, he didn’t fail to express his distaste.

“You sure you don’t need me to drive? New York City traffic can be a bitch if you’re not used to it.” Shifting in the passenger seat, his aversion to not being in complete control rattling his nerves.

“Nice try, babe.” Elizabeth shot him a side-eyed glance. “You forget I drive myself to class four days a week. I’ve practically mastered New York City traffic.” Reaching over to his bouncing leg, patting down his nervous twitch. “Besides, I want this to be a surprise.”

Gino hadn’t forgotten anything when it came to Elizabeth. Not her abrupt decision to move out of the condo he owned, or the bomb she dropped in his lap when she decided to finish her degree. He certainly hadn’t forgotten she was still friends with Jonah on Facebook, no matter how hard she tried to hide it from him. Most of all, Gino hadn’t forgotten Elizabeth’s lack of returning those three words he told her daily.

Elizabeth held in her excitement as she signaled to take the exit, confident Gino would realize where she was taking him.

Frustrated with the situation, Gino pulled his phone from his pocket, leaned his seat all the way back and began scrolling through his messages. Since the whole fiasco with Sully, he’d closed Amato Luxury Rentals and set up a meeting with Mateo Antonello, the son of another leader in New Jersey to purchase the remaining cars in his possession.

Elizabeth bit her lip as the ringing of Gino’s cell filled her car. She’d hoped he’d taken her seriously when she asked for no distractions during the three-day weekend. Clearly Gino didn’t consider taking a phone call distracting.

Raising the phone to his ear, Gino averted looking into Elizabeth’s disappointed face, choosing the chicken-shit route by tossing his arm over his eyes.

“Yeah?”

“I’ve got Barbara here, said the two of you agreed she could take over the running of Sully’s club.”

“Jesus fucking Christ. Niko, tell that bitch if she doesn’t do what I told her, the only part of any club she’ll be running is the pole when she’s stripping.”

He’d made it clear to Barbara when she approached him about collecting Sully’s things, he had no obligation to give her anything. However, with the closing of his car lot, the girls who worked in the office were now out of a job. With their paychecks coming in the form of cash, they couldn’t exactly file for unemployment, so keeping the strip club open made sense. He’d offered to let Barbara take the position of House Mom, she’d have to submit to a drug screen, with the understanding she was an employee, not management. The last he’d checked his email, there was still no proof of a clean drug screen.

“Still cranky, huh? I expected you to be in a better mood since you’re tucked away with Elizabeth.”

“Don’t,” Gino bit out. “Just fucking don’t.” With Elizabeth living at Emilio’s house, it made it impossible to get her naked and alone. Vittorio was determined to protect his newly-found daughter, banning Gino from spending the night under his roof.

“All right, Casanova. Be careful, and if the condom breaks, name the baby after me.”

Checkingthe address on her cellphone twice, Elizabeth put her Jaguar in park outside the two-story home on the beach. Glancing to her right, she smiled at Gino’s sleeping form. She was grateful he’d fallen asleep shortly after his call, giving her the opportunity to confiscate the annoying device and turning it off.

“Gino?” Running her fingers through his messy hair, loving the way the thick strands felt against her skin. It’d been too long since she’d woken up beside him, after he’d loved her into a deep sleep.

“Giovanni?” Leaning over, Elizabeth placed a kiss to the edge of his jaw, trailing her way to his soft lips. “We’re—”

Surrounding Elizabeth with his arms, Gino pulled her from the driver’s seat, a squeal silencing her announcement they’d made it to their final destination. Covering her lips with his, Gino savored the taste of her as he pushed his tongue passed her teeth, wrapping it around her tongue and sucking. He was half-tempted to strip her naked here in the car, burying himself deep inside and stay there for days.

Pulling back, Elizabeth palmed Gino’s face. “Are you ready for your surprise?”

“Does it involve you naked?”

“Yes.” She smiled widely, missing his touch as much as—by the feel of Gino’s hard cock pressing against her hip, he did her.

“Then absolutely.”

Releasing his grip on her, Gino opened the passenger door and helped Elizabeth out of the car. Standing to his full height, he moved to kiss her when he caught the sight of the house.

“Dio mio,” pointing to the house he owned with his mother. “You brought me to the fucking Hamptons?”

Raising her palms toward him, “Please don’t get mad. Gia mentioned the house here in the Hamptons and I called your mother asking if I could use it for the holiday weekend.” Elizabeth had fond memories of spending Fourth of July with her Nona, watching the fireworks from their backyard. She wanted to make new memories, stories she could share with her and Gino’s children, if they were blessed to have them.

“Let’s see,” wrapping his arms around Elizabeth, he squinted his eyes in faux concentration. “Spending the next three days with my beautiful girlfriend, no phones, no visitors, and most importantly no father staring at me, ready to beat me to a pulp if I touch his daughter under his roof.” Lowering his face to hers, “Nope, not mad one fucking bit.”

Elizabeth breath hitched in her throat as Gino tossed her over his shoulder. “Gino, wait, our clothes are in my trunk.”

Pushing his way through the front door, Gino slapped Elizabeth’s ass, “You won’t need clothes for what I want to do with you.”

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