Page 73 of Family Secrets

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“You knowI can’t remember the last time I watched fireworks on the Fourth.” Running his fingers up and down Elizabeth’s arm, Gino stared off into the black sky. He could make out the lights of several boats off shore, as everyone waited for the display to begin.

“Really?” Elizabeth lifted her head, staring deeply into Gino’s eyes. “I can’t imagine missing fireworks, especially the ones they have in New York.”

“I can’t recall the last vacation I took that didn’t involve making one deal or another.” Gino’s mind drifted back to his last trip to Italy. He’d been determined to spend time with his mother and sister, yet in true Jonathan style, he’d called him up, demanding he meet this guy he claimed could give him a deal on heroin. Gino met with the guy, stayed for all of ten seconds while his uncle’s men beat the life out of the guy for selling to Jonathan. Once he returned to the States, Gino stared into his father’s eyes and lied through his teeth, selling him the version of the truth he wanted to hear. Sadly, drugs never came and Jonathan’s money went to charity for his mother’s school.

“I never took a vacation, period.”

Suddenly feeling like a jerk, Gino lifted Elizabeth to face him. “I hate how much you’ve missed, and I swear, you name a place you want to visit and I will make it happen.”

Smiling down on him, Elizabeth heard the boom signaling the start of the fireworks, and the moment she’d been waiting on. “You already did.” Placing a kiss to his lips, Elizabeth steadied her nerves. She’d enlisted Gia’s help in what she wanted to tell him, practicing nearly non-stop for days.

Clearing her throat, “I want to tell you something, and I need you to let me finish before you say anything.”

Leaning back, Gino surveyed her face, nodding slowly as his heart hammered in worried anticipation.

“You stumbled into my life...literally.” Elizabeth spoke from the heart in practiced, and surely broken Italian. “Giving me the ultimate gift by reuniting me with my family. You’ve been patient with me while I learn who I am, even when it meant I moved out of your protection and into my father’s. You’ve given me space, and time, and all of the love I could ask for. You’ve taught me it’s okay to want more, to accept the things that come with our lifestyle. You’ve never minced words when it came to how I fit into your world, showing me time and time again how deep your love for me is.”

Combing her fingers through Gino’s hair, the bright glow of an exploding firework illumined his surprised eyes. “I love you, Giovanni.”

Emotions clogged Gino’s throat as he stood from the patio chair, Elizabeth wrapped around his middle. While her Italian was broken and choppy, it was absolutely perfect to his ears.

Laying her on the plush couch, Gino took her face between his hands, “I love you, too.” He whispered, repeating her heart-felt sentiment in the same broken Italian she’d clearly worked so hard to say.

Kneeling before her, Gino slipped his hips between her knees, nipping at the skin of her collar bone as he pulled at the tie to her bikini top. Smiling against her skin, Gino recalled how she’d shocked the shit out of him earlier in the day when she’d tossed the same top to the deck, allowing the sun to tan the skin of her bare back.

Kissing his way along the tips of her breast, trailing his nose over her hardening peak. He’d never forget the way her perfect globes glowed in the mid-day sun, or how she teased him as she applied suntan lotion, taking her time as her delicate fingers brushed over the pink skin.

“Gino.” Elizabeth cried through a gasp, the sensation of his lips commandeering her nipple going straight to her core. He bombarded the second breast with the same attention as the first, addicted to the moans which left Elizabeth’s throat in response.

Lapping at the skin of her stomach, he paused just under her belly button, allowing his mind to envision her swollen with his child. He wanted children with Elizabeth, something he would have scoffed at before this beautiful creature crash landed into his world.

Lifting her hips, Elizabeth slipped her bikini bottom down a few inches before Gino stopped her.

“Slow down, baby. We’ve got the rest of our lives.”

Lifting her head, Elizabeth shot him an angry look. “No, what you’ve got is girlfriend who wants you to shove that talented tongue of yours into her pussy and make her come.”

Elizabeth’s brazenness struck Gino somewhere deep, cracking the core of his resolve. He could deny her nothing, especially when he would reap the reward as well. Gripping her around her knees, Gino pulled Elizabeth to the edge of the couch, tossing her feet over his shoulder before obeying her order, shoving his tongue deep inside her waiting cunt, his thumbs tapping out a furious rhythm on her swollen clit.

Breathing was not an option for Elizabeth, Gino’s talented tongue and fingers sending her into orbit. Gripping at the pillows on either side of her, she held on as best she could, the tingling in her lower pelvis signaling the building orgasm.

Gino intensified his effort when Elizabeth’s legs began to shake, doubling the speed of his ministrations until he felt her body relax into the couch.

“C’mere.” Elizabeth beckoned him, the simple request breathy and full of sated bliss.

“No,” Gino jumped to his feet, scooping her into his arms. “You c’mere.” Sealing his lips to hers, he maneuvered around the furniture, down the long hall and into the bedroom they’d christened earlier. Laying her among the ruffled sheets, Gino slid into her, a hiss leaving his lips as he stilled to memorize the moment. This was his destiny. For the first time in his life Gino was in love, and by the admission she’d given him, Elizabeth loved him back.

“Say it again?” Gino begged, something he’d never lowered himself to do.

Gifting the smile she reserved for Gino, Elizabeth kissed his scruffy jaw, trailing her tongue along the shell of his ear. “I love you.”

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