Page 64 of For Pleasure Or Worse

"Dish 'em and take 'em."

Tally sat on the large sofa, our wedding party between us, and my mind floated to what else had happened in the bedroom earlier. Whathadn'thappened at the height of it, the feeling of her thighs in my hands, the tiny shiver of her torso as I ran my lips down her neck. It was chewing at my nerves not to have her now, and I knew exactly how I wanted her. I had plans for us, and those big plans had me hiding a hard-on behind a throw pillow like a teenager.

I stared directly at her, through the murmurs of our friends and the room fell away like I was willing her bright brown eyes to catch mine. Her hair had grown so long it billowed like curtains over her shoulders and her soft tan legs folded under her body.

Look at me, Tal. Be vulnerable with me. Feed this possession.

Her throat bobbed, hand pausing with some sort of flattened pretzel halfway to her mouth as if she'd heard my plea, and through long eyelashes, her attention flitted across to me. Thetension between us simmered like something lost begging to be found.Need you, I mouthed.

Natalia’s skin turned a bright shade of pink and her teeth sunk into the plush pillow of her bottom lip. The visual went straight to my gut and I was halfway to taking her back upstairs with me to finish what we’d started when Ophelia addressed the room and Tally’s gaze darted away.

"Let's go around the room and tell our favorite memory of the bride and groom," the maid-of-honor suggested.

"I've got something." Wink’s blue eyes brightened, and he swung a tattooed arm across the back of the couch behind his older brother. "Oh Captain, my captain."

"Fucking spare me," I scoffed out with a laugh. The boys all replied in hoots, while Angelo looked on curiously and with reverence, like he couldn't wait to hear it. Unfortunately the call sign stemmed from something totally unheroic.

"I think it's time we disclosed how you got that nickname." Wink smiled brightly.

"It’s because I'm always in charge," I explained.

"That's a lie," Tally said pointedly. "Don't get me started."

I stuck my tongue in my cheek. She was bold with an audience, but I loved that about her. "I'll deal with you later, princess."

"Sam, continue." Ophelia held out an invisible microphone for him.

"Captain Morgan," Wink elaborated. "Mateo loves boats, did you know that?"

"I like pirates." I looked down, into my lap at the beer I was holding. "Pirates are fucking cool, boats are their houses, and we spent a lot of time on the ocean in Delta."

"Cap got so tossed up on rum one night he thought he was a pirate, and we were stationed in a bay on our day off where therewere plenty of boats. He carried his handle of Captain Morgan straight onto a charter and tried to take over the ship."

Echo snickered, reliving a night I couldn't even remember after the fact. All I knew was I woke up with the worst hangover of my life, stinking like salt water with my ID missing.

"He didn't take the boat, by the way. The poor guy on board barely spoke any English, and with a flick sent him over the bow. Luckily nothing too crazy. We pulled him out and shook him off. He did lose the handle though."

"Swimming with the fishes." I owned up to it, taking a long swig of my beer.

"I didn't know you wanted to be a pirate, babe," Natalia cooed. "I'm sure we could make that happen."

Frankie popped open the bottle of champagne and a stream of foam tilted from the lip and splashed the floor. "A toast to Captain Duran and his lovely first mate, Tally. May all your seas remain calm, all your ships sound, and all your rum barrel-aged."

"I'll drink to that." I smiled, watching my future wife raise her glass across the couch.

Sam lita fire in the standing pit on the deck after dinner. The girls were below in the pool, playing a game of tipsy chicken atop each other's shoulders. I was glad to see Tally seemingly back to normal with her sisters again. They always found a way to gravitate back into one another’s good graces. I didn’t hold the prenup against Bella, either. It was the way she was raised, and for all I knew her father put it in her head to begin with and she was simply following demands. At their core, her sisters were good girls. Definitely spoiled, but also insanely intelligent. Itmade me think Natalia might be able to tell them one day about what we did for a living and find support there.

I sat next to my brother on a bean bag and tousled his wavy brown hair. He batted my hand away, annoyed, and it sent me straight back to high school for a glimmer of a moment.

Angelo looked good—healthy, bright-eyed, strong. We were more similar now than ever before in our lives, and when I really looked at him I saw Dad, too. In the shallow smile lines around his eyes, the cleft on his chin. Aging was a mind fuck. Maybe I looked away for too long, but suddenly the image I had in my head of my parents, my brother, and even myself had softened and browned at the edges.

I put my feet up on the rail of the fire pit and felt the heat burning the soles of my shoes. “I’ve missed you, man. Catch me up on life in the Bronx. What’s new?”

“Nothing at all.” He blew out a breath and dug into his shorts pocket for a pack of cigarettes. “It’s the same as the day you left. A few more gas stations. Settino retired so Mom had to find a new butcher. Pamela got married last fall, actually.”

“Settino’s daughter? That Pamela? The one with the toe thumbs?”

“That’s the one,” he said. “I was just as shocked as you.”

---