Page 64 of Forbidden Surrogate

He runs his thumb over my lips again, pretending to make his next statement more general, but obviously having a very pointed meaning to it.

“But if anyone puts their hands on you again, I won’t ask questions.”

Luigi must have given commands to the rest of his family. He somehow has a car – which I don’t recognize – and we’re driving together alone. I’m shocked, soaking everything in that just happened. I don’t think to ask Luigi where he’s taking me, but I shouldn’t be surprised that he takes me to a third location, entirely different from anywhere he’s brought me before and in a part of Buffalo that I’ve never been to, even as a mostly lifelong resident of the city. There are just some spots and neighborhoods that never cross your awareness, and it makes sense that I wouldn’t have been anywhere near this gated community.

When Luigi pulls up between two brand new Porsches, I have the distinct impression that this isn’t just a gated community for rich people. It’s forfilthyrich people, an entirely different designation.

“Do you own this spot too?” I ask Luigi when we pull up in front of an off-white townhouse that looks almost brand new. He chuckles, as if I’m ridiculous to suggest he would live here. He owns multiple properties, so it’s not that crazy for me to think he could afford this.

“No. Mikey is more of a nut for security. That suits my purposes for the two of us quite well.”

Luigi looks over at me with an expression it’s hard not to interpret as blaming me for what the hell just happened. His protective instincts are downright animalistic. Just when I’m about to deep dive into my feelings, Luigi reaches over and touches my thigh.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” he says. “If anything happened to you, I would burn this city to the ground.”

He means it and I can feel it, even if his emotions can be intense enough to scare us both. I’m happy that I’m safe too, but more importantly than that… I’m hungry and the baby is hungry. My stomach growls at this inopportune moment and Luigi’s sternness softens.

“Mikey has these healthy frozen burritos. I’ll pop a couple in the microwave for you and the baby. Come on.”

Mikey’s townhouse has a keypad entry and Luigi assures me there aren’t any upstairs neighbors because his cousin owns both floors.

“CC will be here in a couple months, so you timed this kidnapping right.”

“I can’t be around CC?”

“She’s somehow worse than Angela,” Luigi says. But mentioning his sister’s name brings sadness to his face for a fewmoments before he remembers to be gruff and emotionless in front of me.

“There’s nothing wrong with Angela.”

“She drugged you and tricked you into a pregnancy contract.”

“She was lonely.”

“Hm,” Luigi says disapprovingly. “Whatever the case may be, CC is an entirely different beast. Uncle Pino has no idea how badly I fucked up the Angela situation and he thinks it’s a good idea for her to have supervision. Now come on, let’s get you a burrito.”

Mikey’s house is basically a shrine for the Buffalo Bills. I have never seen anyone this invested in covering every inch of their apartment in Bills memorabilia. The man has a signed poster of OJ Simpson from his football days framed in his kitchen. That has to be a red flag of some kind since OJ didn’t exactly stick to playing ball.

Luigi polishes off a bowl of cereal from Mikey’s cupboards while microwaving the burritos for me. Apparently, I’m supposed to get the nutrients while he enjoys a sugary bowl of Lucky Charms.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Luigi

Delphine eats some dinner and then I take her to Mikey’s guest bedroom where we’ll be sleeping for the night. My cousin has always had an unhealthy love of football, which appears to have taken over his life and every square inch of his living space.

What guest bedroom needs a framed picture of Josh Allen straight across from the bed? If Delphine were to ride me, I would have to stare into the man’s eyes. It doesn’t feel right. Tonight, there won’t be any riding. Delphine crawls into bed and I don’t fight my urge to follow her and wrap my arms around her.

It will be difficult to let her out of my sight in the future after this. I don’t know if I believe the story Renzo and Gino spun for me, but if Delphine is willing to go along with it, she must have her reasons. Dragging unconscious Benny Gravina to our “family doctor” should be more than enough punishment for them to learn their lesson, especially if he dies along the way.

I haven’t bothered to check in because after tonight, I’m taking Delphine to an entirely new and unknown location to everyone but me for the duration of her pregnancy. That means tomorrow, I have to sort out every miserable detail including a new OB/GYN and increasedtrustworthysecurity to ensurenothing happens to her while she’s pregnant and too vulnerable to fight for herself.

Until then, I can hold her. Delphine snuggles against me as we fall asleep together in bed…She’s mine. Perfectly mine.

I wake up in the middle of the night to my phone buzzing against my thigh. Delphine continues to sleep peacefully, maybe even snoring. I don’t want to move, especially when her soft ass cheeks nestled against my crotch nearly edge me to orgasm multiple times throughout the night. But I have to take these calls. I know who it could be after the mad adventure tonight.

I shut the door to Mikey’s guest bedroom behind me as I step into the hallway and then follow an invisible thread to the side porch off Mikey’s kitchen. By the time I’m out of earshot, I answer my father’s expected phone call.

“Where are you?” He asks.

---