Page 64 of Surprise Twins for the Mafia Prince
“This is your house,” she said. “You’re paying for it.”
“I’m buying it for us. Me, you, the kids. We’re all going to live here, so your opinion matters.”
“What are we doing, Dario?” she asked.
I knew she was asking about the state of our relationship, but considering how reluctant she was to think of this house as her home too, I had a feeling that she wouldn’t be open to hearing that I was ready to claim her as mine forever. So, I showed her what we were doing.
Bending her over the granite top of the kitchen island, I lifted her skirt and fucked her from behind. We christened our new home before I even put in an offer.
Now, as I walk into the house, I find her standing at that same kitchen island. It’s covered with boxes marked with the word KITCHEN and as I approach, I see that half of them are empty. She’s been busy while I’ve been away.
She looks up at me and smiles—reallysmiles. The kind that reaches her eyes.
And just like that, the rage from earlier disappears.
I cross the room, pull her into my arms, and press my forehead to hers.
“The babies moved,” she whispers suddenly, grabbing my hand and placing it on her belly.
A small nudge presses against my palm.
My throat tightens.
“Wow,” I breathe.
It’s hard to wrap my mind around the fact that this little being pushing against my hand is my child. The little shapeless blobs that I saw on the ultrasound machine a couple of months ago now have arms and legs and heads. They’re moving around inside of Paige, and they’re little humans that I can’t wait to meet.
I use my free hand to cup her cheek, and I press our foreheads together. It’s right on the tip of my tongue to tell her that I love her, but I force myself to hold the words inside. I can’t say it yet, not until I’m sure she’s ready.
I know Paige is happy, but there’s still a wall or two up around her heart. I have the feeling that she’s always waiting for a reason to bolt. Or maybe she thinks that I’m going to turn on her like she believes my dad turned on hers.
I don’t know exactly what she needs in order to be ready to hear how I feel about her, but I know that it’s not time. Not yet.
So, I kiss her, trying to pour all of the love and affection that I feel for her into it. If she’s not ready to hear it, I’ll make her feel it.
One day soon, I’ll say the words.
And when I do, I hope she’s ready to say them back.
27
PAIGE
My heart doesthis weird stuttering thing when my phone rings and Gabriel’s name flashes across the screen. I’ve been avoiding his calls for months, which hasn’t exactly been difficult. He’ll always be important to me—in that obligatory, blood-of-my-blood way—but we haven’t had a close relationship since...well, since he abandoned me with our mother when I needed him most.
There’s distance between us, and I don’t just mean the miles stretching from Vegas to Detroit. I mean the emotional chasm that opened up when he, at eighteen, decided that his freedom was more important than his little sister. He wanted out of our volatile home, and I was collateral damage in his escape plan.
I’ve mostly forgiven him. Mostly. Except for those nights when I wake up in a cold sweat, remembering how I was the one who found our mother’s body after she died by suicide. How I was the one who had to call 911 with shaking hands. How I was the one left to pick up all those shattered pieces by myself.
These days, Gabriel and I text sometimes and talk on the phone rarely. He visits for a couple days once a year, but even that’s not guaranteed.
In the last couple months, I’ve been strategically vague about my life. I haven’t mentioned the pregnancy or my move to Vegas. And I definitely haven’t told him about Dario.
With a sigh that feels like it starts in my toes, I pick up the phone.
“Hello?”
“Hey P. How are you doing?”
