Bleary eyed, I glared at the phone as it danced its way across the nightstand. When I saw Penn's name flash on the screen, I picked it up. All sleepiness was gone in the blink of an eye. "What's wrong? What's happened?""She's fine. She just fainted. And I hear congratulations are in order," he said in a low voice. "What the fuck, Penn? Spell it out."He gave me the short and sweet version I'm sure worked really well in his boardroom. I'd have to give him props though. He conveyed massive information in a very short amount of time. "Put her on.""She's right here. Want to FaceTime?""Yes. Call me back."Within moments, the video call was ready on my phone. The image fuzzed into crystal clarity. "What the hell, Doc?"Her cheeks flushed. "Ryker already told you. I guess I just wasn't prepared for the news."I swiped a hand through my hair. "I'm going to kill Nik. I swear to the goddess."Jessa chuckled. "Don't. Please. I'm fine. Waking up to a circle of concerned faces
My phone ringing pulled me from one of the sexiest dreams of my entire life. Slapping at the nightstand, I fought to turn it off so I could sink back into the steaminess. When it went quiet, I sighed and fell back into the pillows once more. Come to mama, I thought, as I allowed the heaviness in my brain to wash back over me. Until the ringer went off again. Someone was going to die. Slowly. Painfully. With much malice aforethought. Raising up on my elbow, I turned the light on. Glared against the brightness. Scooping up my phone, my snarl of outrage turned into a purr of delight. Just the man I needed. I connected the call. "Hey."Nico was quiet for a second. "Jessa?""Mhm." I slid my free hand down my belly. "You woke me up. I was about to get your co-""You're on speaker phone, Doc," he interrupted. "But, please, feel free to continue. What were you about to get?" Foster said. "A knife so I can stab you multiple times. What the hell, Nico?" I glared at the
"Feeling better?" Foster asked as I walked back into mission ops. I flipped him off. I felt fucking great. Maybe I should attempt to keep Jessa pregnant all the time. Midafternoon jack off sessions and actual sex? I could make it part of my day. Mas' shoulders were shaking as I joined them at the monitors. "You look all relaxed."I rolled my eyes. Nothing I could say, anyway.I called Nik while they were getting all their giggles out. "Morning, Nico," she answered. "Afternoon, Nik. We've got some baselines to share at the meeting today. You good to set us up?""Already on it. Give me two minutes." She hung up on me. Almost immediately, the computers started jangling with the incoming call. Nario-the chief tech on site-opened the call. "Grasshopper, good to see you today," he said. He swiped a hand through his thick, black hair. His gold hoop earrings danced in the afternoon sun shining through the windows. "Nario, you too. Send me the timestamps, I'll get everyt
Pushing to my feet, I walked with Willow and Tali out to the kitchen. Sitting around and waiting for word was going to test my patience and my sanity. I needed to do something. Anything. "Willow, we need to get you an OB/GYN set up. You can use mine if you want. She's a great lady," I said as we gathered around the kitchen island that was bigger than most conference tables. She nodded. "Yeah, that's probably best. I was just going to ask if you wanted to be my designated vagina diver." She shrugged.I snorted. "Your way with words continues to astound and amaze."She winked, smiled. "We've all got our skill sets." She looked around her professional home kitchen, a lost look in her eyes. "I don't know what I should be doing with myself right now. Do I go skulk Ryker's steps as he gets things lined up to go to Italy? Do I stay here? What if some crazy bitches think they can touch him? Who will kill them? Or slice off their hands?" She wrung her hands together, chewed on her bot
The sharp clang of the bars sliding shut behind me felt like an explosion in my head. I'd heard it hundreds, if not thousands, of times. But hearing them and knowing I couldn't leave? Yeah, that was something I never thought I'd experience again. I couldn't quite believe I was here. Couldn't quite wrap my head around the fact that I'd been arrested...in fucking Italy. I might not have been born here, but most of the time I felt like I was more Italian than American. The only thing I could be happy about right now was that they had forty-eight hours to show the validation of my arrest. Since I hadn't been doing anything illegal, this time around, there was no way they could continue to proceed with this ridiculous farce. I needed a damn phone. "I need to talk to my embassy," I called out once the twang of the metal had finally ended. "Tomorrow," one of the guards said. "Then I'll be prepared to add your name to my list of professional complainants." The clip clop of h
I ripped the phone from Willow's hands. "Nico?""This is Foster.""Where is Nico?""In the local police station. We -" "What the hell happened, Foster?" I cut him off."If you'd stop talking, I could tell you," he said, a biting snap to his tone.I bit my lip to keep from striking out at him. "Thank you. We were out for a drink. The house was getting cramped. Downtown Corinaldo, me, Mas, Nico. That's it. But I think we've got some shadows.""What do you mean by shadows?"Maggie took the phone, put it on speaker. "You're talking to all of us at Hilltop.""I think we were followed. Either electronically or physically. But there's no other explanation. I've already called the embassy, told them that Nico's been arrested.""On what charges?" Maggie asked. "Unknown. Apparently those only have to be read to Nico. We're getting someone associated with the family to represent him. According to Andrea, they have forty-eight hours to validate his arrest. If the state
Sometime in the very early morning, I heard the guard's hard footsteps sound on the stone. The faint jingling of his keys and the smacking pop of his gum preceded him into the holding cell block. The acrid scent of cigarette smoke was a smack in the face I didn't need on so few hours of sleep. Prying one of my lids open, I watched the action across the room.The cell door across from mine slammed open with a harsh metallic twang that shot through my head like an anvil. A migraine bloomed to angry life deep in my right eye socket. Fucker. "Sleep it off. And if I hear you two going at each other again, you won't like it," the guard said in Italian as he shoved someone into the cell. A smaller, quieter guard moved forward. A weaving, tripping man in handcuffs swayed at his side. The scent of booze coming off him made my eyes water. Belching and farting his way into the cell next to mine, I was happy when his odors were trapped behind a cinderblock wall. Trying to get comfortabl
I hovered by the phone as I waited for Nico to call me. Wringing my hands so hard I winced, I shook them out before I started giving myself blisters. I was not cut out for this worrying business. At all. A woman of action, I needed to be doing something. Anything. But actively working towards a solution instead of just sitting around and growing a baby. Not that that wasn't important, but I could literally do that while I slept, so it wasn't really taking a lot of mental focus from the issue of the day right now.Nico. If the Petters were, in fact, behind all this, then I was going to be first in line to start busting some heads. As soon as Nik and Mags taught me how to do it without hurting myself. Hell, I could just use my medical knowledge. No one would ever know what happened to them. I smiled at the thought. Rubbed a hand down my belly. "Isn't that right, baby cakes? Momma can handle herself. Beat the poopy out of anyone who tries to hurt your daddy." I nodded. "Damn
I crept along the rooftop. The target was staying in the long term suites across the road. It was our first night, and it felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders the farther we got from New Trenadie. The next moment, I crashed to the roof's floor. "Damn it." She snickered. "Still a sucky spy, Raphael." She slid her body over mine.I sucked in a breath. Nodded. Hell, I practically begged her for it. But without words. When she got that tone, my words were not necessary. She smiled. "I'm not going to beat you to death. Nor am I going to stuff you into a padded room." She bent down, flicked her tongue over my lips. "But I will tie you up, spank you, flog you, fuck you, and then make you do it all over again. My dick went to iron between her legs. Her laugh was husky. "I'm keeping you, Raphael. Do you understand me?"My heart settled. Skipped a beat. "Yes, Mistress."The end.
My phone dinged with a new incoming text message. Considering my phone had been going off since the wee hours of the morning with Willow and Ryker announcing the baby was finally coming, I was tempted to just shut it off. But it could be something important. And since Angelo and I were at home with the other babies, it fell to us to make sure we kept everything running as it should. I grabbed the phone. Unlocked the screen. A video message popped up. Raphael and his girl, Nia. Their heads mushed together to get into frame. "Momma, I have to leave. But I wanted to tell you I love you. And thank you for everything. I will let you know when I get back." Nia smiled. "I'll keep him safe, Momma. I swear it.""Bye, Momma," they said together before they ended the call.I smiled even as tears filled my eyes. Angelo looked up at me from his spot on the bed. He was restrained, a ball gag in his mouth. I held the crop up high. "Our last baby is finally happy, Angelo." I s
Two weeks later I glared at the woman on the table. "I still don't know why I have to be here. I barely know you."Willow snorted. "Because you're scarier than anyone else in my family. And I don't want those doctors trying to get all bitchyyyyyyyy." Another contraction hit her. She clamped down on my hand hard enough that I thought I was going to need surgery to remove the bones from each other. And this little firecracker had more strength inside her than her grip would show. Raphael had told me some of her story. She'd told me the rest of it. A ritual the Amatucci women apparently indulged in was something called Girls' Night. Really it was a bunch of drinking, talking about sex, and watching movies while we ate enough of Willow's confectionaries to give ourselves diabetes. Willow blew out a breath. "Ryker can't handle seeing me in this kind of pain, so he has to stay out in the lobby with the rest of them. You're second chair." She panted. Demanded some ice chips.
Three days laterWalking into my parents house when they didn't know I was alive was a risky thing. A multitude of crappy things could happen. Not the least of which was Momma killing me for real this time. Or Papa crying. Or either of them fainting."Go on," Nia said as she shoved me forward gently. "You're already here. Just go into the kitchen. Nik said she told them to wait for her in the kitchen."I nodded, felt my palms go clammy as my breath backed up in my lungs. This could go terribly wrong. So fucking horribly wrong. Man up, Si, that no longer too small voice said inside me. Since I'd been actively listening to it more, he wasn't so easy to shut up. Even when I wanted to. Thankfully, the nasty bitch who lived inside me was getting fainter. Although he could still throw a temper tantrum to beat a two year old. "I'm right here. And I'll be right here the whole time. They've waited long enough, Raphael." She nudged me again. Even as bile rushed up the back o
We all stood in the kitchen, guzzling water by the gallon. I hadn't been this dehydrated since the last time I got in trouble at Petter Manor. But at least this time it was due to happy tears and reunification. Raphael sat and watched it all. Just absorbed it. But he never got so far away I couldn't touch him. That I even needed to touch him still blew my mind. But I wasn't going to question it. He helped steady me when it felt like everything inside me and around me was bending and flexing too fast for me to catch up. "What are your plans for tomorrow?" Liam asked as he finished his third glass of water. "Tomorrow is the gala. I'm going to string Anders up-the guy who had you kidnapped again. I'm going to tell everyone the Petters have been blackmailing and abusing and paying off that the Petters are dead and gone. That they're all on watch." I studied Liam and Lilly. It blew my mind that they had gone into the government side of this dirty world. That they willingly put t
Nia came over to me while I was helping drag some bodies away. "Hey Raphael, can you come with me, please?"Foster grunted at me as we got the body up on the catering cart. "Go. I've got this." I nodded, turned back to Nia. "Sure, Nia." She took my hand and we walked from the room. Her hand was trembling in mine. It was only the slightest degree, but it might as well have registered on the seismic scale. "You good?" I asked her softly as we walked down a set of stairs. She said nothing, made no movements except to keep walking. I pulled her to a stop. Made her look at me. "Are you good?" I asked again. Her eyes were wide, as if she were trying to stave off the tears. "Amelie and Anton..." she blew out a breath. "They're t-""The only two people you love in this world." I smiled sadly. "I know, Nia."Her eyelids fluttered shut as a tear escaped down her cheek. Her breath was shaky as she exhaled. "I got them away from here. Put them in with a good woman with a hu
Day before the gala "Charlie team in position," the man's voice came through the little earbud I wore in my right ear. I kept a tight hold on my fear. My relief. My heart. All of the planning, all of the tears, all of the arguments. It all came down to this. "Delta team in position," Raphael said through my ear. "Foxtrot team in position," another voice said. I still wasn't quite sure who was who by their voice, but I'd done an okayish job of remembering names and faces. The fact that I had a team full of women with me made me like the Amatuccis even more. They didn't discriminate. If someone had the skill and the drive to join the security teams, they were given a position. "Estrogen team in position," I said. A series of clicks came through the earbud. I'd made a single joke about Echo team being full of vaginas. They called us the Estro team now. Since we were collectively badass, I didn't really care what they called us as long as it wasn't disrespectful. "A
Her babies? She had kids? I shook my head. Knew there had to be a different story, but I needed to get her back with me to learn it. I set her down on the chair. Pushed her head down between her knees. "Breathe, Nia." I made my voice hard. As hard as I dared when all I wanted to do was cuddle her up and carry her away. Nowhere was my fierce and strong Dominant. Right now, she was a broken, hurting woman. I would hold her together until she could find herself again. Ivan came rushing into the room, his gun drawn. He lifted it to the ceiling when he saw what was going on. One of his brows rose in question.I gave him a brief rundown of what I knew. Which was damn little. I shrugged when I was out of information to share. Mas came hopping in behind Ivan. He didn't have a weapon, but he did have concern etched on his face. "Who the hell are you?" a voice said from behind me. I whirled around, putting Nia behind my body as I faced the threat that shouldn't be there. A
After rushing through the shower and the delicious meal that Raphael put together for breakfast, I walked into the space Ivan and Klara had set up for me. Everything was as I left it, but that didn't mean a whole lot. Especially in a place I didn't control one hundred percent. Brushing the weird vibe away, I walked to the computer. Booted everything up. Once it was up and running, I went through my process of accessing my cloud accounts. Jasper had set some up for me that weren't the typical commercial kind. Luckily, I'd memorized the process, or I'd be up a creek with zero paddle at the moment. A ReadMe file was highlighted when I got all the way into my account. I right clicked, read through the metadata how Jasper showed me. Recognizing his signature, I opened the file. Ms. Flower~I've attached all of the information I could find re Cucumber Butt and Pretty Mean. You'll find them in the associated files.I snickered at Jasper's sense of humor. That kid was a genius and