A Very Marcello Christmas Page 9

  At least with the lights off and the house quiet, he could safely assume Kim had managed to wrangle their kid into bed. Hopefully, without much trouble.

  “I would like for you to handle Dante’s responsibilities until after the New Year rolls around,” Antony finally said.

  Gio kicked his Italian loafers into a corner. “Seriously?”

  “He’s not going to admit he needs a break. He’s been in a mood for a good month. Now, he’s snapping at everybody, and it’s … Well, Jesus, he needs to relax.”

  “We all need to relax!”

  “You know how hard your brother works, Gio,” Antony said quietly.

  Okay, that was true enough. As the boss of the Marcello Cosa Nostra, Dante’s plate was constantly overflowing with business to handle. As was Gio’s, as his older brother’s consigliere. Not to mention Lucian’s, as the family’s underboss. They were all busy—minus Lucian, but Gio gave him a break considering his current state.

  “His mood has been worsening,” Antony pointed out.

  Well, that was true, too.

  Gio couldn’t deny it.

  Fuck.

  Gio shrugged off his jacket, and hung it on a waiting hook. “Well, yeah, but that doesn’t change what I said, either.”

  “Listen, it’s the holidays, son. Dante keeps me informed, so I know what’s happening. His tribute for the month is already done. The Capos are quiet with Christmas coming up. There’s not a lot of business going on. He has a meeting coming up with the Donati boss—Calisto—for something or other. It’ll be easy. The guys will just defer to you.”

  “Dad.”

  “What?”

  “They’re already deferring to me,” Gio said with a heavy sigh. “Because of Lucian being in fucking lockup.”

  “You don’t need to swear.”

  “I kind of feel like I do.”

  Antony muttered something too low for Gio to understand before adding louder, “I’m asking you to do this for your brother.”

  “Adding onto all the stuff I already am doing,” Gio replied. “My family, all the shit for the holidays, and working to get Lucian out of jail in time for Christmas. You’re killing me here, Dad. Give me a break, please.”

  “One man at a time, Gio. You will get yours.”

  Gio scowled at the mirror showcasing his frustrated expression. “I better.”

  Antony chuckled. “All in due time. So you will handle this for Dante, then?”

  “Did he put you up to this?”

  “No,” Antony admitted.

  Gio cocked a brow. “Have you even told him?”

  “He’s not going to realize how much he needs this until it’s given. Call it a gift. I don’t give a damn, honestly.”

  “Yeah, well, you know Dante.”

  “I do,” Antony grumbled.

  “So good luck with that, Papa.”

  “Mmm. Good night, Gio.”

  “Night.”

  Gio hung up the call, and tried to ignore the suddenly overwhelming sensation of heaviness that came to rest upon his shoulders. Years ago, he didn’t mind telling people no. He had been pretty damn good at it, actually.

  Now, not so much.

  Especially not when it came to his family.

  Gio found his wife sleeping on the couch in the living room. Kim didn’t even stir as he leaned over the back of the couch to peer down at her. He stroked her cheekbone with two fingers, happy and still for a moment. He almost wanted to wake her up, but decided better of it because she too had a lot on her plate.

  Besides, his wife knew …

  She always knew how Gio was with family, life, and everything else. A little more piled on wasn’t going to be very much of a surprise to her.

  A live Christmas tree stood in the corner of the living room. The tip nearly grazed the ten foot high ceiling. Spread around the bare tree were opened boxes of decorations. Considering the few scattered ornaments on the coffee table, Gio figured his wife had probably fallen asleep in an attempt to decorate the massive thing.

  He decided to help.

  He had a few minutes, after all.

  Gio went about unpacking the gold and red decorations. Kim tended to favor those colors, he learned. Every Christmas, their home was a gold and red Christmasland. The only green that was ever found was on the tree, garlands, and wreath on the front door.

  He wasn’t sure how much time had passed as he put the finishing golden bows around the branches just the way he knew Kim liked, but he thought a couple of hours. Plugging in the cord for the white lights, the tree lit up from bottom to top.

  At the tip, a golden star blinked slowly.

  He then started packing up the empty boxes. At least then, Kim wouldn’t wake up to another mess to clean. Her final decorating—their tree—was done, and she could mark that off her list. She didn’t need to be picking up after this mess, too.

  It was only then that Gio noticed the scrap of paper on the coffee table as well. He instantly recognized the messy, child-like writing as his son’s. Andino wasn’t a very good speller, but he was confident. He sounded out words, and got them pretty close to how they should be spelled, for the most part. He was ahead of his class in that regard.

  Gio read down the paper.

  Dear Santa, it started.

  A couple of remote control trucks. A book his son wanted. Something for Johnathan—Andino’s cousin, Lucian’s son, and his boy’s best friend. It amused Gio to no end that Andino had thought to ask Santa for something for Johnathan.

  His dad wud be good, Andino had written next to it.

  Then, at the end, Andino had put, And a whale, please. Seawurd has dem.

  He was pretty sure his son had meant to write SeaWorld. Gio laughed, but it quickly died. He was not going to be able to get his son a whale, or even a viewing of one. Those attractions were long closed because it was practically torture to the animals being in captivity like that.

  How could he explain that to his kid, though?

  Gio’s countdown was on.

  Twelve days to figure something out for Andino that would satisfy his newest obsession.

  Add that to my list.

  December 14th

  Kim traced the colorful tattoos spread across her husband’s chest with the tips of her fingers. His muscles flexed and jumped under her touch, which only made her repeat the same soft strokes.

  Already seated in Giovanni’s naked lap—on his hard cock—she was more than happy to just … be. At least for the moment. Them, a dimly lit bedroom, quiet breaths, and fast love. Yeah, she liked that a lot.

  Sometimes, this had to wait.

  Other things got in the way.

  That was life.

  “Are you going to fuck me, or what?” Gio asked.

  Kim grinned. “Patience, Gio.”

  “I don’t want to be patient. I want to come.”

  Her laughter chimed in the bedroom. The sound quickly melted into a low moan when Gio’s hands grabbed tighter to her waist. His fingers dug into her skin with just enough pressure to make her breath catch in her throat.

  Gio smirked as he used his hold to pull her harder onto his cock while he flexed his hips upward at the same time. She was already soaked—already full of him and needy. She was ready. She still felt his dick jerk inside her. His movement caused her inner muscles to clench around his length in the best way.

  “We should talk for a minute,” she told him.

  Gio shook his head. “Nope.”

  “Nope?”

  “Nope.”

  “Gio, I woke you up early to talk.”

  “Lies,” he said, leaning forward to nip on her bottom lip. The way his teeth cut into sensitive flesh, tugged, and stung. It felt damn good, too. His teeth in her lip, his fingers on her sides, and his cock balls-deep in her pussy. So freaking good. “You lie, Kim. You can’t wake me up naked, crawling on top of me like a kitten, and then say you want to talk. Lies.”

  He was right.

  Mostly.
>
  Kim let him have that battle as a win.

  Frankly, she didn’t really mind. This was a win for her, too, she thought. How could it be a loss? Certainly not when it meant riding her husband to the best high life had ever given them. Sex was like their drug. It had always been that way.

  Sometimes, life made them abstain. It forced them apart because business was busy, family was overwhelming, and everything else got in the way. They became two people working, getting an hour here or there where they had to choose what they did together wisely. Exhausting days, and short nights, leaving them both waking up at different times because responsibilities and priorities.

  Yeah, that was their life.

  And then they got this.

  Perfect, quiet, beautiful moments like this.

  “Come on, Tesoro, you’re killing me here,” Gio murmured along the column of her throat. His back rested against the suede headboard of the bed. Her wandering hands had finally come to rest along the railroad path of his flexing abs. “We fuck, then we talk. How’s that?”

  Kim kissed his smirking lips before he pulled back to stare at her. “Deal.”

  His warm hands cupped her cheeks as he drew her in for a lingering, burning kiss that stole her breath away all over again. She didn’t mind being on top doing the work for them, not when it meant she got to watch the way Gio’s gaze darkened, how he flashed his teeth the faster she rode him, or when she got to hear her name coming out of his mouth.

  It was usually him.

  Him pounding into her.

  Him making her beg.

  Him demanding, promising, and wanting.

  He still did all of that now, too, only in different ways. She liked that a lot.

  Gio palmed Kim’s ass as her tempo picked up. He yanked her down onto his length harder with every lift and lower of her hips. He pushed away from the headboard just enough to make their bodies tuck tightly together.

  She was soft curves and sweet cries.

  He was hard lines and dirty words.

  They were kind of perfect that way.

  “Fuck, I love your pussy first thing in the morning, Kim,” he breathed in her ear. “Ride that cock for me, Tesoro. Give me what I want.”

  Almost, almost, almost …

  A single, firm slap to her ass had her control splitting in two. Just like that, the orgasm raced through her nervous system while her husband chuckled darkly in her ear.

  “You get so damn tight when you come—makes it hard to breathe, Kim.”

  While bliss of the orgasm continued washing over her senses, Kim leaned back. She put her hands to Gio’s thighs and used that as a support to keep her steady. He wouldn’t be long now that she had come, not when breakfast was waiting to be cooked, a kid had to get ready for school, and business was waiting to be done.

  Sometimes, fast and dirty was needed.

  Slow and sweet could wait.

  Kim let Gio take over from there. She was more than happy to simply ride out the aftershocks of her bliss while he chased his own. Through lowered lashes, she enjoyed the sight of her husband using his strength to move her body the way he wanted. She loved seeing his muscles flex, and his gaze take in the sight of her like he was a parched man and she was his only drink.

  Really, Kim just loved the way Gio loved her.

  “Fuck,” Gio grunted.

  His exclamation was followed by three hard, sharp thrusts that damn near ached from the force. He held her tight to his cock on the last one, and she felt him finally release as deep as he could get inside her pussy.

  Instantly, his arms were wrapping her tight. She buried her face along the curve where his neck met his shoulder. Gio dotted kisses along whatever spots he could reach while his fingers drifted through the loose waves of her hair.

  Kim wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that, but as long as the alarm clock didn’t go off, and nobody knocked on their bedroom door, she didn’t care. She got lost in the sensation of her husband’s fingers drifting through her hair and over her skin. All the while, she watched the white tufts of snow drift down from the sky through the slightly opened shades on the bedroom window.

  It made a pretty sight.

  Relaxing.

  Calming.

  “Thank you for carrying me to bed last night,” she whispered.

  Gio smiled against the top of her head. “You looked tired.”

  “And I saw the tree.”

  “So you didn’t wake me up first.”

  She laughed. “No, I went downstairs to grab my phone.”

  “Hmm. Is the tree good?”

  “It’s perfect, Gio.”

  Silence stretched on between them, but Kim didn’t mind. She became dazed again between watching the falling snow, and enjoying the closeness of Gio.

  “Maybe a stuffy thing would suffice,” Gio said, breaking their silence.

  Kim didn’t even need to ask what he was talking about. “Andino isn’t stupid, Gio. He’s not going to be happy with a stuffed whale or something.”

  “Yeah, I know. It might soften the blow of disappointment, though.”

  Pushing up to sit straight once more, Kim shook her head and kissed Gio’s lips. “He’s going to be happy no matter what because you got him something.”

  “Even if it’s not what he asks for?”

  “Gio, he’d be happy if you sat on the couch all day with him and watched something about whales. Seriously.”

  “I know, I just—”

  “Don’t stress.”

  Gio gave her a look, but said nothing.

  Kim didn’t need him to.

  Easier said than done.

  December 16th

  Giovanni helped the three bundled up kids out of the back of his SUV. Well, two. Michel was old enough to unbuckle himself and climb out.

  As for Andino and Catherine, Gio helped the two littler ones out of their five-point-harness safety seats, slipped their winter coats back on, and looked them all over.

  “Everybody got mittens?” he asked.

  Six hands shot up. All wore mittens.

  “Hats?”

  Each kid pointed to the hat on their head.

  They all wore snow pants, thick jackets, and scarfs, too. Ready to get in the first good snowfall of the year that finally stuck to the ground, and have some fun.

  Really, Gio had to do that meeting with the Donati Cosa Nostra boss. It was supposed to be Dante’s meeting, but given his brother was now enjoying time away—yet still close enough—for a break, Gio had taken it on.

  And the man’s kids for the day.

  Antony and Cecelia were looking after Michel and Catherine otherwise.

  “Give me the rules,” Gio said.

  “No leaving the park,” Andino said.

  “No talking to big people,” Catherine chimed in.

  “No playing in the parking lot,” Michel added.

  Good enough.

  Gio pointed at a park bench that looked like someone had wiped the snow from it earlier. “See that there? I’ll be over there with my friend. I will be watching. Don’t break the rules, or we’ll be leaving early. Got it?”

  Three heads bobbed up and down.

  “Get playing,” Gio said.

  With a flick of his gloved-covered hands, the three kids scattered. He tightened his fleece-lined leather jacket to keep out the chill in the air, and headed for the park bench. A good foot of snow had fallen over the night, adding onto the half a foot that had come down the day before. It blanketed everything in thick, pristine white.

  Gio quite enjoyed the sight.

  Across the park, Michel had climbed to the top of the snow-covered slide. Andino was working his way up as well. Catherine sat at the bottom by herself. He wasn’t sure if the three were planning on playing Who’s the King of the Mountain or what, but he silently willed them to be careful. He didn’t need anyone breaking a bone or some shit.

  That would not be conducive to Dante relaxing when he got a call about something l
ike that regarding one of his kids.

  Gio hadn’t been sitting down on the bench for very long when a familiar black Mercedes SUV pulled into the parking lot. It was only because Gio had been friends with Calisto Donati for longer than he could remember that the Donati boss agreed to bring his son along to the park, and have their meeting there. Anyone else, and that would have been out of the question.

  Just how it was.

  Gio figured since he had to handle Dante’s kids for the day, and do the meeting with Calisto, this would kill two birds with one stone.

  Soon, Calisto headed Gio’s way with his only boy in tow. Close to Andino’s age, Cross Donati stood tall enough to reach his father’s waist. Black curls stuck out from under the boy’s wool cap.

  Calisto patted Cross on the top of his head, and waved at the three kids playing across the park. “There you go, Cross. Play, huh?”

  Cross made a face. “Nah.”

  “Seriously, you don’t want to play with the kids?”

  “Not really, Papa.”

  Calisto shot Gio a look.

  Gio shrugged in response.

  “Well, give me a few minutes to chat with my friend, then. Okay?”

  “Okay,” Cross said.

  Quickly, Cross darted off to a bench close by. Calisto sat down beside Gio soon after.

  “It’s crazy how much he looks like you,” Gio noted.

  Calisto leaned back on the bench, and folded his arms over his chest. “Kills me every time he calls me his uncle in front of people.”

  Gio hid his frown by looking away. “I bet.”

  “He’s getting to an age now where he doesn’t give much of a shit what people think, anyway. He calls me whatever he wants—I let him.”

  “As you should,” Gio replied.

  Every man had their secrets.

  Some secrets were simply more dangerous than others.

  Calisto was a man with a very dangerous secret. Gio was one of the lucky fuckers who actually happened to know what that secret was. Cross.

  To the outside world and Calisto’s famiglia, Cross was Calisto’s step-son, a child from his wife’s first marriage that he had adopted on paper after he married Emma. Technically, by blood the two would be cousins, although Gio was aware that most people encouraged Cross to call Calisto his uncle.