Cosa Nostra: A Steamy Mafia Romance (Kids of The District Book 3) by Nicci Harris (digital ebook reader txt) 📗

My Max.

The one with all the contradictory pieces that match mine, slotting together like a puzzle of souls. My light into his dark. My nervous into his confidence. My softness into his fierce.

With our chests pressed together, our hearts beating at a collective tempo, we say all the things that are held captive in our emotionally overcome bodies.

We say I missed you, it is over now, are you still soft, are you still fierce, are you still mine, you better still be mine! We say we will never be apart again.

We say never again.

We say all of this with our kiss.

With our needy hands.

With our actions.

THE END

"Tu, sì a chiù bedda carusa ca ancuntrài nda me vita."

"You're the most beautiful girl in the world."

Cassidy

He has been home for five emotional hours. After our very expressive kiss, we stripped off our clothes and made love under a warm spray of water. The first time was desperate and rough, the second was savouring and gentle.

Now, I want nothing more than to laze in bed, feet tangled with my husband, and talk his ear off. I want to detail every significant and insignificant event of the past two years, share my thoughts and feelings, and help him connect with this world again. Then I want to collect up all of our things, wrestle Kelly from the clutches of her uncle, and move into our beautiful new home in Brussman. I want to start our life right now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. I don't want to wait another minute. . . That is what I want to do, but instead, we are walking into Butch's office.

Max squeezes my hand as we enter, refusing to let it go even as three of his brothers jump to their feet to greet him. He uses his free hand to pat each of them on the back, giving Xander a light slap to the cheek.

"Look at this little beefcake. You been working out?" Max laughs.

Xander grins, his beautiful blue eyes sparkling with excitement. "I've been boxing like crazy. Maybe I could kick your arse now."

Max scoffs, sitting down opposite his dad and pulling me onto his lap. "I've been boxing every day for the past ten years. I wouldn't fucking count on it, dickhead."

Konnor straightens from his seat and approaches Max, nodding his head in approval. "Your little girl is the sweetest thing. The coolest kid. So any part of Kelly, I have to like. Even if you are the moodiest son of a bitch I've ever met. So" –he smiles softly– "welcome home."

"The moodiest? Met Butch?" Max asks, trailing his hand up my belly to cup my right breast.

I swipe his hand away. "Stop it, menace."

Konnor closes his eyes, cringing. "You're still a dickhead then?"

Max stares blankly at him. "Why would I change?"

Ignoring them, I turn to look at Bronson and say, "Where is Kelly?"

His eyes widen and my heart leaps, but then he grins mischievously and I want to kill him. "Don't worry, she's with my mum." When I jump up with a start, he chuckles. "Or maybe it was the maid. . . Wait, which of them has black hair?"

"Why?" I plop back down on Max's lap, finding him more tense than before I bounced up. "Why torment me?"

"It's our bit." He shrugs, nonchalant. "Looks like I pissed off Maxipad though. Oh how I've missed that."

Twisting to face my husband. . . my husband.

He's here.

I let out a peaceful sigh and cuddle his neck tightly, nuzzling in deep. Then I straighten to smooth the knotted brows above his uncertain gaze. "Max. She's fine. She loves the maid. They hunt fairies together. Lisa makes a trail with flowers and they follow them. . . She doesn't like him though," I admit, smirking playfully as I point at Clay.

"What?" Relaxing in his chair, he crosses his ankle over the top of his knee. "That's not true. We played hide and seek just yesterday."

Giggling, I say, "Yeah. And she left you hidden."

"I can't compete with Bronson," he states, folding his arms across his chest. "He has an unfair advantage; they have the same maturity level."

"What about Butch?" Xander says straightaway. "Such a soft cock."

Butch lifts his head, pride plastered across his strong features. "I'm her favourite."

Xander shakes his head through a chuckle, staring at Max. "When Cassidy called us from the hospital to tell us that she had a girl, Butch hung up, opened The Balvenie forty-year-old single barrel, and drank the entire thing."

They all laugh, but I feel Max's heart suddenly rampant against my body. He grips me as though I am his lifeline, like I am the one now grounding him. As to not twist around and alert his brothers to how unsettled he is, I just lean back into him, breathing in the scent of perfect masculinity. When my head rolls against him to let him know he's not alone, that I feel his trepidation and it's alright, his arms encircle me tighter in response. He's transitioning and I am right here for him. The light to his dark. My stomach knots up just thinking about what it would feel like to learn all about your own daughter from second-hand information. I wriggle against him, drawing his mind to me and away from the thoughts plaguing him.

"We can move out tomorrow," I whisper sweetly. "Just me, you, and Kelly. You’re her hero, Max. Don't worry."

His rough exhale fans my hair. "I'll be earning that title, little one."

The boys are still chuckling and teasing each other when Max clears his throat. "I spoke with Knight." He's obviously over talking about his daughter and having no anecdote of his own to share.

Everyone quiets down.

"I couldn't tell you any earlier. Couldn't trust the guards not to read the letters. Couldn't trust anyone. . . except a Butcher, with this information, and they're all