Tia
“I need to be there; I need you with me. And it doesn’t matter the venue, it’s strategic.”
“Huh?”
“I don’t wanna get into it. It’s about who took her, why, and all that shit. You don’t need the details but her being there will send a message to the little fuck that took her.”
“Tommy,” I whined and rubbed my eyes.
“Tia, I need to fuckin’ know you’re okay. Do this for me.”
“Last time we were there, things were kind of rough.”
Understatement.
“It was rough, yeah. But it was also beautiful, baby girl. Vegas was where you told me you loved me that first time, where you told me you were mine. It’s also where I knew how important it was for me to fix what’s broken in me.”
My heart swelled, “You and me are both a little bit broken, Tommy. But we’re like puzzle pieces that fit together.”
I linked my fingers with his and tightened them.
“You’re not a little broken, Tia. You’re ten times stronger than I am.” He kissed each of my knuckles and closed his eyes, pulling me tight to his warm body.
“I’m sorry for being a dick this morning,” he said.
I nodded.
He put his hand on my belly. It was still flat but that wouldn’t last with the way I’d been eating in the last twenty-four hours. I was keeping food down since the day before too, which was a welcome change.
“Talking names? Can’t even see a bump yet but it’s…fuck…shit’s getting real.”
“Yep.” I looked him in the eye.
He looked at me with warmth, “You forgive me?”
“Not sure yet. And it might be a girl, you know. Fifty-fifty chance.”
He shook his head, looking a little disgusted.
“Such a man thing. Prove you’re a man by having boys?”
“Naw, fuck. It’s not that. The idea of having a little girl? Scares the shit outta me.”
I smiled, “God help her boyfriends.”
He sorta looked a little green. He flexed his jaw muscles.
“You gonna puke?” I asked.
“I might.”
I cuddled into him and he wrapped me up tight in in his arms.
“Well, whether it’s a boy or a girl it sure as heck isn’t gonna be Bella now,” I grumbled, “Thanks for ruining that for me.”
He put his mouth to my forehead but wisely kept his mouth shut.
I started to trace his tattoo, getting lost in thought. His hand started to move up and down my leg and then he was cupping my ass, his lips moving down my face with feather-light kisses as he made his way to my mouth.
I got lost in a hungry kiss, but then his phone rang and he looked at the screen and declined the call, a muscle ticking in his jaw as he fiddled with the phone a second and dialed another number. I didn’t tune into his conversation.
My mind wandered back to Tess. Thank God she was okay. She’d been through so much these last few months.
I thought back to my time in Mexico, in that little girls’ room in that dank basement. I felt a little sick, suddenly, remembered it. Smelled it down there. Tasted what that horrible guy down there did to my mouth. And then I remembered what that cop told me Tommy had done to Juan Carlos and to Earl. I felt the contents of my stomach coming up. I untangled myself from Tommy and dashed to the bathroom.
I’ve been sick and sleeping a lot and busy helping out with Lucas and Antonio and he’s been a wreck, trying to find his sister. It’s been awful. We haven’t made love in well over a week. And he’s grouchy.
So, I’d been thinking I’d try to help, entice him into a sexy game. But now my head is full of memories of Mexico and he wants to take me to Vegas, which has some pretty rough memories, too, maybe even worse than Mexico, because I almost gave up on him, on us, while we were there.
Mexico was scary for me but Tommy saved me from there. Vegas was painful for both of us and Tommy hurt me there.
I didn’t throw up. I’d just stood over the toilet for long moments, fearing that I would. Finally, I went back out and he was still talking on his phone, sitting on the edge of the bed, so I curled up beside him and put my head on his knee. He stroked my hair while he kept talking, discussing some construction job site problem with materials being stolen. I guess I fell asleep because I woke up a while later and I was still in bed but he wasn’t there.
I got myself mobile and started to pack for Las Vegas. I was looking forward to seeing Tess but I wasn’t looking forward to the rest of it.