“Thank you.”
Dante peered down the table at Andino, and silence blanketed the room. Andino was acutely away of the eyes of their remaining family members turning on him and his uncle. He’d wondered, after the things he did and the shit he said in the office earlier, how this night would shake out for Haven.
But he especially wondered about his uncle, and how Dante might treat her. Oh, sure, he expected his uncle to be nothing less than respectful. That was just who the Marcellos were. That didn’t mean Dante would actually make an effort to ensure Haven was comfortable, and entirely welcomed into their folds.
That had been a toss up.
Dante surprised him.
“For what, nipote?” Dante asked.
“What you just did for her. She didn’t want to accept it; she isn’t the type. You didn’t have to do that at all, so yes, thank you.”
Dante lifted one shoulder, and reached for his glass of cognac. “Do make sure you are on quite a few of those trips with her. I am sure her parents would like to meet the man who has effectively changed all of her plans, huh?”
Smooth.
Andino chuckled. “I planned on it.”
“Good.”
Dante’s attention was taken away when Catrina leaned closer to her husband to whisper something in his ear. He nodded, and kissed her cheek before she stood from the table and excused herself from the room.
Gio came to sit beside Andino, smiling in that way of his. So fucking cocky—even at his age—and proud. “She did okay, though, didn’t she?”
“Who, Haven?”
“Who else, son?”
Andino smirked. “She did okay with everybody, yeah.”
To say the least.
The Marcellos could be overwhelming. They were not, by any fucking means, a small family. Unless someone grew up under everyone’s feet, it was ridiculously easy to get confused about just who everyone was.
Haven, on the other hand, barely acted like it fazed her at all. If she had been the least bit confused or overwhelmed, she didn’t show it. And Andino had been watching just in case she needed him to step in and save her from something awkward. She hadn’t needed him to do that at all, clearly.
But …
Well, he had enjoyed watching her. A little too much maybe. The woman could dominate a room when she was in it, and she probably didn’t even realize she was doing exactly that. Her laughter drew attention, and smiles. When she talked, people turned to listen even if she wasn’t talking directly to them.
It was … enthralling. Sure, that seemed like a good enough word. After all, she’d enthralled him from the very beginning.
Andino loved watching Haven. He planned on doing exactly that for the rest of his fucking life. Nothing less would be acceptable.
“My wife adores her,” Dante said, bringing Andino’s attention to the table. “Loves her already.”
Andino raised a brow in question.
Dante chuckled at the sight. “I can tell, if you were wondering. You know your aunt, Andi. She doesn’t even try to pretend when she could do without a person.”
That was true.
Catrina was just about the only Marcello in their family that did not subscribe to the normal politeness of society like the rest of them did when it came to new people. She could be incredibly cold, and intimidating. Especially to other women.
And yet, she hadn’t been like that to Haven at all.
It was also not lost on Andino that … in a way … Haven would be the woman taking over Catrina’s position in their family. Eventually.
Sure, his aunt had her own thing as a successful Queen Pin sitting alongside her equally dangerous husband. But she was also—next to his grandmother—the matriarch of the Marcellos as the boss’s wife.
Dante smiled at Andino’s sudden quietness. “I suggest you allow my wife to spend as much time as she possibly can with Haven. It will make that transition easier, believe me. Haven may be naturally able to handle a room, but that doesn’t mean she wouldn’t benefit from having an influence, if you get my drift.”
He’d never thought of that before. All over again, he found a great need to be grateful for the way his uncle was making a conscious effort to do whatever he needed in order for Haven to be comfortable and welcomed.
Even after all he’d done …
“I’m a bit of a shit, aren’t I?” Andino asked.
Beside him, his father laughed. As did the rest of the people at the table. He was more curious about the amused smile his uncle wore.
“You are you, Andino,” Dante replied, “and I no longer care to make you into someone else. Why should I? You’re doing fine being exactly who and what you are, Andino. Even if you are a bit of a shit.”
• • •
“Oh, my God, you’re awful.”
“But you love it.”
Andino pushed Haven back on the bed in one of the many spare bedrooms in this particular wing of the mansion. The skirt of her dress was shoved up over her hips, and he caught sight of pale lace between the heaven that was her thighs. He couldn’t help but lean in closer to get a taste of her pussy and that lace at the same time. She was tart, and hot, and sweet. It made his mouth water with the need for more. She laughed as he pulled back just enough to yank those damn panties down her legs.
“Pretty sure this was not supposed to be a part of the tour!”
“But do you want me to stop?”
Haven tensed on the bed, whispering, “Please don’t.”
He chuckled, and went back to his task. Nothing pleased him more.
This hadn’t been a part of the tour, but when he went looking for her and realized that he had a chance … Andino took it. All it required was a look at his cousins, and the women scattered to leave him alone with Haven.
A minute later, and he had her on a bed.
Perfect.
No one was going to come looking for them. And even if they did, they safely had a while before they would be found. Andino was going to make good use of that time. He had a lot of missing days to make up for.
“Fuck,” Haven whined. “Andino.”
Her back arched high off the bed when he finally got his mouth on her bare pussy. She was waxed again—smooth under his lips and tongue. It allowed him to taste the flavor of her arousal but so much more, too. The salt on her skin, and the way her blood rushed to the surface when he sucked her sweet little clit between his lips hard. As much as he wanted to keep his attention focused on the throbbing bud, he moved down to get another good taste of her.
Her hands thrusted into his hair, and threaded along the strands. He didn’t even mind the sting of her fingernails scraping along his scalp. That only made him harder. And as it was, his dick was painfully fucking hard and trying to punch a hole through his goddamn jeans.
Just to get some relief, he pumped his hips against the curve of her leg while he took his time enjoying the spread between her thighs. A pretty pink pussy, and all its offerings.
Hot.
Wet.
So ready.
“Yes … God, yes, eat that pussy.”
He loved her like this.
Wild, unbidden, and so fucking wanton.
He loved the way she looked underneath him. All the colorful art on her thighs gleaming from her perspiration, and dampness. He’d messed up those curls of hers, but who fucking cared?
She looked good anyway.
Haven came hard, and fast. Shaking all over, and heating up again. He was shoving his pants down before she’d even stopped calling his name, and he kissed a path from her pussy up to her throat as she helped him remove that dress.
It only took a shift of her body with his, and one of his arms grabbing her around the waist to pull her closer, and he was thrusting inside her cunt. The place he wanted to be the very most.
It’d been way too long.
“Fuck, yeah,” he grunted against her throat. Haven’s legs wrapped around him like a vise—tight, and unwilling to let him go. It kept his cock so goddamn deep in her that he couldn’t breath. She squeezed him like a glove—all those soft, wet muscles inside her pussy driving him wild with each aftershock of her orgasm. He kissed her neck, taking a taste of her skin there, too. And then her mouth. “Fucking give it to me—give it all to me, Haven.”
He shifted back on the bed, and took her with him before threading his fingers through her soft hair. Sitting up with his legs flat to the mattress, and hers wrapped around him, all she could do was rock her hips back and forth to get what she wanted from him.
It was still delirious.
Still amazing.
“Missed you,” she whispered, her head falling back as he kissed her chin and throat. “God, I missed you.”
“Love you.”
“So much, Andino.”
“Would you do this all over again?” she asked. “If it meant you got the same thing in the end, or would you do it differently? Would you choose another trail? Make Snaps walk his old route? What would you do?”
“You already know the answer to that, Haven.”
Her blue eyes darkened. “Yeah, I guess I do.”
He didn’t know how long they stayed like that. Soft loving, and relearning. Gentle touches, and whispered kisses.
It wasn’t fucking.
It was something else entirely.
And then her hand came up to press against his chest. She pushed him back on the bed, and rode him until she came a second time—wild and shaking all over again. She climbed off him just long enough to get on her knees, and suck him clean. And then she bent over the bed, and let him gag her with his tie as he fucked her hard enough to make her throat raw from screaming his name into the silk.
He loved this woman.
He loved her crazy.
And she was right.
Andino would do this all over again. He’d lie, and hurt, and ruin everything for everyone if it meant this moment right here was the same.
He’d do it again.
And he regretted nothing.
• • •
Siena slipped into the backseat of the car with a hat pulled down over her eyes, and her head down. She didn’t even notice the woman sitting in the front seat until Andino cleared his throat. Siena’s eyes widened, and he had to laugh.
“Oh, Haven.”
Haven beamed. “Sorry to crash your party.”
Siena’s gaze drifted between Haven and Andino. “It’s okay.”
“Ready to see John?”
The woman in the backseat relaxed instantly. “Beyond ready.”
Andino nodded his head in Haven’s direction. “Do you think he’ll mind that I brought someone else along to meet him?”
Siena laughed. “Well …”
Haven shot him a worried look. Andino grinned, and gave her a wink to calm her down. She knew how important John was to him, and the only thing he really wanted now was for the last person in his family who hadn’t gotten the chance to actually meet this woman properly to do exactly that.
And hopefully, adore her, too.
Haven deserved nothing less.
“I think he’ll be okay,” Siena said. “But surprises, you know.”
Andino made a noise in the back of his throat. “Yeah, I know. Any good news for me?”
Siena met his gaze in the rearview. He wasn’t sure if she would be willing to talk about her brothers, and the fact she was feeding Andino information about the Calabrese family, so they could move forward with ending them for good with Haven sitting right there or not. He wouldn’t mind either way. He’d understand if she didn’t.
The woman surprised him. All the women in his life seemed to enjoy doing that for some fucking reason. He was getting used to it now.
“Kev called a meeting with the Capos last night,” she said, “and it looks like the streets are going to get very tense again.”
Andino’s jaw ticked, but Haven’s hand coming up to stroke his cheek calmed him instantly. The tension was still there, and so was his irritation about the fucking Calabrese, but it wasn’t nearly as bad.
He just needed her to help.
That was all.
“How tense?” Andino asked.
“They’re planning on starting to remove any Marcello presence in their territory, to begin with. They’ll go from there, and see how the Marcellos answer back.”
Andino would have to give his Brooklyn Capo a heads up on that, then.
“So, basically they’re going to provoke us into violence,” Haven murmured.
Andino couldn’t help but look over at his girl, and smile. Even if what she said was nothing to smile about, he couldn’t fucking help it.
“What?” she asked.
“You said us.”
Because she was.
His.
One of them.
It still stunned him sometimes. Oh, sure, he knew he still had a lot to make up for yet. But fuck him, because he was willing to do all that for her. He was going to put in all the work. Whatever she needed from him, he was there to do.
He was hers.
Haven rolled her pretty blue eyes like he was being silly. “Was I wrong, though? That’s what they’re doing, right?”
“No, you were right. That’s exactly what they’re going to do.”
Siena made a noise in the backseat. “Because they think whatever happens then will be justified to other families.”
“Yes,” Andino agreed.
“Have you told John, yet?”
Andino looked in the rearview mirror again. “Told him what?”
“Your plans for him—to take over the Calabrese side of things. Have you told him that?”
He tensed in the seat, but Haven’s hand was quick to find his thigh, and squeeze. Life was about to change in a lot of ways for all of them. All because he had decided to start the ball rolling on something, and the damn thing wasn’t going to stop anytime soon.
That was fine.
He was ready.
A boss had to be.
“I haven’t told him, and no one is going to mention it to him until the time is right,” Andino said pointedly.
Siena nodded. “Something like that could really upset his—”
“I can’t hold his hand and watch his back forever, Siena. That’s not my job now. Remember?”
The woman glanced down. “I know. It’s mine.”
“Yeah, so let’s worry about that later.”
Because later was coming all too soon …
• • •
“Just give me a second with him first?” Andino asked.
Siena nodded, but he could see in her eyes that she wanted to be the one to greet John first. The woman really did love his cousin, and after this was all said and done, Andino was going to make damn sure Siena and John were able to be with each other.
It was what they deserved.
“This place is beautiful,” Haven said.
Andino smiled over his shoulder at her. “Doesn’t look like a psychiatric ward, huh?”
“Not at all.”
“Good, it shouldn’t,” Andino said. “People who struggle with mental health don’t need to feel like they’re being shut off from the rest of society like there’s something wrong with them when they need a chance to reset, and figure shit out.”
Haven nodded. “You’re right.”
He would have continued that conversation, but something else caught his eye. John coming out of the entrance of Clearview Oaks Facility. Despite being two steps ahead of Siena and Haven, John’s gaze went to the woman behind Andino first even as he approached his cousin.
Not surprising.
Siena wasn’t the only one who was ensnared in this thing they called love, apparently. Funny how that worked.
“John, my man,” Andino said, opening his arms to embrace his cousin. “You’re looking good.”
John hugged him back with a firm squeeze, and even patted his back, but his cousin was still a little distracted in starting at someone else.
“You could say hi, you know,” Andino joked. “And I brought Haven along to meet you properly. It’s about time you meet the woman I plan on marrying.”
John blinked, and glanced at his cousin. “What?”
Andino laughed—not even the slightest put off by John’s distraction. Sure, he hadn’t seen John in far too long, but he would wait a little longer for a conversation as long as John was happy. And right then … he looked happier than ever.
“Shit, you didn’t hear a word I just said, huh?” Andino asked.
John glanced at Siena again. “Not really, no. Sorry, man.”
Andino slapped John lightly on the cheek and chuckled. “Nah, it’s okay. You’ve got a good reason to be off your game today. I guess they didn’t fill you in on who I was bringing along to visit, or what?”
“Leonard has his odd ways,” John muttered.
Still distracted as hell.
Andino found it funny.
“Sure, sure.”
“It’s good, though.”
He knew his cousin didn’t typically like surprises, but he figured this was a good one given he brought Siena along.
“Anyway,” Andino said, gesturing at the woman he’d brought along for him—Haven. “I said, I hope you don’t mind that I brought someone else to properly meet you. I mean, I know this place is supposed to be sacred for you, and all. Focusing on you, but I might not get another time to do this before you come home.”
His cousin quieted as he glanced at Haven, and took her presence in for what seemed like the first time. It wasn’t like John could miss Haven, but you know … Siena was there.
“You don’t mind, do you?” Andino asked again.
John smiled, and shook his head. “No, man. Of course, not.”
“Good. I want you to meet the girl I’m going to marry, you know.” Andino shrugged, and shifted from foot to foot. “Properly fucking meet her, John. Not hear things about her from someone else, or see her in passing. Actually meet her with me. Take some time to sit down and have a real conversation with her. I talk about you all the time, and she’s a little out of the loop about me and you. Kind of a big fucking deal to me, and everything.”
John cocked a brow, and glanced at his cousin like he was seeing him all over again for the first time. Andino almost laughed out loud. “Seriously?”
Andino nodded. “Yeah, man.”
“I thought …” John trailed off like he was considering his words before settling on saying, “I mean, the family didn’t have a high opinion of her a few months ago, and all. I thought they had made it clear she wasn’t acceptable, or some shit. You kind of gave me the impression you didn’t know what the hell you were doing about them, her, or the rest.”
True.
Nothing John said was a lie.
Andino still had the same answer for that as he always would, now. “It’s not about them.”
It took his cousin a second, but John was John. He was quick to roll with the punches when it came to Andino—it’s just how they were. John laughed, and clapped Andino on the shoulder before pulling him in for another one-armed hug. Andino laughed, then, too, and gave his cousin a nod.
Their silent way of chatting.
John seemed a hell of a lot more relaxed in those moments, and Andino was grateful. He knew this place was supposed to be good for John. Something to let him focus on himself, and getting to a better place. Andino wasn’t supposed to bring outside stressors and problems into these grounds. He’d worried bringing Haven here might do exactly that as John really didn’t know the woman, and all of that.
It seemed Andino worried for nothing.
Thankfully.
“Give me some time with Siena,” John said quietly, pulling away from Andino’s embrace. “It’s been too long.”
Andino nodded, and stepped away. “You got it, John.”
John only needed to hold out his hand without saying anything for Siena to dart away from Haven’s side. Once the two were face to face again, it seemed like Andino and Haven disappeared to them.
Andino didn’t mind.
For now, anyway.
John and Siena headed down the walkway, and Andino moved to stand next to Haven’s side. Wrapping an arm tight around her waist, he pulled his girl in close, and kissed the top of her head. She tipped her head back, and smiled sweetly up at him.
“We’ll have to give them some time,” Andino said. “Or he’ll never forgive me.”
Haven shrugged. “That’s okay. It sucks when you love someone, but can’t be with them. I don’t blame them for wanting to have five minutes.”
Andino smiled. “Yeah, me either.”
Turning her around in his arms, Andino dropped a quick kiss to Haven’s grinning lips. She used the pad of her thumb to wipe away the small lipstick stain left behind on his lips. Not that he gave a damn about it.
“And I love you,” he told her. “Entirely, Haven. More than anything in my life. I love you. I will spend the rest of my life telling you that as often as you will allow me to. I hope you know that.”
Because someone had almost made sure he wouldn’t be able to tell her. So, Andino was going to make damn sure she never questioned how he felt about her, and them. He was never going to let her feel anything less than the most important thing in his life from this point forward.
No matter what.
Her gaze softened. “Good because I expect it.”
“Demand it, woman.”
She smiled slyly. “Noted. What was that you said to John, anyway? He kind of looked at me funny.”
Andino chuckled. “Did he?”
“I mean … a little.”
“I think I shocked him a bit, that’s all.”
“By bringing me here, you mean?”
“No,” Andino murmured, slipping a hand into his pocket to bring out an item he’d been keeping hidden. Haven glanced down between them just as he started to lower down on one knee, and he offered the velvet box in his hand like a prize for her to take. “Because I told him that I wanted him to meet the woman I intend to marry.”
Haven blinked, and her pretty pink lips fell open as she whispered, “Oh.”
“I know it’s a strange time, and maybe this isn’t the best place. That’s the thing, though—I don’t give a damn about any of that. The only thing I care about is you. Look at all the things I did just to have you, and keep you, Haven. I’m so tired of waiting. I don’t want to wait to do what I should have done from the start.”
“And what is that?” she asked.
Andino smiled crookedly. “Vow to love you … forever. To always put you first, and to make sure you never feel like an afterthought in my life. How could you be an afterthought when you’re the first thing on my mind in the morning, and the last thing at night? I will give you the world if you ask me for it, I promise. I will give you everything … if you just marry me.”
She pressed her lips together, and glanced away. Andino didn’t miss the wetness clouding her eyes, though, even if she did try to hide the tears. “And you’ll keep those vows?”
“Until you no longer want me to.”
“I will always want you to, Andino.”
“Say yes,” he murmured.
Haven looked back at him, but he was already standing because he knew her answer before it could slip from her lips. How could she refuse him—she loved him. Every horrible, good, and gray part of him that scared her, loved her, and wanted her forever.
Andino had hurt her, and he’d done things that he knew he would spend the rest of his life making up for. He was willing to do that, though. He was willing to grovel every morning, and crawl through broken glass just to please this woman as long as she was waiting there at the end for him, and she still wanted him.
He would do all of that for her.
She’d brought out the very worst and the utter best of who he was, who he could be, and who he would be. He would not be half the man he could be in ten years if this woman was not standing by his side.
And she knew all of this.
All those parts of him …
They were hers.
Softly, she whispered, “Yes.”