Christian

It was early and I didn’t want to wake her. I had to teach a class in an hour, but I couldn’t seem to pry myself out of our bed. My palm was itching to touch her smooth skin.

Mia was naked from our bout of passion the night before. She’d thrown the sheet off herself while she slept, a common occurrence these days. She always seemed to be running hot.

I couldn’t resist the temptation of such a beautiful display in front of me. Reaching out, I sighed and placed my palm on the silky skin of her large belly.

“Hello, beautiful,” I murmured softly. A wide grin spread across my face when I felt a tiny movement under my hand.

A soft chuckle reached my ears, and I looked up to see Mia staring affectionately at me.

“You weren’t asleep?”

She smiled and shook her head. “I was taking bets with myself to see how long you’d hold out before touching me.”

I crawled up until our heads were level and pressed my lips to hers. “I’ll never get enough of touching you, Mrs. DeLuca.” And I would definitely never tire of hearing her called that.

“Don’t you need to get to school, babe?” she asked, glancing at the clock on the bedside table.

I groaned in frustration, especially since my hand had traveled north and was cupping one of her gorgeous breasts.

“You don’t want to be late on the first day of class,” she admonished in a teasing tone. “Besides, Brandon will be here to get me soon. I’m spending the day helping Carly and commiserating over the woes of being nine months pregnant.”

I frowned. “Helping how? You shouldn’t be—”

Mia cut me off with a finger to my lips. “With one of her”—she gave me a pointed look—“side projects.”

I nodded in understanding and she removed her hand. Then I kissed her quickly and hopped out of bed before the temptation became too much. “Alright, my love. How about I pick you up after my afternoon class and take you to dinner?”

“Sounds perfect.”

* * *

I looked up from my lecture when the door to the classroom creaked. My attendance policy was very strict, and I leveled an admonishing glare at the latecomer. But, he wasn’t one of my students. His face was almost expressionless, only a hardness that seemed ingrained in him. He wore black jeans and t-shirt, as well as a bulky leather jacket. The entire room of students watched him as he walked towards me.

Then his jacket shifted, and I saw the holster hidden beneath it. My heart started to race. Fuck. Wasn’t this what I’d always feared? That I would eventually get sucked into the DeLuca crime vortex? What else could this man want? At least they’d come to me and not Mia.

“Christian DeLuca?” he asked when he reached me.

I stopped short of speaking and simply nodded. Something was off. He had an accent, but it wasn’t Italian…or Russian. He sounded…the way Carly did sometimes when she got overly excited and her Irish heritage exuded itself. He was likely Irish mob—an O’Reilly.

“Carly sent me. Yer wife’s water broke, and they’ve taken her to Mount Sinai.”

My heart exploded for a whole other reason, and I leapt into action. “Bloody hell! Get me the fuck to the hospital!”

I spun around to grab my bag, knocking over a pile of books and bumping the podium out of place. Once I had it slung over my shoulder, I pivoted back but my first step landed on one of the spilled books and it slid out from under me, landing me flat on my ass.

The man’s steely façade cracked, and a chuckle escaped as he reached a hand down to help me up.

Glaring at him, I quickly stalked to the door and reached for the handle. I was still looking back at the O’Reilly stooge and swung the door open a little too hard.

The next thing I knew, I was looking up at the mobster from the floor as he laughed hysterically. “Yer definitely Brandon’s brother. That man fell ta pieces when the boss went into labor.”

* * *

“Christian!”

I tore my eyes away from my radiant wife and the sweet little bundle wrapped in pink that she held in her arms. My mother bustled into the room, immediately stretching out her arms and making a beeline for my daughter. An involuntary growl escaped my chest when she snatched the baby away. At the moment, I didn’t feel like sharing my family.

“Behave,” Mia whispered. My mother simply ignored me and cooed at my daughter.

“What name did you decide on?” she asked.

I smiled down at Mia’s glowing face and kissed her softly before answering. “Sarah Grace.” It was our grandmothers’ names combined.

“Beautiful,” my mother sighed with a bright smile. “Just like my newest grandbaby.”

Later, after everyone had congratulated us and left for the night, we cuddled together on Mia’s hospital bed, just the three of us.

At times like these, I didn’t always believe that my life was real. I was married to the sexiest, most talented, and loving woman I’d ever met. And, she’d just given me another little piece of her perfection to love.

“Thank you,” I whispered as I brushed a kiss over each of their foreheads.

“You’re welcome”—she cocked her head and smiled cheekily—“next time, you get to do this part, and I’ll be the one knocked on my ass.”

My cheeks heated slightly and I shook my head. “Brandon told you?” Who else would have jumped at the chance to tell her this quickly?”

“No, no. Not me. He took great pleasure in telling Sarah Grace the second he had her in his arms.”

Missed Nic & Anna’s story? Keep reading for our bonus read, Deception.