Page 94 of Hold Me Down
“Yep.” I pop the ‘p’ for emphasis, just like she loves me to do. “He won’t be willing to open the door, so he’ll try to sneak away, and that’s when I’ll get to have fun.” That makes her laugh again.
“Okay. Well, don’t have too much fun. The last thing we need is you or your dad getting arrested in Italy for murder,” she points out between chuckles. “You remember my request, don’t you?” She raises her eyebrow playfully despite the morbidity of her demand.
“Yes, little wolf. I remember.” I think back to that conversation this morning and feel all giddy another time. There was a point in our relationship where something as grotesque as what she asked for would’ve repulsed her, but look at my queen now, all adorable and violent.
“Perfect.” She smiles wide and eats the last piece of her tart, leaving a small bit of ricotta on the corner of her lip. I dart my tongue out and lick it away, making her laugh and squirm in my lap again. “Is it good?”
I swirl the flavors on my tongue, savoring it and picking out the taste of her skin instead of the cheese—but I go along with it, anyway.
“It is really good. We should definitely make that once we get home.”
“Definitely.” Her face morphs into a smaller grin and she leans her head against mine. “So, what’s after this? What do we do once you’ve killed Saconne?”
I shrug.
“I’m not sure, honestly. I know we need to stop Avery and get his corrupt ass out of office, but I don’t know how we’ll do that if we don’t turn up with some evidence.”
“Well, maybe his phone will help. If he and DeLuca have that much security and require each other to access the contents, there has to besomethingon there.”
“Yeah, but there’s no telling if it has to do with Avery, and…” I hesitate, and she tilts her to look at me.
“And what?”
“I don’t want to press anymore buttons. We’re happy andmostlysafe. Do we really need to pursue someone that has the power to ruin that again?” I expect her to look disappointed, and a part of me thinks she’ll jump on the ‘quit while we’re ahead’ train, but I should’ve known better. My wife has always been stronger than I am, and she never misses a chance to prove it. Her curiosity fades almost instantly, and instead, a warm, loving look takes its place.
“You know, Carter and I had a really similar conversation a few weeks ago,” she reveals. “And it really made me think. I wanted to protect you from anything that could ever hurt you again, but then I realized that asking you not to do this job would’ve hurt you more.” Her nails start to scratch my scalp, instantly lulling me into a relaxed state. “You’ve done this job long before me, and it’s not just me you think about. Doing all of the work you do keeps people safe, whether they know it or not. If it were just for us, I’d say we could ignore it for a little while longer. Like, tonight? You going after Saconne? That’s for us. He’s broke, alone, and on the run from the entire world. He’s not a threat to humanity, but he is tous. Avery? He’s the real threat here. He has, and will continue, to hurt as many people as he needs to get on top.MyDamien wouldn’t let that happen.”
There goes my chest, swelling once again and threatening to explode.
“Okay, then. We’ll start with Saconne and DeLuca’s devices, and we’ll go from there.”
“We’ll go from there,” she repeats and kisses my forehead.
“Hey, D? Are you about ready? You guys have a two-hour drive to Vernazza, and your dad might blow a gasket,” Zeke blurts out from the other side of our suite door.
“I told you not to bother them!”
“Yeah, whatever, old man!” Zeke yells back at my dad, and I just roll my eyes before focusing on Ashia once again.
“My dad might hurt your brother,” I tease. She puckers her lips and bounces her head side to side in feigned contemplation.
“At this point, he’s earned it.” A shit-eating grin forms on her beautiful mouth.
I stand carefully and keep her in my arms so I can carry her to bed. I’m still shocked by how light she feels, even as pregnant as she is, but thankfully, she had gained five pounds at the last appointment, and that’s some major improvement compared to how it was. I set her down on the bed and adjust her pillow, then place a bottle of water and another tart on the bedside table.
“I think I’m going to gain another five pounds on this trip,” she jokes.
“Good.” I wink at her. “You and Zeke are going to stay right here, right?”
“Yep. I won’t even leave the room, I promise. I’ll probably end up falling asleep while we watch a movie or something. That walk today wore me out.”
That makes me smile even more.
“Perfect.” I kiss her softly, melting into it as our lips move together, then force myself away and kiss her stomach. Our daughter doesn’t hide any protest, kicking and hitting her mom’s skin like she’ll tear through at any moment. “Be nice to your mommy. Daddy will be back soon.” My gaze moves back to Ashia. “I love you, baby.”
“I love you, too. Be careful.”
Before I can even make it to the door, Zeke busts in with Daisy right on his tail. She jumps into the bed beside Ashia and rollson her back instantly, already getting comfortable and preparing for sleep. Zeke isn’t far behind, practically skipping over to the other side of the large bed and flopping down on it.
