DRAMA NOVEL ONLINE Borrowed Bride: Chapter 34
In my youth, I never would have envisioned giving up the top spot of power. I worked hard to get the Barrone family to where it was, especially from where my father left it. It was my pride and joy and my sole focus in this world. It was, in a way, my baby and the only thing I was proud of when it came to my various accomplishments.
Two weeks after my father’s death, I signed the papers merging the Barrone and Simone families and stepped down from power. Many were surprised, and the rumor mill ran rampant with theories and stories about Leo and what he had on me that could force me out of power, but the truth was it was simply the right thing to do.
Anton and Ben, my two most loyal guards, easily accepted the merger because they point-blank refused to leave my side. In their words, it didn’t matter where I was, I was still capable of getting into shit and they would be right there to help me out of it. I couldn’t say no to that.
Afterward, Leo and I worked with Fawn to wipe out the remaining stragglers from the Ricci family, and we sent a clear message that nothing and no one would be exempt from our wrath if there was even a hint of human trafficking happening in this city. The Russians sent through a few strongly worded threats when we tore apart their underground ring. Since they weren’t Stateside and too scared to confront us in person, those threats remained exactly that, just threats.
Fawn came home. She turned up one night on Leo’s doorstep a month or so after the city began to settle and said she was ready to try and rebuild things. With Tara and Cherry by her side, she was a formidable force to have on board and Leonardo was just happy to have his sister back. He was able to piece together some semblance of family.
I was the same. Emilia had been nearing her end when my father died so I kept the news from her for fear it would be the one thing that sent her to the grave. It turns out the news told her for me, and a few weeks later, Emilia was stronger.
She still had life left in those bones.
With the city at peace and a new power maintaining it, I was finally able to turn my full attention to the two people who mattered the most to me: Gianna and Freya.
“You know, if we’re late Emilia will kill us,” Gianna laughs, touching one hand to the blindfold I carefully secured to her face before driving her out to the country.
“Ah, don’t touch,” I warn her gently, taking her hand in mine and threading our fingers together. “It will be worth it, I promise. And we won’t be late.”
“We’re always late.”
“So she gets a few extra hours playing with her niece. I don’t think she’ll hold it against us.”
Gianna grumbles to herself as she follows me up the winding gravel path, clutching at me each time her heels lose balance on the ground. “Are you going to give me a hint about this surprise?”
“Nope,” I say gleefully, lightly squeezing her hand. “But I know you’re going to love it.”
“How do you know?” she asks. “Maybe my taste in things has dramatically changed overnight and only a hint will serve to get me back on track?”
I bring us to a stop at the foot of some smooth stone steps, and lightly cup her face with my hand. “You’re a sneaky one,” I say, leaning in close until my lips are an inch from hers. She tilts her head, expecting a kiss but I hold back with a smile. “But I’m sneakier.”
“Oh really?” Gianna laughs. “Then what exactly are you—oh my God!”
I remove the blindfold as she speaks and her scolding fades into shock as she gazes up at the gigantic house that is to be our new home. It’s an old build with Victorian-style windows and stone pillars lining the steps up to a beautiful oak front door. Around us is a large garden filled with trees, flowers, and every outdoor child’s activity I could find when I was ordering.
“What is this?” Gianna gasps, placing one foot on the steps.
“This?” I reply casually, watching her beautiful face light up. “This is our new home. Or it can be if you like it. It’s just out of the city so we’re far away from those memories, but close enough that we can get to whatever school you choose for Freya and civilization is just over the hill behind us. After our wedding, this can be our new home.”
Gianna looks at me with her large, sparkling eyes, then lunges forward and kisses me hard. “It’s beautiful!”
“Wanna see inside?” I laugh, gathering her in my arms.
We spend the next hour exploring every room in the new house and Gianna lets her ideas pour. This is the first house she’s ever had that’s truly hers, and it’s a beautiful sight to watch as she points out offices and playrooms, makes excited ramblings about the decor, and even sets aside a few of the rooms for Tara, and Fawn. Even Cherry gets a space, although Gianna is still a tiny bit reluctant there.
Even though Cherry and Tara are on excellent terms under Fawn’s wing, Gianna still holds some pain there, and I won’t force her to move past it. She will when she’s ready.
Our tour ends in the master bedroom, where a large four-poster bed takes up most of the space. It’s the only piece of furniture, and Gianna laughs the moment she spots it.
“Really? This whole building is bare but there’s a bed?”
“I’m fairly certain it’s from the old owners,” I smile at her. “Trust me. Our bed will be better than this.”
“Aw, so it’s leaving?” She darts forward and throws herself onto the mattress, then immediately groans as if she’s wounded. “Okay, ow. This is so hard. It’s too hard.”
Watching her enjoyment throughout this entire trip fills my heart and I can’t resist running over and crawling over the top of her with a smirk. “You know what else is hard?”
“Oh God,” Gianna laughs, pushing at my shoulders with no real strength. “You’d get turned on by the wind, I swear.”
“If you were the one blowing it, sure I would.”
We kiss, and my heart floods my chest with a tingling warmth. I am in love. I am happy. There is nothing more in this world that I need. Soft kisses gradually turn more heated and soon Gianna’s clothes are on the floor as I nip an enticing path up her body. She clutches at my shoulders, pulls at my hair, and wraps her legs so tightly around my hips that I contemplate letting her take control.
Not yet though. I want to be the one to fuck her in our new house.
Gianna’s moans ring through the room, echoing due to the emptiness, and she giggles in between as I kiss her ribs, lavish attention over her breasts, and then thrust inside her with all my lusty determination. She cries out and claws lines of fire down my back with her nails. I start to fuck her, and I fuck her hard. Gianna clings to me like her life depends on it and she digs her heels into the small of my back, her telltale sign to not stop. I have no desire to, and I fuck her as hard as I can on a bed that’s surely never seen sex this good.
We climax together, mingling our moans between frantic kisses, and Gianna murmurs an apology for the scratches she left on me. An apology I wave off quickly as I roll to the side and soak up the pain of the sheets pressing to the wounds.
“Always mark me,” I pant, taking her hand in mine and bringing her knuckles to my lips. “Always.”
“So is now a good time to tell you that the other room across from this one is the perfect room for a nursery?” Gianna pants softly.
I roll my head and look at her. “A nursery?”
She nods quickly and bites her lower lip as my post-orgasm mind struggles through the implication of her question.
A nursery?
For a baby?
I jolt upward. “Gianna, are you saying … ?”
“I’m pregnant,” she whispers, her cheeks flushing a dark red. “Is that okay?”
“Gianna, that’s amazing!” I tackle her back down onto the bed, kissing her repeatedly, and then I move down to her abdomen. “Our baby?”
Tears sting unexpectedly in the corner of my eyes. I missed so much with Freya and while I love her dearly, I miss the moments I could have had in her early life. Now? Now I get a second chance. As I kiss her abdomen, a sudden thought occurs.
“Wait, what about the wedding? Do you want to postpone it until after the baby?”
“Fuck no,” Gianna says and she grasps my chin, dragging me up for another kiss. “There’s no way in hell I’m waiting any longer.”