AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My hands are still shaking when I open the door to my apartment. Both my guys are on the other side of the wall, and they’re talking about dinner plans. Something about lasagna? I won’t tell Dom about this, not yet, because he’ll go nuclear. I turn the corner into my kitchen and Otis is following Dom around, hoping for a few scraps of mozzarella cheese. I push down what happened before and plaster a smile on my face. After all, I don’t want my man going to jail for attempted murder.
twenty-nine
SANDRA
I’m lying against his chest, enjoying the latest story of Kayla and Garner. It’s funny when you don’t have to be around it twenty-four-seven. Their antics may be tiresome, but they’re entertaining. Dom is drinking his nightly coffee, something he does after dinner, and the second the smell permeates my nose, I’m off the couch and running toward the bathroom.
I’m able to lift the lid in time as the dinner I ate just two hours before makes a repeat performance. Puking is the epitome of hell in the first place, but some dishes are worse. Case in point: Lasagna.
“Baby,” he calls behind me, and his thunderous footsteps are felt throughout the apartment. “Oh, honey. Look at you.”
I rotate my head to his line of sight. He doesn’t miss a beat and pulls for a washcloth from some shelves hanging above the toilet, wetting it down. He doesn’t hand it to me to wipe my face, but bends down on his knees and begins cleaning the vomit from my cheeks and mouth. I know I have more that will come up, but for now I enjoy the simple act of him caring for me.
I yank my face from him as more of the dish comes up again, but he stays near me, his hands caressing my back. “It’s okay, Rosso. I got you, baby.”
The retching and gagging doesn’t make him run for the hills. In the middle of the worst stomach bug that has come on me in a long time, I feel gratitude above all else.
He stands, grabbing me another washcloth, wetting it with cold water and kneels next to me, cleaning me up for a second time.
“Come on, baby, let’s get you to bed.”
He doesn’t help me to my feet. No, he picks me up as if I’m as light as a feather and carries me to bed. “Stay there. Let me get you changed.”
He’s sorting through my drawers, coming back with a pair of shorts and a tank top. I must feel hot because I sure as hell am sweating profusely.
“Lift up your butt, baby. Let me shimmy these on you.”
I do as he says and before I know it, he has me dressed. As I sweat, I’m both hot and freezing cold at the same time. I’m touched by his compassion and the way he cares for me.
“I love you so much, Dom.”
“I love you too.” He covers my body with a light blanket and through it all, I forgot about Otis who jumps up and makes himself comfortable behind where I have my knees bent. “Someone’s worried about you.”
He kneels at the bed, where I can see him. “I’ll finish the dishes, and then take Otis out for his last constitutional of the night. I’ll be in bed within the hour.”
His eyes watch me like I’m his world, and in it, it’s when I realize he’s my world too.
I wakewith a little bit of the sun shining through the blinds of my window. I fell asleep after Dom tucked me in bed, and it’s now morning. I quickly look at my cell, and fuck, I slept past seven a.m.
“Dom?” I call. Otis is snoring behind me, so he hasn’t taken the dog out for his morning tinkle.
“I’m here, Rosso.” He crosses the hall with a towel wrapped around his waist, and fuck, even as my head is thumping like I drank ten martinis, he’s so hot. And his Adonis belt. Adonis himself has nothing on Dominic Torano.
“Hey, look at you.”
He drops the towel and sits next to me. This is how I know I’m feeling like a warmed-up turd. Typically, the naked body of Dom has me ready to pounce but not today.
“You any better?”
I shake my head, and he moves his fingers to my forehead, checking for a fever. “You’re not hot, baby.”
“Not sure what’s wrong with me. But I don’t think work is in my future.” It may be stress, but I won’t share this with Dom, especially after the threat from Nate Fucktwat Williams.
He kisses my forehead. “You were out all night. I don’t know how many times I watched your chest to make sure you were breathing, and not for any other reason.” He holds up his fingers in a Boy Scout salute.
“I don’t believe you. I know how much you love my chest,” I tease.
“Fuck, do I! Anyway, I was going to make you coffee, if you can stomach it.”
