Page 71 of Daddies of the Underworld

Her walls fluttered around me, and she threw her head back, grabbing my ass with both hands and slamming onto my cock. Fuck. I buried my head in the crook of her neck and let go, driving hard and fast for several strokes while she continued to convulse in pleasure.

When I moved off her, Matteo took my place. Dante and I retreated to the bathroom to get warm towels for everyone, and by the time we all cleaned up and snuggled into Nina’s too-small bed, exhaustion pulled me under.

I woke with a sharp pain in my spine from Dante’s elbow, and Nina’s leg over my thigh. It was real. Fuck. My vision blurred. There’d been a moment, right before I opened my eyes, when I’d worried it was all a dream. I lifted my head and immediately regretted the motion. “Coffee?”

Matteo glanced over from where he slept with his back against the headboard and Nina’s hair across his lap. “Kitchen.”

“That’s helpful.”

His gaze shifted to the door. “She’s still asleep. I didn’t want to wake her and risk scaring her.”

Sofia. Our daughter slept twenty feet away. I eased out of the bed by wiggling my way to the foot and stood, stretching my arms over my head. I’d much rather spend the morning in bed with Nina, but I doubted that was an option with Sofia.

Nina made a soft sound in her sleep and tucked her face into Dante’s chest. His arms curled around her, and the man who I had never seen break blinked rapidly before rubbing his face in the blanket.

“I’ll start coffee.” I waited for Matteo to argue, but he shrugged.

It didn’t take long to scour the cabinets and realize that Nina’s coffee options were in even worse shape than Dante’s had been in the apartment across the street. I did my best, grateful she at least had something warm to combat the chill coming in around the windows.

The bedroom door opened while I stood there trying to decide whether to intrude further and attempt breakfast.

Sofia stuck her head out, looked toward her mom’s room, then toward the kitchen. Her face split into a wide grin, and she ran my way. “You’re still here.”

I set the pan on the stove and fought the urge to hug her. I was still a stranger, and even though I trusted me, I would not put that on Sofia. “We promised.”

“Adults promise lots of things.” She twisted the one button eye on her stuffed rabbit and eyed me, then the stools on the other side of the counter. Grinning, she climbed into one and set the rabbit on the counter. “Mama likes oatmeal. Do you know how to make oatmeal? I’ve never seen it made in a pan before.”

“I was thinking about making something else. Eggs?”

Her nose crimped as she snarled. “Yuck. Pancakes?” Her eyes lit. “Pancakes are my favorite.”

“No kidding? Mine too!” I swore, if we ever managed to get Nina and Sofia back to Italy, I’d share all my favorite pastry places with them. They deserved the best. All of it. Every single day.

Sofia hopped off the stool. “I’ll help.” She rounded the counter and pointed. “Mix is in there.”

I opened the cabinet she indicated and pulled out the box of dry pancake mix. Oh Nina. She’d done the best she could in an impossible situation, one we were at fault for. Seeing that box of mix shouldn’t have bothered me as much as it did, but to know that she’d come from having made-from-scratch foods with us every single morning to the cheapest foods she could afford hurt me all over again.

Cooking with Sofia turned out to be less cooking and more surviving a tiny storm with a whisk. She insisted on measuring the water, which meant we had too much, and then we added more mix. Which meant we needed more water. I finally fixed it when she wasn’t looking and we moved on to pouring perfect circles in the skillet.

Sofia sat on the counter next to the stove, flour on one cheek and a spatula in hand while she kicked her heels against the cabinets.

Nina, Matteo, and Dante walked out of the bedroom, with Nina looking guiltily in my direction. “You didn’t have to do this, Luca.”

“Are you kidding?” I flipped a pancake without using a spatula, making Sofia cheer and clap. “I live for this kind of thing.”

I hadn’t known it until I met Sofia, but it was true. I plated pancakes while everyone sat. Once I picked up the last plate, Sofia held out her arms to me. I didn’t hesitate to scoot in, and she wrapped her arms and legs around me. “Carry me to the table. I’m too tired to walk.”

Nina choked on her coffee.

“Can you take me to the bookstore today? I’m not going to school. Mama says I can stay home this one time.” She held one finger up so close in front of my face I went cross-eyed.

“I would love to.” I checked in with Nina. “If that’s okay?” I mouthed Sorry at her and winced. I shouldn’t be making decisions like that.

Nina’s lips pursed, but she nodded. “Probably best if we all go. Her favorite bookstore is a little hard to find.”

It wasn’t. We’d all walked to it yesterday so Dante could buy the book for her, but I didn’t need to let Nina know that right now. And I wouldn’t ask her to let us take Sofia alone. We’d disappointed her once. It would take time to rebuild trust. If she had truly thought, even for an instant, that we would take Sofia from her, then we had more to build back than I ever imagined.

We finished breakfast, washed up, and headed out within an hour. Sofia could barely stand still and insisted on holding my hand the whole way. My hand. I tried not to react, but when Dante clapped me on the shoulder and told me I looked constipated, I barked out a laugh and swung Sofia around. “So. What makes this bookstore your favorite?” We had so much to learn. We’d missed so much. That thought punched a hole in my chest.