AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Boss went to calm his ass down before he put in a call to Gianni. You know that conversation is gonna be damn special. Reno went home to take his dog out or do some other domestic duty bullshit. My woman’s tied up with the kids today, so I was gonna take a nice long ride up into the hills. Maybe grab some lunch. You down?” Diego snubbed out his cigarette in the overflowing ashtray.
“Let’s go,” Hal said in quick response.
It was a beautiful day. Perfect for riding. Nothing but blue skies and big, puffy white clouds for as far as the eye could see. Cool wind in his face and warm sunshine on his back, Hal put all thoughts behind him and concentrated on the open road. After the fresh air and adrenalin rush of the ride had built up an appetite, the brothers stopped at a small fish fry place and had themselves a serious chow-down. Then—because why the hell not—Diego and Hal tried their hand at the batting cage situated behind the small restaurant. The two men took a longer route back home and rode peacefully through rolling hills and long winding roads littered with fields of corn and wild flowers.
It was a damned good way to relax and burn off some steam.
Later, Hal would look back on that ride and think of it as the calm that came before the storm—the storm that broke all of hell loose.
Valentina and Gia sat obediently in front of the massive oak desk with their hands folded in their laps, and their eyes cast demurely downward
They were in big trouble—deep shit that it was going to take a very, very large shovel to dig themselves out of.
It had been three days since the cousins had arrived in the wee hours of the morning back at the Abruzzi manse—their car flanked by a highly humiliating, and totally unnecessary, four-man Saints MC escort.
Two Harleys in the front and two in the back.
All. The. Way. Home.
An emotionally exhausted and very embarrassed Valentina had sat quietly in the passenger seat, while a lipstick smeared, disheveled Gia had white knuckled the steering wheel and apologized profusely for… well—everything.
This is all my fault ... I should have known better … Are you alright? … Are you sure you are alright? …
Gia’s regret for having connived Valentina into going to the party, and her remorse at having gone off with Riker and leaving Valentina to fend for herself, was repeated over and over again. Gia went on and on until her voice was just a croak, and Valentina felt her already frayed nerves begin to unravel.
For both their sakes, Valentina unwrapped her own tension-clasped fingers and reached out to place her hand over her cousin’s in a gesture of reassurance.
The two women held hands like that all the way home.
Although the window from his suite of rooms blazed bright with lights, it was not Gianni who greeted the girls upon their return. The highest-ranking members of the family security team were there to escort Valentina and Gia into the house.
And Gianni had made them wait.
For days.
In that time, not only had he refused to see the young women, he had arranged to have their meals sent up to them.
“This is ridiculous.” Valentina looked at the dinner trays the housekeeper had just delivered to the sitting room the girls shared. The room was situated between the girl’s bedrooms and acted as a sort of living room for them in the mansion. Like all the rooms in the Abruzzi home it was large and lavishly decorated. The room boasted a flat screen television of mammoth proportions, high end exercise equipment, several couches and chairs, a wet bar and a gas fireplace.
Gia let out a low giggle from the sofa she had been sprawled out on for the last half hour.
“What have you been doing over there all this time and what the hell is so funny?” Valentina frowned and peeked over the back of the couch. Gia was grinning and her fingers were flying over the screen of her cell. Valentina looked over her cousin’s shoulder then grabbed the phone and read the text.
Riker: You are amazingly sexy. I am so fucking hard right now. Before you go tonite, how about you telling me just how much you would like to give me an Australian kiss?
Gia: Hmmm…I like the kiss part, but never heard of an Australian kiss. I’m gonna guess that it’s not a my lips on your lips kinda thing. Tell me more.
Riker: It’s soft and slow and involves a whole lot of tongue.
Gia: So it’s like a French Kiss?
Riker: Yeah, baby. Just like that. Except…
Gia: Except what?
Riker: Except that your lips are gonna go down under.:)
“Oh my god, Gia!” Valentina threw the phone back to her cousin as if it were a contaminate. “Ich...you are sexting with Riker? I think I just threw up in my mouth.”
