AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Reveling in joy stronger and deeper than any I have felt before, I have to stifle the happy laughter the sight of our cum stain on the carpet elicits in me. Me and Atlas together.
A sign of things to come, of a future not filled with the loneliness of the last five years.
Lenny has a home he loves and feels safe in, and now I will have mine.
"You look really happy, Lucia. Clients like you are the reason I am in real estate."
"Honestly?" I ask with a smile. "I'm bubbling over with it like a bottle of champagne somebody shook before popping the cork."
I wasn't sure this could ever happen for me. No matter how much I want this, Lenny's care and safety must come first. He doesn't have anyone else to look out for him.
But I am finally able to buy a house that's mine. It's a place where I can be myself. Not the mafia princess I once was. Not the nightclub owner I don't really want to be. But simply the woman I am deep down inside in my own space.
"Everything came together like you needed it to," Elaine says.
It's such a typical realtor saying, but she means it. She's not only here for the commission. Especially on such a small property.
"When I started Nuovi Inizi I was pretty sure I could make a go of it, but not certain I could bring in enough to pay for my brother-in-law's care."
Elaine knows about the facility because my contract to pay for Lenny's care came up when the underwriters started digging into my finances to determine if they would approve a mortgage for me.
"So many new businesses fail," Elaine says with her usual enthusiasm. "But you have the club making enough profit to cover his care and the mortgage for this place. You should be really proud of yourself."
I grin. "I am."
I might wish I could do something else, something quieter, but I've made Nuovi Inizi work for me and I'm proud of that. Maybe even more proud than I would be if it was my dream. I did the hard thing and succeeded.
As another successful businesswoman, Elaine's approval feels good. When I explain everything about Lenny to Atlas, he'll respond in the same way.
We walk back through the dining-slash-living area bathed in light from the autumn sunshine coming in through the large picture window.
It feels like a bright, happy omen.
My house. My home. A place for me.
I sign the papers for it tomorrow, and I can't wait.
~ ~ ~
Wearing my favorite red wrap dress, I'm still buzzing with excitement hours later.
The club is hopping and soon we will be at capacity. My staff are all where they are supposed to be. The DJ is here and spinning tunes.
Atlas said he will be here before close tonight. I can't wait to tell him about signing the papers and taking possession of my new home tomorrow.
He lives in a mansion. Is it a pipe dream to think he'll want to share my little house with me?
He spends every night in my even smaller apartment, I remind myself. The house will be an improvement.
Am I really going to ask him to move in so soon? I should wait. I should wait, but if he does what he is doing now, he'll be my de facto roommate without me ever asking. I want it to be my choice.
I need him to know that I want him there.
My gaze flicks to the entrance for the millionth time tonight, but this time I am rewarded with the sight of Atlas. There are three men with him. I recognize two of them. They've been in Nuovi Inizi before, when Atlas wasn't here.
I'm pretty sure I've met all of his family in Portland. Only, the way they all walk close together, it's clear they don't mind being in each other's personal space. Which means they know each other pretty well, even if they aren't family.
It's strange they never introduced themselves to me when they were here before. Had Atlas not told them about me?
