“Spoil me?”

  “Close your eyes,” he says, leaning over and giving me a kiss. “I’ll grab you for bed when I’m done.”

  “Okay,” I say with a small smile, holding back a yawn I know is ready to overtake me.

  He doesn’t make it two feet before his jeans are gone and he’s kicking them in the air, catching them in his hand.

  It is a nice view is my last thought before I close my eyes, letting the darkness and exhaustion take me.

  19

  Rocco

  “Rebel,” Gigi calls, motioning for my girl to go sit with the other women at the table on the lanai.

  “Go ahead, sugar. I’m sure the girls want all the dirt. Just don’t listen to their bullshit.”

  She smiles up at me, giving me a small kiss. “I want all the dirt.”

  “You’re too jealous for all the dirt.”

  Her lips flatten.

  “See. Right there. Too jealous and I like you that way.”

  Her eyebrows knit together. “You do?”

  “I like it better than you not giving a shit.”

  “I’ve never been the jealous type.”

  “I like that even more,” I whisper against her lips, staring into her deep-blue eyes.

  “Stop sucking face and get your ass over here.”

  “I like them,” she says to me, talking about my cousins after spending an hour with them last weekend.

  “They like you too.”

  “It’s nice to be around other moms.”

  “You can have more time with them next week. We’re leaving right after dinner to grab your car.”

  “I can’t wait to have my own car again.”

  “What’s wrong with the truck?”

  “I practically need a stepladder to get into it. It’s not practical.”

  “Whatever you say, babe.”

  “Girl, don’t make us come over there and drag you away from that man!” Tamara hollers out, pushing her chair back.

  “Gotta go,” Rebel says, leaving my arms without another kiss.

  “You ladies behave.”

  “Fuck off,” Gigi tells me, lifting her middle finger in the air. “Go find the guys and talk guy shit.”

  “What the hell is guy shit?”

  Gigi shrugs. “Don’t know. Don’t care. This is girl time, and you’re not invited.”

  “I feel slighted,” I tease, smiling and returning the sweet gesture.

  Tamara, Gigi, Lily, and Jo all stare at me, no smiles on their faces, looking at me like I am the enemy.

  I don’t know what their men did wrong, but something is happening. I didn’t need to be a psychic to know when shit is off, and shit is definitely off.

  All four are married with kids of their own and to men who aren’t easy to live with. I know that because they are cut from the same wood as me, bossy and no bullshit. That causes issues since three of the four are Gallo girls, and they don’t put up with their men’s attitudes or the shit that comes with them.

  “Who the fuck did something wrong?” I ask, collapsing back into the couch in the den where the guys have made a home to watch the football game. Our parents are all sitting in the living room next to the kitchen, and as the family grew, we started to separate sometimes, especially when we wanted to talk away from them.

  “Mammoth,” Pike, Gigi’s husband, says, his eyes never leaving the television. “He fucked up.”

  “Bullshit,” Mammoth mutters, lifting a beer to his lips, his ankle resting on top of the opposite knee, looking chill. “I’m innocent.”

  Carmello chuckles, holding out a beer to me, one he’s been saving because he always has my back. “Tamara walked in on some chick coming on to Mammoth and lost her shit.”

  “How is that his fault?” I ask.

  “She said I didn’t do enough to stop the woman from flirting with me.” Mammoth shrugs, tipping back his head, taking a swig of his beer. “The woman is off-the-charts hormonal.”

  “You should tell her that,” my cousin Nick teases, knowing how well she’d take that comment.

  “I’d like to get pussy again in my lifetime, so I’ll pass on that shit-ass advice, asshole. It’s my dumb-ass fault for knocking her up again.”

  My eyebrows rise, and I almost choke on my beer. “Fuckin’ again?”

  He smirks, resting his beer on his thigh. “Yep. Couldn’t keep her off my dick, and we wanted another kid anyway.”

  I pound on my chest, trying to clear the beer and puke that are clogging my throat. “That’s my cousin you’re talking about.”

  “I know, man. Can’t help that shit. But, fuck me,” he mutters, glancing up at the ceiling, “She gets so fucking territorial when she’s pregnant. I can’t even be in the vicinity of another woman without her wanting to murder one of us or both.”

  “Wish you luck with that one, brother.” Pike tips his beer toward Mammoth along with his chin. “She’s always been a wild one.”

  “I wouldn’t have her any other way. She’s my wildcat.”

  Carmello elbows me, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. “What’s wrong? You seem off.”

  “Nothing, man.” I blow out a breath, relaxing back into the couch. “Just want to kick back and hang with my girl, but gotta take a drive up to the cabin to get her car.”

  “You want company? I can drive her car back so she doesn’t have to follow you.”

  My brother is solid. A pain in the ass sometimes, but always there for me even when I’ve tried like hell to push him away.

  “That would work. You don’t mind?”

  “Got nothing else to do. Six hours in the car sounds like a great time,” he mutters, and I know he doesn’t mean it, but he’s doing me a favor because that’s what we do.

  “We’re leaving after dinner.”

  “Not a problem. I’ll be ready,” he tells me, tapping his bottle against mine. “I could use a ride to clear my head.”

  “Bad day?”

  “Bad fucking week, brother. Crazy-ass dreams.”

  “Carrie?” I ask and he grimaces.

  “I love you having Rebel back in your life, but it brought up a bunch of shit I thought I had buried so deep it wouldn’t find me again.”

  “You need to talk?”

  He shakes his head. “I’ll work it out. I always do. Just got to work through it and maybe go back to talk to someone who’s impartial to help me sort out whatever it is still festering inside me.”

  I know what eats at him. He was driving the car when Carrie died. It could’ve been either of us behind the wheel, and the shit would’ve ended the same way. He felt the guilt about driving the car, while the image of her dying in my arms ate at my insides for years.

  “We’ll get through this. We always do. I’m here for you…whatever you need.”

  “I know you are. Therapy helped you.”

  “And Dad,” I remind him. “The club gave me an escape.”

  “I haven’t been there in years.”

  “Go back. Lose yourself for a while.”

  He nods. “I may just do that.”

  “But I can’t come with you this time.”

  He shrugs. “You got yourself a good woman. You don’t need what the club has to offer.”

  “Can’t argue with that,” I tell him, moving my arm around the back of the couch, pulling him closer. “I love you, Carm.”

  “Love you too, Roc. You’re the only person who understands how I feel, what I feel, and how deep it runs.”

  “Dinner,” Ma says, poking her head into the study, eyeing all the guys. “If any of you can tear yourself away from the Tampa Bay game long enough to choke down some noodles.” She’s gone as quickly as she walked in, the door left open.

  “They’ve lived here longer than they lived in Chicago, but they’re still loyal to them Bears.”

  Jett, Lily’s husband, shrugs. “Some people like the pain.”

  “That ain’t no lie,” I mutter, knowing how deep this family’s love for Chicago sports runs, even though they haven’t won shit in decades. “Let’s eat and get out of here. It’s going to be a long day.”

  “I’m fucking ready for it,” Mello says, rising to his feet. “Let’s go, fuckers. I don’t need my mom coming back and busting our balls.”

  They move their asses, not wanting the wrath of Izzy Caldo either. Minutes later, our plates are full of food, and we’re scattered around the house, stuffing our faces.

  “Mello’s coming with us,” I tell Rebel as she sits next to me, moaning with each bite. “But you’re making it pretty fucking hard for me not to think about fucking you first.”

  “We don’t have time for all that,” she tells me, moaning again and smiling.

  “Baby, I can be fast,” I promise her.

  She shakes her head. “Not at your grandma’s house. Are you insane?”

  I shrug. “I tried.”

  “Eat your food,” she tells me. “The quicker we leave, the earlier we’ll be home.”

  I wink at her.

  “You sure your mom is okay watching Addy another night?”

  I tick my chin in the direction of my mother. “What do you think?”

  Addy’s in the chair next to her, mimicking my mother in every way, from the way she sits to how she holds her spoon.

  “My mother is in heaven after having three sons. Hey, Ma,” I call out, and her eyes instantly find me. “Can you watch Adaline until we get back from the cabin later?”

  Adaline wiggles in her seat with a giant smile on her face as she stares up at my mother like they’re new best friends. “Please,” Addy whispers.

  “She can stay the night again. You two kids take your time. We’re going to watch movies and eat popcorn.” My mom puts her arm around Addy. “What do you want to watch tonight?”

  “Princesses.”

  Mom smiles. “So much better having a girl around the house.”

  “Whatever,” I mutter, looking back at Rebel. “Taken care of, sugar.”

  “I thought my kid would miss me a little bit,” Rebel says, watching her daughter with my mother, “but I’m not even mad.”

  “Mom will take good care of her, and that means we get another night alone.” I waggle my eyebrows. “Orgasms for everyone.”

  “Shh,” Rebel says, peering around the room from under her lashes. “Someone’s going to hear you.”

  “They all have orgasms too, or else there wouldn’t be all these people here.”

  “Oh Jesus,” Rebel whispers. “Eat your food so we can go, and stop talking.”

  I laugh, going back to my pasta and meatballs, ready to get the drive over with so I can be in my girl, giving her all the pleasure she wants without a tiny human in the next room.

  Four hours later, we pull down the long dirt road leading to the cabin. The three of us spent the drive enjoying music, singing at the top of our lungs to our favorites, and dancing in our seats to the ones that made our bodies move.

  It was a light trip, the same carefree attitude we felt when we were younger. The same easiness we felt when Carrie was alive and we were heading toward a weekend of fun and frolic.

  Carmello’s door is open before I cut the engine. “I’ll go turn on the outdoor lights. I just gotta grab something from the safe,” he says, jumping out from the back and taking off toward the front door.

  “I need to go in too,” she says, giving me a small smile. “Mom bladder.”

  I nod, knowing we have another three hours back and not much in between except for forest, and pissing in the woods isn’t something most chicks dig. “We have time. We’re not in a rush, baby.”

  “Good,” she says as I lift her hand to my mouth, brushing my lips over her skin. “We don’t need to leave right away. Let’s stretch our legs and grab something to drink from the fridge. There’s no rush. The sun’s already setting.”

  “Thank you for this,” she says.

  “For what?”

  “For bringing me back to my car.”

  “It’s your car, Rebel. We weren’t just going to abandon it forever, but we couldn’t risk you taking it with us when there was so much we didn’t know about Beau. I still need to check it for a tracker before we go.”

  “I don’t think he’s coming for me.”

  “He’s been missing since you left. He could be anywhere.”

  She frowns. “I was so stupid.”

  “Nah, baby. You weren’t stupid. You were trusting and naïve to the extent a person will go to find someone.”

  “I learned my lesson.”

  “And yet you’re still with me.”

  She rolls her eyes. “I doubt you’d chase after me.”

  I smile. “I’d chase you, Rebel, but I would never give you a reason to run. When a man has feelings for a woman, he treats her like a queen and never gives her a reason to leave.”

  “I know,” she whispers. “I’ve never had anyone put me first. Never in my entire life.”

  I hate that her life experiences have been total shit. She deserved better as a little girl and even more so as an adult. “You have it now, baby.”

  She smiles at me, lighting up completely and making my heart swell. “I gotta pee,” she says softly, squirming in her seat.

  “Well, go get it, mama. I’ll be under your car, checking shit out.”

  She nods, reaching for the door handle before peeling out, following in Carmello’s footsteps.

  I watch her stalk up the drive, run up the front steps, and disappear inside before I get to work underneath her car.

  20

  Rebel

  “We got motion,” Carmello says, staring down at his phone as we stand inside the kitchen, Rocco still outside.

  “We have motion?” I ask, staring at him funny.

  “Outside.” Carmello’s eyes move toward the door. “Rocco isn’t alone.”

  A knot forms in my stomach, and I know without having to be told. We’re in the middle of nowhere. People don’t just show up unless they’re looking, and there’s only one man searching for me.

  It’s Beau, and he’s not here for a friendly visit.

  He’s been waiting for me, knowing where I’d been. No doubt, there was a tracker on my car, or he’d used my old cell phone’s location.

  If we would’ve stayed, he would’ve…

  “Don’t move,” Carmello tells me, pointing to the very spot I’m standing. “I’m grabbing a gun from the safe. Do not go outside under any circumstances.”

  I slide my eyes to the front door and then back to Carmello as he walks into the bedroom. I know he said to stay here, but Rocco’s outside.

  I gulp, pushing down the knowledge of how bad things could’ve been if Carmello and Rocco hadn’t convinced me to go with them.

  But now…now, Rocco is in Beau’s cross hairs.

  Beau is here for me, and I have no doubt he’ll do whatever he can to make sure my ass is in his car, heading back with him, even if that means hurting Rocco and Carmello.

  Without thinking, I head to the door, leaving Carmello in the bedroom, and step out onto the front porch.

  I gasp when I see Beau’s arm outstretched, a gun in his hand and pointed directly at Rocco.

  “Rebel,” Beau says as he faces me, Rocco between the two of us, standing still. “I’ve been looking for you, baby.”

  Rocco shakes his head as I move forward, walking down the stairs on shaky legs.

  “You found me, Beau. Leave Rocco alone.”

  “Oh, this is the great Rocco you’ve talked about. I thought the man would be—” Beau shakes the gun at Rocco “—better.”

  “Please, Beau. He doesn’t matter. Let’s go, honey, and leave Rocco here. Take me home,” I tell him, somehow getting those words out without my voice shaking in fear.

  “No,” Rocco says, taking a step forward to stop me.

  “Stop moving,” Beau says before Rocco can get within a few feet of me. “I will shoot you.”

  My stomach turns at the thought. “You don’t want to shoot anyone,” I say, knowing he does and it’s probably me.

  But I’ll sacrifice myself for a short time to keep Rocco alive. He’d find me. He’d save me. I know he’d stop at nothing until he got me back and Beau ended up right where he belonged.

  “I’ll go,” I tell him, moving past Rocco, making eye contact and giving him a sorrowful smile. “You don’t need to force me or hurt him.”

  “Get your ass in the truck,” Beau tells me, ticking his chin toward his beat-up white pickup.

  He doesn’t even ask about Adaline, never giving two shits about her. It was always me. Only me he wanted, and he was completely transparent about that. Adaline was an inconvenience in his eyes and nothing more.

  “Okay,” I whisper, looking over at Rocco as he stiffens.

  “Do not move,” Rocco tells me, and Beau starts to advance on him.

  I dash between them, ready to give myself up and do anything in my power so no one gets hurt, especially not Rocco.

  But when Beau reaches out to touch me, Rocco pushes me aside. I fall to the ground, my palms smashing into the gravel.

  Rocco moves quickly, punching Beau in the face, causing his head to snap back. I watch as he doesn’t stop, advancing on Beau, hitting him repeatedly until Beau’s body hits the ground next to me and the gun skids across the way.

  I think Rocco’s going to stop, but I’m wrong. He’s on top of Beau, holding him by the collar of his shirt, pounding him in the face as blood starts to splatter everywhere, staining the rocks red around him.

  “Rocco,” I call out. “Stop.”

  Oh my God.

  Rocco’s going to kill Beau. I’ve never seen him so mad. His face doesn’t even look like the same man I’ve started falling in love with.

  “Fuck him. The. Bastard. Doesn’t. Get. To. Hurt. You.” Each word is short and followed by another blow to Beau’s body.

  “Fuck!” Carmello exclaims, coming out of the cabin too late, but brandishing a shotgun. “Jesus Christ.”

  He drops the shotgun in the grass before rushing over to Rocco, hauling him off Beau.

  I watch in horror, shocked by the amount of blood and how easily Rocco’s switch flipped, turning him into someone I’ve never seen before.