Dangerous Beauty: Part Three: This is War (64 page)

“You’re laughing because you rhymed, aren’t you?” Nathan asked with amusement in his voice.

Carter nodded and laughed harder. Damn, he knew her too well. “I’m fucking amazing. I’m like the female Doctor Seuss.”

Nathan and the men in the room—excluding Niko and his men—laughed with her.

“You’re such a nerd,” Nathan teased her.

Carter’s mouth dropped open in playful offense. “Meanie.” She gave him a wink over her shoulder and continued to exit.

“Love you, baby,” Nathan called. “You better have dinner on the table when I get home.”

Carter raised her middle finger in the air. “Kiss my ass, Mr. Salerno.”

“I plan to, Mrs. Salerno.”

Carter laughed. “I love you, too, bubby.”

Chapter 24: Pool Party

Now don’t get Carter wrong, she still absolutely loved working at S.O., but being a wife, a mother, and taking care of her family and home had snuck up on her and became her first love. Yes, she still loved New York, and yes she still did a ton of work back in the City. But ever since her little boys were born, the majority of Carter’s work for both New York and France was done from home during Aleksandr and Maksim’s nap time. The only time Carter went to the City was when she had meetings.

She’d created a new system after her sons were born. It allowed her to do all of her desk work from Nathan’s home office, and only go to the City three, sometimes four, times a week for meetings with associates and potential business partners.

“Ma-ma!”

“Ma-ma!”

The sound of little feet running through the house was getting closer and closer to the kitchen as Carter continued to stock the picnic basket with their lunch and snacks. Carter had left work early after her last meeting to come home and spend time with her mother, brother, and her babies. They were going to have lunch by the pool, lounge, and go swimming per Maksim and Aleksandr’s request. It was going to be a perfect day as usual. The only thing that could’ve made it better was if Nathan had come home early to join them. Unfortunately, his work load didn’t allow it. Good thing Carter could always count on him being home on time for family dinner every night; it was always just the four of them. She had been the one to make his daily schedule, so she’d made sure of it.

“Ma-ma!” her baby called again.

She could tell just by hearing his voice that it was Aleksandr. He was the more talkative twin.

“Mama is in here, baby,” Carter yelled. “Come to the kitchen.”

When he yelled back,
“Okay,”
Carter laughed softly. Her babies had so much personality, just like their father.

“Auntie Carter?”

Carter looked up from the fruit she had been cutting into squares just as her stunning little niece—slash cousin by blood—Sofia walked in to the kitchen. Carter smiled. Sofia was such a beautiful little two-year-old Daddy’s girl. She walked into the kitchen in her little purple, skirted, one piece swimsuit looking so adorable. Her beautiful hair swayed back and forth and her sky blue eyes were bright with excitement as she walked to Carter quickly.

“Hi sweetie. You need something?” Carter asked

“Wanna braid my hair, Auntie?” Sofia asked. She ran her little fingers through the ends of her hair, now reaching her waist, and gazed at Carter expectantly.

“Of course, baby.”

Carter left the fruit and went over to the sink to wash her hands. After she’d washed and dried her hands, she picked up Sofia and journeyed to the booth-like seat by the window. Carter sat Sofia in her lap and combed her fingers through her silky hair. She loved doing Sofia’s hair, and she could tell that Sofia loved it, too. Because Sofia was without a mother and had no recollection of ever having one, Carter always did her hair. Not only that, but Carter had decorated her room at Kyle’s house and had been picking out all of her clothing since she was nine months old and her mother had walked out on her and Kyle.

Carter was being to Sofia what she wished a woman would have been to her when she was a little girl. Yes, she had Chrissy, and she loved her, but Chrissy never had that motherly touch that Carter had needed and wanted. Carter had only received one warm hug full of motherly love when she was a little girl, and that had been from Anya Salerno when she was three years old. When Faith—Sofia’s mother—left without looking back, Carter had promised Kyle that he and Sofia could always count on her to be there when they needed her. It was not easy for a little girl to grow up without a mother, even a mother figure would have satisfied Carter, but she had neither. She wouldn’t let her niece suffer the same way she had. If little Sofia Valente ever needed her hair done, some girl time, or a hug from a mother that loved her as if she were her own child, Carter would always be there.

Although she would always be there for Sofia, in her heart, Carter knew that there would come a time that just calling
Auntie
Carter wouldn’t be enough. A little girl needed a mother. This was why she’d been pushing Kyle to start dating again. And by pushing, Carter meant tirelessly trying to persuade him to get back out there. Since the moment Kyle had become a full-time single father it was like he’d taken a vow of celibacy. All dating and hook-ups just stopped, and Kyle had become wrapped up in working hard to be a good father. And he had. In Carter’s opinion, just calling Kyle a good father was a huge understatement. She was incredibly proud of him and the man he’d become. He was the perfect father, and she knew he’d be an amazing husband to some lucky woman.

She couldn’t lie. Kyle’s reluctance to date had been giving her lots of time to scheme. The man’s taste in women was atrocious, and there was no way in hell Carter was ever letting him pick his own wife. She knew what was right for Kyle better than he did. A couple of years ago, she’d thought that Aniyah—one of her good friends, and a secretary at S.O.—was the perfect woman for him, but now she didn’t really know. It wasn’t that Aniyah wasn’t a wonderful woman, because she was. It was just that Kyle and Aniyah being together may not be what was best for Sofia. It was incredibly hard for Carter to admit, but it was true. Sofia needed a mother, and Kyle needed a wife.

Carter had another woman in mind for Kyle. The only problem was, she wasn’t really the type of woman Kyle would usually go for. Aniyah was though. The woman could call herself fat and unattractive all she wanted, but Carter knew she was just fishing for compliments. Aniyah was flawless … all of the damn time. Her full, curvy figure made every man in the office salivate when she would strut by them. Her hair was always flawless, her clothes were always flawless, and her make-up looked professionally done every day. Physically, she was Kyle’s type from head to toe, but Carter wanted Kyle to have love. He deserved love, and his sweet little girl deserved a mother, a woman that would love her as if she’d carried her in her own womb.

The woman Carter knew would be absolutely perfect for Kyle
and
Sofia, was named Reanna Pierce. Her beauty went
far
beyond the physical.

“Auntie, Pa-pa said we can h
ave
ice cream today.”

Sofia’s soft little voice brought Carter from her thoughts as she began to ramble about her beloved Papa.

“We have ice cream yesterday. Pa-pa said we can
have
some again if be good at Auntie’s house today,” she said happily. “You want some ice cream, too?”

Carter laughed softly as she began to put a long braid in Sofia’s hair. “Yes, I’ll be having some ice cream tonight after dinner.”

“Can Maksi and Sandr have some, too?” she asked.

Carter nodded. “If they eat all of their food, yes. They will have pie and ice cream for dessert.”

“Can I have
some pie, too?”

Carter smiled. “I will make an extra one for you and your Papa to take home for dessert, okay?”

She nodded her head, and then began talking about her and her Papa’s day at the park. The sentences Carter could understand clearly indicated that the day was exceptionally fun for both her and Kyle. It made Carter’s heart swell with happiness for Kyle. Sofia was the perfect surprise addition to this family and to Kyle’s life. The two of them were perfect together.

“Ma-ma!”

Tiny little feet padded across the kitchen floor and Carter looked over to see her gorgeous little men enter the kitchen. Aleksandr walked in first with nothing but his swim diaper on, and his little swim trunks in his hand. His thick, black brows were furrowed tight in a serious expression and he seemed to be on a mission. His silky, black, wild curls fell into his stormy gray eyes and the sun shone through the kitchen windows illuminating both his and his brother’s light, caramel-brown skin. Carter chuckled as she watched him walk forward with his brother following behind him. Maksim, unlike his brother, was already dressed in his swim trunks. Even though he was clothed, he still had a frown on his face, just like his brother. His thick, brown-colored brows were furrowed and his equally wild, dirty-blond curls fell into his identical stormy gray eyes.

Although they both looked like her in some ways, especially Aleksandr, when they frowned like this, they both looked exactly like their father … and Lucca.

“Ma-ma,” Aleksandr said as they approached her. “Maksi swimming.” He held out his swim trunk to her.

Carter sighed. It was always
“Maksi”
something with Aleksandr. It was more than obvious that he was the one that needed help, not Maksim, but regardless of that fact, Aleksandr tended to always begin a sentence with Maksim’s name. It was very cute. Something that she was sure she’d tease him about when he got older.

Carter looked at her son with an arched brow. “Is it Maksi that needs help, or Sandr?” she asked.

“Sandr,” both Maksim and Aleksandr answered simultaneously.

Carter nodded in reply before completing Sofia’s braid. Leaning forward, she gave Sofia a kiss on her forehead. “There you go, Sofi.”

“Thank you,” she chirped. “Can I take my ball to swimming?”

Carter picked her up and placed her feet to the floor. “Of course, honey. Go get it.”

“Okay.”

Sofia ran to get her ball, and Carter turned her attention to her little boys. “All right, Sandr, come to Mama.” Aleksandr came forward and Carter lifted him onto the table in front of her. “Where is Mémé?” They called Anastacia the French word for grandmother, which was mémé.

Maksim came forward and extended his arms for Carter to pick him up. Obliging him, she sat him atop the table with his brother.

“Mémé swimming, Ma-ma,” Maksim answered.

In translation, Grandma was somewhere putting her swimsuit on. Carter was helping Aleksandr into his swim trunks just as Gabriel walked in the back door.

“Are the punks ready for swimming?” he exclaimed. The twins immediately smiled and bounced excitedly at the sight of their Uncle Gabriel. Carter turned to him with a smile as well.

“Looks like you’re ready,” she said.

Gabriel had his hair tied back into a ponytail and wore a pair of pink swim trunks. He smiled at Carter as he joined them at the table. “And you’re not, my love.”

Unfortunately, Carter hadn’t gotten dressed yet; she still had on her clothing from work. “That’s because I made lunch,” Carter stated with a smile. “I figured you and mom could take the kids out while I got dressed.”

Gabriel nodded as he reached forward, snatched a giggling Aleksandr from the table, and tossed him in the air. “Twin time,” he yelled. Aleksandr squealed and laughed hysterically. Gabriel gave him smooches all over his little chubby cheeks while holding him close.

The much calmer Maksim came closer to Carter and climbed into her lap. She helped him and kissed her baby on his soft cheek. Maksim could be as mischievous as his brother, but the majority of the time he just enjoyed to be curled up, relaxing with her. He was a very possessive mama’s boy.

“Where is mum and Sofi?” Gabriel asked, leaning toward her to give Maksim a smooch on the cheek.

“Sofi went to go get her ball for the pool, and Mom’s—”

“Right here,” Anastacia called as she walked into the kitchen with Sofia in her arms.

“My ball, Auntie!” Sofia giggled, holding her ball in her hands.

“Is everyone ready?” Anastacia asked.

Gabriel stood up with Aleksandr still in his arms. “We’re ready.” Looking over to Maksim he extended his hand.

Maksim shook his head and turned away. “Ma-ma.”

Gabriel raised his hand in surrender and Carter chuckled. She knew Maksim wouldn’t be going anywhere without her.

“We’ll take these two outside and meet you by the pool.”

Carter nodded her head and stood up from the table with her little Maksim in her arms. “You want to help Mama finish cooking?” she asked him.

He popped his thumb in to his mouth and nodded his head. Maksim was her little helper. Any task she had to complete—whether it was cooking dinner or folding laundry—Maksim was next to her learning how to do it, while his brother would run circles around them. She loved spending time with her baby boys, whether she was teaching Maksim how to do something or chasing her little Aleksandr around the house.

“Okay, baby,” Carter said as she and Maksim made their way across the kitchen. “Let’s get lunch ready for everyone, shall we?”