Dangerous Beauty: Part Three: This is War (93 page)

As she turned to leave the kitchen she nearly collided with Mickey.

“Whoa!” Mickey exclaimed, stopping abruptly to avoid knocking her over.

Isabella hadn’t moved at all. She didn’t flinch, nor did she make a sound. She just looked up at Mickey, her expression stoic.

Mickey straightened himself. “Sorry about that, Izzy.”

“Isabella,” she corrected firmly. “And you should be sorry. Watch where you’re walking next time.” Without another word she walked past him.

Mickey watched her walk away with a frown. Once she was gone, he shook his head with a huff. “You know I don’t usually say sorry to people.That kid needs a lesson in manners.”

“She usually doesn’t talk to people, Mickey,” Carter said. “That was a huge milestone for her.”

“Being rude to me is a milestone,” he muttered as he grabbed a beer from the fridge. “Glad to be a part of it.” He stormed out of the kitchen.

Carter and Nathan chuckled. “He’s been in a mood all night.” She came back around and stood next to him, grabbing another container of leftovers to store. “Do you think its Aria again?”

Eyes glued to her juicy ass, he enjoyed the show as she bent over to get more containers out of the bottom drawers. Unable to stop himself, he gave it another light pinch. He suddenly remembered what he’d been doing before Tamara had called earlier … He always liked to build the anticipation up on nights he planned to make love to Carter until the wee hours of the morning

Carter giggled. “Nathan.” He did it again for good measure, and she stood up, placing one hand to her hip. “Okay, what has gotten into you today? Why are you so horny? First the office, then in the limo on the way home—”

“Then in our closet, our bed, and our kitchen.” He wrapped his arms around her from behind and brought her back against his body. “Wait until our guests leave tonight and we put the kids to bed. I’m thinking we do a little role play.” He kissed her neck and smiled when her musical laugh hit his ears.

“Role play, huh? What do you have in mind, Don Salerno?”

“Mmm … I’ll be Nathan the Don, and you’ll be my sexy little maid from France … I’m going to need you naked; that ‘kiss me’ apron in the top drawer, and all of these leftovers to make this work.”

Carter laughed. “What the hell are we going to do with the leftovers, Nathan?”

“You let me worry about that. You’ll like it, baby. I’ll make sure of it—”

“Do you two ever stop touching?”

“Leave them alone, Robert …”

“Ba-ba, ba-ba, ba-ba.”

“Every time I walk into a room he’s groping our daughter, Anastacia.”

“They have been married for nearly five year now. They have three children—”

“And I love my grandsons, but what the hell does that have to do with his constant groping of my baby girl, Anne?”

“If he wasn’t groping her your grandsons wouldn’t be here!”

Carter and Nathan burst into laughter.

Nathan moved from behind Carter, kissed her forehead, then put some distance between them only to appease her glaring father.

“Is everyone finished with dessert in there?” Carter asked.

Anastacia walked over to her. “Yes, sweetheart, but don’t you worry about collecting the dishes. You’ve done enough.”

“Mom—”

“No, Carterina,” she said firmly. “Here, take you sister. I’ll go do it.”

“Ba-ba!”

Carter took her gorgeous little sister from her mother’s arms and squeezed her tightly. “Hi, Cami, my love.”

Camiella Elizabeth Valente was her full name, and she was the reason why Carter took over her mother’s empire two years earlier than she was supposed to. Anastacia had been nearly three months along when she’d found out she was carrying Cami. It had happened after she had become very sick and collapsed while no one had been home to help her. When Cesare had come home that evening Anastacia had been lying in a small pool of blood. Turned out, when she had collapsed that evening she had hit her head on the sink in their bathroom.

Nathan had remembered how frightened both Carter and Gabriel had been for their mother. He remembered that Anastacia had been afraid, too. She had told him when they’d gotten a moment to chat alone that she was afraid it was the illness that had taken her father. After all, she was the same age he’d been when he had fallen ill. Everyone had sat at the hospital, waiting all night for the results of the tests they had given her fighting against emotion and trying to remain optimistic. After examination by the doctors, it was confirmed that Anastacia was dehydrated, overworked … and pregnant with twins. To say that they had all been shocked would’ve been a complete understatement.

Because of her age and a few health issues, Anastacia’s pregnancy had been high risk from the start. She pretty much had to spend an entire four months in bed, and when the time came two months earlier than it should have, only one of the twins survived, and her and Cesare’s son had been stillborn. It was a difficult to get through, but they had all gotten through it as a family. They’d suffered a tragic loss, but they had to toughen up and support the little miracle that was fighting for her life in the NICU.

The day that Cami went home, three months after she was born, was a day that Nathan kept in his heart as one of the most wonderful days that he had ever had with his family. It was the day that everything just … got better. It was the day that Anastacia was given a divorce from the man she no longer loved, it was the day she said yes to the marriage proposal from a man she did love, from the father of her newborn baby. It was also the day that Angelo, Anastacia, and Cesare were finally able to let go of all of the tension between them and focus on the love they had for one another, and it was the day that they got to bring little Cami into the family the right way; food, family, laughter, and love …

Nathan walked over to where Carter stood and leaned forward, placing a kiss on his tiny sister-in-law’s forehead. “Hi there, Camiella.”

Her blue eyes brightened and she smiled wide, revealing her four teeth; two on the bottom and two on the top. She was ten months old, two months younger than her nephew, and despite the different color eyes, Camiella was a tiny replica of Carterina.

“She looks so much like you,” Nathan said softly as he leaned against the counter.

Carter smiled and kissed Cami’s cheek. “I know, I can’t believe it. I have a baby sister.” Carter hugged the baby tightly again. “I adore her, Nathan.”

“It makes you think … doesn’t it?”

Carter continued smiling at her sister. “Think about what?”

Nathan played with a strand of her hair, waiting patiently for her to catch on to what he was talking about.

When she did, she looked over at him with a gasp. “Have you lost your mind, Nathan?” she whispered sharply.

Or course he hadn’t. “Just one more baby. Then we can wait as long as you want.”

“Nathan, you said that last time!” she argued. “I just had your son twelve months ago.”

“And don’t you love him, baby? I can’t imagine life without our little Jo-jo anymore.”

“I feel the same, but it’s too soon.”

“It’s never too soon, baby. I know you want a little girl just as much as I do.”

“I’m not talking about this with you right now, Nathan,” she whispered. She turned away from him and used her free arm to continue putting food away.

Nathan frowned. Why was is always no before it was yes with her?

Lucky for her the family came into the kitchen at that moment and she was off the hook for the moment. However, he planned on bringing it up again later …

~*~

“Have you written Silas yet this week?”

Gabriel looked over at Carter when she asked him the question and nodded. The majority of the guests had gone except for the guys and Gabriel, who had a home with Dante now. He and Carter were doing the dishes, while they guys were in the living room talking.

“Yeah. I told him that I’d write him once a week about my life and I do.”

While Carter did communicate with Silas for numerous reasons, Gabriel did not. Carter understood and she never pushed it. She respected Gabriel’s decision to never speak to Silas again. She had even gone as far as to tell him that she’d stop speaking to him as well if it bothered Gabriel, but being the man he is, he didn’t want to interfere with a decision that Carter needed to make for herself and she loved him for that.

“I enjoy the letters he sends me, though,” Gabriel said. “He’s always had a way with words.”

Carter nodded her agreement. “I’m glad you’ve started writing again.”

His head cocked to the side as he regarded her, he nudged her. “I’m glad you convinced me to. Thank you. Writing Silas about everything really did help me move on.”

Carter smiled. “Yelling at him helps me …”

He laughed in reply, but quickly sobered. “Just promise you’ll be careful with Silas.”

“I know, I know.” Carter rested her head on her shoulder. “He helps me with business stuff, that’s all.”

“I’m not judging you, my love. It’s okay to want to know him, he’s our father. I just don’t want him to …” He looked at her with a concerned frown. “He’s known for disappointing the people he claims to love.”

“I know,” Carter whispered. “If he hurts my feelings, do you promise to hold me?”

Gabriel laughed softly at her playful pout. “Of course I will, my love.” He kissed her forehead then rested his against it. “I love you, Carterina.”

“I love you, Gabriel.”

He kissed both of her cheeks and her forehead once again before looking back to the dishes.

Carter sighed. “In other news, Nathan wants another baby.”

“What?” Gabriel exclaimed, and laughed loudly.

~*~

“Aria and I broke up again last week …”

The guys groaned, and Nathan couldn’t help but roll his eyes. He’d been telling Mickey ever since he and Aria started dating a year back that the he didn’t think it’d be a good idea. Ever since the moment they’d first began the relationship it had been a struggle for them. It wasn’t because they didn’t care for the other, because Nathan was pretty sure they loved each other. They had the attraction, the love, and the passion, but their relationship lacked what every relationship needed to survive: a connection … a true connection between them. Aria was not in love with a huge part of who Mickey was, a part of himself that he could never change, and Mickey was just bored with Aria. They didn’t connect. They weren’t for each other.

“Wow, I guess no one cares to ask how I’m doing …”

“Because we know that you two will get back together eventually,” Lucca said, sounding uninterested. “You always do.”

“Maybe you two should try see other people, Mikilo,” Nathan sighed. “You’ll just keep ending up like this every week because—”

“I get it, Nate.” Mickey frowned. “It is so easy for the happily married guy with three kids to tell me to just let the woman I love go.”

“Mick, that’s not what I said.”

“But it’s what you mean.” Mickey shrugged. “Guess what, Nate, I want a family, too. I want love, a wife, and some kids. I finally find a woman that I can see myself having all that with and you want me to let her see other people?”

“I want you to realize that Aria is not the one, Mickey. That’s all.” Nathan leaned forward and rested his arms on his knees. “I’m the one that has what you want, Mickey, so if I offer you a little advice, the smartest thing to do is take it. You will know that you’re with the woman that will be your wife when she makes you want to be
the best version of yourself
, not a completely different person …”

“Thank you,” Lucca said. “Listen to him.”

“You’re not yourself when you’re with Aria, Mickey, and that’s the truth.” Nathan shrugged and sat back in his seat.

“Shit,” Mickey muttered as he laid on the floor and stared at the ceiling.

“Da-da …”

Nathan glanced over to the entrance of the living room as soon as he heard his son’s voice. Josef stood at the entrance of the living room in his Mickey Mouse pajamas with one hand in his hair twisting his blond curls and the other hand in his mouth.

“Da-da,” he whined again, walking across the living room to Nathan.

“What is it, bambino?”

Big eyes—identical to his mother’s, except in color—widened and filled with tears. “Da-da.”

“Come here, son.” Nathan stood and met Josef halfway. Lifting his son into an embrace, he kissed his cheek three times. “Its bedtime, isn’t it?”

Much like his brothers, Josef got weepy when he was sleepy and the house wasn’t in order to accommodate him. All three of the boys usually liked to go to sleep in the bedroom upstairs, cuddling in bed with Nathan and Carter, and that was after their walk in the garden.

Josef rested his head on Nathan’s shoulder.
“Seep, Da-da. Ma-ma, too.”

Translation: kick all of these bastards out so I can go to sleep with my parents.

“Papa?”

Nathan had known they were coming next. Carter and Nathan had a system at home, just like they did at work, and according to the schedule, it was time for the house to be empty of guests and Mommy and Papa to be spending time with them.