Life Begins (17 page)

              Žarko struck him across the face. Nothing pissed him off worse than people assuming he should deny his children everything just because someone else didn’t want to pay him his money. He crossed his arms over his chest, staring down the man who couldn’t see him.

              “Why are you being so serious about this?” Babić said, a whimper in his voice. “We’ve known each other for so long. How could you have it be this way between us?”

              “It’s my money.” Žarko held his hands out for Srecko to hand him a tablet. “You are lucky that I am not going to put a bullet through your brains, deserving though you are of it.” He made a few taps, letting the numbers tell him what he needed to know. He nodded to the dark clothed man standing behind Babić and the piece of cloth was ripped from his face. Žarko held out the tablet. “Now, I am done playing. Approve the transfer of funds or live to regret your desire for willfulness.”

              They both knew what that meant. One of the man’s hands were cut free so that he could shakily reach out to press the one button that would confirm what would be the complete depletion of his account. “Do not try to leave the city or your life will be ended. You know I have a long enough reach.”

              “How am I supposed to feed my family?”

              Žarko sneered, not bothering to pay the pathetic man too much attention. “I don’t care what you do, as long as you don’t steal from my table.” He closed out the app and turned it over to Srecko. “Make sure he gets home,” he ordered. “I have to make sure that someone cleans up the paint from the den.” Now that Josie knew about his life, he would have to introduce his people to his new family members, especially as he would have to ensure that his wife and children were all protected. Srecko motioned to the other two to escort their guest to the car. Once alone, Žarko finished his conversation with his second. “On Thursday, I have to take my wife downtown. Someone will have to watch over the children.”

              The lines in Srecko deepened as he grimaced. “How many children?”

              Žarko shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. Pick someone that is good with little ones.” Then he decided to put the other man out of his misery. “We’re talking chasing down a two year old boy and a six month old girl. They are going to need a lot of energy.”

              “Clearly,” he heard the other man mutter under his breath. Since he was faced away from the other man, on his way out, Žarko allowed himself a smile.

Chapter 17

              Josie had the kids fed and bathed by the time Žarko entered the door. Josif went tearing for the door, the whole time scream, “
Tata
.” Žarko scooped the little boy up immediately and carried him into the living room.

              Josie sat on the floor with all of the girls. Juljiana sat on her play mat, reaching for some of her favorite noisy toys and basically preparing her little body for the great world of crawling. Her older sisters kept moving all the toys around, trying to help the baby move. “Hi,
tata
,” both little girls said, looking up only briefly before turning to playing with the baby.

              Josie looked up at her husband as well, giving him a smile. “I figured that since you had to work late that it would be good for you to put the little ones to bed. Josif’s just been waiting for you to get home so you can read him his favorite book.”

              “I see.” He definitely didn’t mind that. “Then we should hurry before bedtime arrives,” he said. Josie had taught him this trick of getting Josif to bed without a tantrum. For some reason, if the little boy thought that it was time to go to sleep, he would immediately start to cry, but if you happened to pretend that reading didn’t mean it was time for bed, he would gladly lay there and usually tended to be out before the end of the book.

              “Come on, Julji,” Josif called out to the baby, causing her to lose her balance and to suddenly find her face in the soft mat below her. Josie scooped the baby up before she could fully process what happened to her and started to cry. Josie climbed to her feet, the girls right behind her so that they could also take care of getting ready for bed.

              Žarko led the way to Josif’s bedroom, where he laid the boy down and covered him with his blankets. Josie then placed baby Juljiana in her father’s laps and finally handed him the book that everyone had chosen to read earlier in the day. She sat down of the arm of the lounge chair, arm along the back so that she could see her husband and both children.

              She wasn’t surprised when she saw the girls sneaking in. Desa climbing into bed with her brother, while Ljiljiana sat at her father’s feet, with her head resting on his knee. It unfortunately left the older girl open to tiny baby hands in her golden hair.

              Josie really enjoyed moments like this, because she found that she really liked the idea of everybody getting the chance to just sit back and relax together. The older girls loved their younger siblings and that made it easy for Josie to do all the things that she needed to do throughout the day. It kept her from feeling like she was struggling to try to have something.

              Like clockwork, Josif fell asleep with minimum effort. Desa followed him shortly after, making Žarko have to carry her to her own bedroom. Ljiljiana carried the baby to her crib, leaving Josie the chance to cover up her son and give him a nighttime kiss. Žarko was coming out of his daughter’s room just as she pulled the bedroom door to a cracked position. Ljiljiana brought up the video monitor to pass over. “I’m going to listen to some music and read for my next assignment.”

              “Have a good night,” Josie said. Then she was gone and off to do what she said she would do. Josie gave a smile to her husband. “She’s so grown.”

              “He shrugged. “What can I say? They are very responsible.”

              Josie made her way down the stairs first. “Did you eat?”

              “
Ne
.”

              She looked at him over her shoulder. “Good, because I set you a plate aside in the oven. You can eat that while I go and clean up the paint that desperately needs cleaning.”

              “Or,” he said, stopping her movement forward with a hand on her shoulder. “You can go into the baby’s room and make sure she is well and I will take care of the paint as I said that I would.”

              She held her hands up in surrender, knowing that she couldn’t argue with him about that. “Or, I can go into the bedroom with the baby and let you clean up the nasty paint stains.” She veered off into the nursery, but not before watching his backside stride down the hallway to the next set of stairs. She smiled, knowing that her husband was something else.

              Her baby girl lay in her crib, little arms and legs going strong as she watched the movement of her mobile over her head. Josie slid into the rocking chair as the side of the bed, watching her daughter through the white slats. It wasn’t quite time to give her a final feeding, so she decided to wait it out. She had almost gone to sleep when she heard the first gentle fussing.

              She responded swiftly, not making her daughter wait for her next meal. Part of her wondered if she should have just pumped some milk so that Žarko could have the enjoyment of feeding her. She supposed that would have been fun for him. “I bet that would have been nice for you, too, huh?” she asked her daughter. The baby always tended to stare with a confused look on her face anytime her father fed her. It often amused Josie. She finished feeding the baby and laid her down so that she could track down her husband. She found him in the den at the back of the house, on his knees with a bucket of soapy water next to him as he scrubbed.

              It was amusing. “Are you sure you don’t want me to finish up for you? I wouldn’t want your old back to go out.”

              He snorted, before climbing to his feet. “I did not think it would be so widespread. You said he painted himself.”

              Josie reached into the small garbage hidden at the side of the console table and pulled out a large jar of what was clearly child paint. “He dumped this over his head, the moment I turned my head. I’m just glad that it was non-toxic and washable because I had a hell of a time getting the green ring out of the tub.” She dropped the jar back into the can and moved to grab the sponge from her husband. “I think we should just pull out the steamer and see if that works.”

              She moved to grab the bucket, but couldn’t get far before Žarko grabbed her waist, pulling her back toward him. She tilted her head toward him for a kiss, knowing that was exactly what they both wanted. As soon as his lips touched hers, she practically melted against him. “I take it that things went well?” she said as soon as he separated from her.

              “Yes. I am pleased, and no one had to die.”

              She hugged him tight. “Good, because I need you not to do jail time and I don’t want to be the wife cleaning blood out of your clothes. I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from asking you questions that I don’t want the answer to.”

              “You showed me what I would be missing very well, but I might need another reminder.”

              She wanted to tell him, not with paint on her nice floors, but that would be a lie. She felt her husband picking her up and carrying her to the deep shadows in the back of the room. Her back made contact with the wall, giving her leverage to wrap her legs around him. “In here?” she whispered to him.

              “Right here. Girls are sleep. Son is sleep. Baby is sleep.” He let go of her left hip to reach into his pocket for the video monitor. He set that on the console table at his side. “Now, let’s take care of this.” He reached for the waistband of her shorts, pulling them down and away faster than she could blink.

              She couldn’t help, but giggle. “How can you make me this wet so fast?” He didn’t answer, instead choosing to kiss her into submission. She held tight to him, grinding her hips against him. His hands moved between them, brushing against her privates as he released the heavy weight of his cock. She spread her legs wider, wanting his immediate penetration.

              She could feel sticky fluid against her thighs. Žarko hooked his forearms underneath her thighs, tilting her into the right position to receive him. He pressed against and inside of her. It still stung, no matter how many times they had done this, now. She had to cry out, even as she arched her back to take him in deeper. Inside her mind, she started a silent chant that she hoped the children would not wake up. Then, she just didn’t care.

              Žarko buried his lips against her neck, sucking the skin hard. His hips pounded against her, hitting her at the right angle for his groin to always meet with her clit and his cock to strike her internal hot spot. She groaned, her short nails digging into his shoulders. It didn’t take long for her body to shudder into a strong climax, especially when he opened his mouth to bite her shoulder, enhancing her pleasure.

              They were like animals, tearing at one another, but it felt so good that Josie didn’t want it to change at all. For everything he did to her, she returned the favor. She grazed her teeth against his neck and shoulder. She practically threw her lower body against him. She did everything she could for both of their pleasure until he pressed her back further against the wall. “I’m too close for you to do that,” he growled just beneath her ear.

              “I don’t care,” she groaned out. “Come inside me.” She squeezed her inner muscles against him, keeping up a rhythm that she knew would drive him crazy. “Come. You know you want to.” He didn’t seem to listen, so she went further. “You can’t give me your
beba
if you don’t fill me with your cum. Don’t you want a baby with me?”

              That seemed to do the trick. He growled one last time, his hips beginning to move erratically as he came. She collapsed against him, letting him carry her weight. “You are such a bad girl,” he said with an out of breath chuckle. He lessened his grip on her hips.

              Josie hissed as her body resisted his removal. “You were really going hard. I may even come out of this with bruises.” He tilted her head, his fingers brushing lightly at the left side of her neck.

              “You are already bruising.”

              She winced. “I know. And we still need to get rid of the paint of the floor.”

              He grunted. “We’ll get that up tomorrow. Right now, I think we need to rest.” She couldn’t agree more.

              She lifted her arms to him. “Carry me,
tata
.” He swatted at her rear, but it didn’t stop him from picking up her and carrying her as she asked for. “Wait, don’t forget the video monitor.” He paused long enough for her to grab it and finally, they made it to bed. Josie flopped exactly where her husband dropped her. “I don’t think I want to move again,” she said.

              She heard him moving around the room. “You need to be ready for bed.” She sighed, working up some bit of energy to roll off the bed so she could finally take off her t-shirt and bra. She made a quick trip to the restroom to do a quick clean up. Then, she made her way to the dresser beneath their large television.

              Third dresser from the top, she found her pretty purple nightgown with the lacy top. Sure, she planned to slip on a pair of ugly shorts, but she wanted what she wore on top to be nice. “I have not seen that,” Žarko said from his position from the bed.

              She turned to model it for him. “I saw it at the store the other day. Since it was on clearance I decided that I couldn’t pass it up.” It made her feel slim and sexy without trying. And, it was nice to see her husband’s reaction to it.

              “It looks good on you.”

              “Good. I thought so, too.” She crawled into bed beside with her husband.

              “You should take the shorts off so it can look prettier.”

              Josie squeezed her pillow against her face, so she could face her husband. “What if we have to get out of bed?

              He rolled close beside her, practically covering her body. “Who cares about waking up in night?”

              The heavy pole of his cock pressed hard against her bottom. Ah, now we came to the real reason. “Again?” She felt his shoulders move in a shrug.

              “Why not? I am awake and feeling energetic. You are awake and looking pretty. I say you should allow me to appreciate your prettiness.” His hands began snaking beneath her body so he could cup her breasts. “Such pretty lace needs to be appreciated.”

              “You are being such a bad boy again.” Not that she cared because her hips already rolled against him. She also couldn’t help the whimpers leaving her lips because of him playing with her sensitive breasts. “We just had sex and you’re act like you’re starving for it.”

              He kissed the side of her neck, as if he were determined to mark her whole body. “I’m being a good boy. Do not pretend that you don’t want this.”

              She gave her hips a good roll against him. “You know I want this.” She always wanted him. “I was just pointing out that we had already done this. I would not think that you’d be ready so soon.”

              She felt his half smile against her. “I’m always ready.” After that, he set out to prove it to her, keeping her awake until baby Juljiana decided that she had had enough of sleeping and wanted some food and attention. Josie allowed Žarko to bottle feed the baby while she got some early rest. The last image she had was of her husband staring at their daughter with near wonder in his eyes.

              Josie had to smile. Juljiana had that same type of power on her.