The Bounty Hunters: The Marino Bros.: Box Set (84 page)

L
isa was fuming
by the time Gio returned. She knew she didn’t really have the right to be angry. She definitely didn’t have the right to have any expectations either. But, after yesterday, and last night, and then to be given the cold shoulder, without even a call or update on what he was doing, had made her blood boil. Telling him she loved him was not something she had planned. It had happened in the moment. She would explain that to him if he ever gave her the chance, but pretending it hadn’t happened, well, it hurt.

She had talked to her sister twice due to sheer boredom, and then went shopping, walking the two miles to Green Acres Mall. The first thing she purchased was a pair of sneakers. The one pair of shoes she had, heels, had left marks on the back, and blisters had started to form.

She spent an hour and a half at the mall purchasing a new blouse, some undergarments and had called it quits. After having a light lunch, she called a cab to bring her back. She was beginning work on dinner, chicken cutlets, creamed spinach, and mashed potatoes, when she heard Gio’s car out front. She checked to be sure it was indeed him and then resumed pounding the chicken into thin strips with the mallet she found in the drawer. She was currently imagining it was Gio’s face. Yes, she had made mistakes—big ones, but the way he left her last night had been callous. Cruel.

“Hey, I’m home,” she heard as she lifted the mallet and smashed the slice of chicken she was working on in half. Well, great, that one was ruined she thought as she tossed it aside and picked up another slice.

“In here,” she called over her shoulder not even bothering to turn around.

She heard him behind her. “I’ve got some reading to do. You need any help?” he asked absently. He could see from the stiffness in her shoulders that she was still angry, and then the way she was pounding the chicken with the mallet confirmed his suspicion.

“Nope. I’m good,” came her terse reply. Gio shrugged and went into the living room bypassing the dining room and plopped down on the sofa all while whipping out his phone.

He pulled open a text from Angela first, the Marino’s right hand woman who ran their office back in Tampa.

Angela:
Nikko’s flight information was sent to your email. No need to pick him up, he has a rental. He should be by you around noon.

He texted her back.

Gio:
Thanks doll.

Angela:
You’re welcome. Andreas wants an update and sent you some things as well. Call him after you have looked it over.

Gio:
Will do.

Gio then went to his email. He saw the flight plans from Angela, and the email from his brother. He opened that up next. There were a few brief words.

Gio,

Looks like the kid is yours. She didn’t lie about the social and the birth certificate, but do DNA test to be sure. Call me. I want to know what is going on.

-A

He sent Andreas a reply.

Hey, I had a paternity test this morning to make it all clean and tidy. Great kid. He is mine. I’m sure though. Kid looks just like me. It’s okay to tell others. I’m positive Johnny is mine. The test will confirm it, but check out the attachments. The photo doesn’t lie. I’ll call tonight.

-Gio

And then he attached a couple of pictures.

Next he opened up the email from Tiny Minion. He scanned the document detailing the calls Albert made the previous day. He saw twenty-seven calls in all. Fifteen were to other dealerships. Two were to a restaurant where he must have made reservations. The ten others were all singular calls, one was to Johnny’s school. But Gio noted the time, and it was early in the morning, probably checking in on who was coming by, so he wouldn’t have known about Gio’s visit yet. There was one to his father, and then four out of state calls, the names of which Gio didn’t recognize. Gio presumed they must be past or potential clients. Only one call stood out, and that was too a woman named Connie Wheeler. He had spoken to her for forty-eight minutes. It was the only call that had lasted more than five.

He’d ask Lisa about it later. He could still hear her in the kitchen and the smells of chicken frying began to entice him. He hadn’t eaten lunch. He was about to get up and check on her when his phone rang. He saw his brother’s ID displayed on the screen. Andreas.

“What’s up?” he answered.

“Hey, you sound good. Better,” Andreas clarified reminding Gio of the condition he had been in the last time he had spoken to Andreas.

“Yeah, I’m better. Getting over the shock.”

“Wow, the kid looks just like you did Gio. Congrats, man.”

“Thanks. He is fantastic. I can’t wait for you to meet him.”

“Me too, little brother. Me too. I am up to my eyeballs here in paperwork over the Chase case. But, I’d love to be there. I’m glad Nikko’s coming to give you a hand. I’m having him, Ronnie and Blaze and Bella over tonight. I can’t wait to tell them about Johnny. They are gonna be stoked. They’ll both want to come down.”

“Nah, Blaze needs to be there for Bella. Let me make some headway here first. I’ll let you know if I need the whole posse.”

“Okay, and keep me posted. I’ll try to make it out there. Even if it is just a quick trip. I want to meet my nephew.”

He heard the excitement in his brother’s voice. He’d love to see his brothers’ faces when Andreas told them. “I hear you man.” Gio laughed.

*     *     *

Lisa listened in
on the conversation as she continued to work in the kitchen. Her temper abated somewhat. She heard the pride in Gio’s voice and it warmed her up some. She had to remind herself that she had taken Johnny away from them all, and yes, Gio had hurt her last night, but what she had done and kept from them all was far worse. She took the frying pan off the burner after she fried her last piece, and then filled a pot of water to boil the potatoes she had already prepared. The chicken, she set in the oven to keep warm. Gio was laughing, and it was a good to hear.

She hadn’t heard him laugh like that yet, and he was telling Andreas all about Johnny. She heard the pride in his voice when he talked about his son playing baseball. Then she heard him talking about the callouses on Johnny’s hand from playing the guitar. She couldn’t wait for Gio to hear him play. He was quite remarkable and talented.

“Okay, Andy. I’ll call you later, man. Say hi to Nikko, Blaze, and the girls for me.” Then there was a pause. “Yeah, okay. I’ll tell, um, tell her.”

Then there was silence.

“Tell me what?” she called out and came around the corner, from the kitchen wiping her hands off on a towel.

“He said I should take you over my knee.”

Lisa’s eyes widened. Gio was looking at her fiercely. Her eyes widened even further.

Although Gio knew Andreas’s words had been meant to be a chastisement, it had put the image of Lisa’s incredibly delicious backside in his mind. And even though he was hungry for food, he was suddenly hungry for her too. He licked his lips as he got up from the sofa and approached her slowly. Her green eyes flashed fire, as he took her into his arms, and pulled her towards him.

“I need to be inside of you, Lisa.” He needed to feed his addiction.

“Do you?” she spoke the words coolly resisting his pull.

“Yes,” he stated before his lips took hers in a punishing kiss. His hands were on her ass in an instant, but instead of spanking her, as Andreas suggested, he squeezed and pulled her closer so she could feel every inch of his desire for her.

She wanted to fight it, but couldn’t and after a few seconds she was engulfed, and immediately she felt her own need for Gio consume her. They were two burning infernos whenever they came near each other, and they only needed a bit of oxygen to fuel the flames.

Gio’s hands abandoned her rear, and she felt him undoing the buckle on his belt. And she quickly untied the apron she wore, his mother’s. She dropped it and began to strip. In a matter of moments they were both naked and panting and Gio grabbed her hand and once more brought her to the sofa, but instead of letting her lie down, he brought her to the side of the sofa, and made her face the other way. He bent her over the high arm, and quickly slipped a finger inside of her slick heat. She was wet. He stroked her until he was satisfied she was ready, and then he went in, no words, no more preparation, he just sank into her tight pussy, and it was like coming home. He set up a furious pace, and pounded into her, hitting her on her g-spot. She began to squirm.

She heard his garbled moans as she began to tighten and he then withdrew flipping her over and setting her on the arm of the sofa facing him. He immediately slammed into her when she wrapped her legs around his waist loosely. He fucked her again and again, sliding right in, but he used one hand to play with her clit, as she squeezed her own breasts and pinched her nipples while he watched her. His eyes glowed. She pushed her pelvis up to meet the hand that stroked her until she was close to her release.

“Oh Yes, yes. Oh, Gio, Gio. That feels, YES!” she came undone and he went over the edge with her. He spewed his come into her, and then withdrew.

She slid off the armrest as he backed away. His eyes glared into her soul, and her heart beat faster as she stood up facing him.

“It was always good between us, Lisa.”

“Yes, it was,” she confirmed, wondering where he was going with this.

“And even though, I’m still pissed as hell at you for keeping Johnny from me, I can’t seem to resist you.” He wanted to be honest with her.

“Y-yes,” the word slipped out and she tried to keep the emotion out of it.

“I’m not ready to jump back into more, Lisa. Not now. Are you okay with this?” he asked as his eyes focused on her.

She nodded numbly. It was like he had dumped a bucket of cold water over her head, but at least he was talking. She swallowed past the lump in her throat trying to get out her own words. “You think there ever may be . . .” She couldn’t finish the question when she saw that flicker of doubt cross his face again.

“I don’t know.” He simply shrugged his shoulders. They stood like that a moment. Time stood still. He shook his head, and bent to pick up his clothes. “I’m going to take a quick shower before dinner,” he stated, and when he saw her eyes narrow briefly and glimmer with unshed tears, he added, “Care to join me?”

Lisa wanted to say no. She wanted more. But again, she couldn’t expect more than this. She wiped away the tear before it could fall. “Yes. Okay. Let me shut off the oven, and stove. I’ll be up in a minute.”

“Hurry.” He gave her soft smile and a kiss on the cheek before turning to head up the stairs.

She nodded and made her way back into the kitchen resigned to accept whatever he was willing to offer, for now.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

D
inner was late,
but good. Gio had not had a lot of home cooked meals in some time, except for Sunday dinners. But he had also been on the road a lot lately, and even missed some of those.

The chicken cutlets, mashed potatoes, and spinach reminded him again how much of his life with Lisa, before Albert had come into the picture, he missed. Simple things.

Again, he watched Lisa as she picked at her food.

“Not hungry? We worked up quite a bit of an appetite,” he attempted to tease her.

“No, yes, just thinking,” she muttered nonchalantly and stabbed a piece of chicken and took a small bite.

“What’s up?” He hoped her mood was not about their talk earlier. He hoped she understood that he needed time.

“I miss Johnny.”
And I was hoping for more.
“I know Mary goes to see him when she can, and she tells me he is holding up well, but this restraining order is killing me. I want to hold my son.”

“Maybe the lawyer will have some good news for us tomorrow. I went and had the paternity test this morning and they were supposed to send someone to the school to get a swab from Johnny. My guy called me, the one Rodriguez referred me too. He said he’ll have confirmation tomorrow, and then appeal to family services for visitation. Because Albert’s name is not on the birth certificate, he says I should get visitation, but it might have to be supervised. He will deliver papers to Albert as soon as the blood tests are conclusive and get the orders processed with Social Services. The fact that Johnny already knows I’m his dad will help speed things along. Thanks for telling him about me,” he added wanting to cheer her up with some good news.

“You are his father, always have been. I just wished I would have told you sooner. I have so many regrets.” Again, she was apologizing. She would do it every day of her life if that is what it took.

Gio just nodded and continued to eat. She seemed so lost and he had no clue how to make the situation better, so he just focused on his food. He was nearly finished with the large serving she had given him.

To fill the silence she went on. “I know I made a bad choice, but at the time I didn’t think I had one. Gio, I am sorry.” Again, he just nodded. Lisa sighed and took a small bite of the mashed potatoes. When he didn’t respond, she took his lead and changed the subject. “I do hope my attorney can get the order lifted. I hate having Johnny in limbo, even if it is only a week or two.”