Dangerous Beauty: Part Two: A Mafia Princess (36 page)

Carter held him tightly in her arms. He breathed her in, accepting every bit of love and comfort she had to give him. She pressed her lips close to his ear and whispered her love to him, told him he was brilliant and strong, that he was a good son, friend, brother, and husband. Nathan let her words wash over him and build him up. Her words were like a warm blanket, covering him, surrounding him in peace. He needed this. He never knew how much until now.

He placed a kiss soft on her neck. “I love you so much,
мое красивое Роуз.
”

Carter placed soft kisses on his tears. “I love you too, Bubby.”

Nathan lifted his face from her neck and rested his forehead against hers. He wiped the tears from her eyes, and she wiped the tears from his. “You know that I would never blame you, right?” he asked gazing into her eyes.

Carter seemed to be taken off guard by what he asked. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. So Nathan continued.

“I don’t care who they say that man is to you, Carter. And I don’t care why he did what he did. You are not Silas Steele’s daughter. Your father was Robert Steele. He was a flawed, but good man, and he loved you. To see any other man but him as your true father would be belittling the man that gave his life to protect you.”

“I know,” she cried. “This is just so hard, Nathan. I feel like I have no idea who I am anymore.”

“You know who you are, baby. Nothing has changed. You’re still the girl who turned a scary hit-man into a loving father.” That got her to smile. “You’re still the girl who adapted and survived after losing everything and everyone she loved. You’re the woman who stole my heart the very moment I looked into your eyes nineteen years after I first met you. You’re the love of my life and my best friend. I know who you are, Carter. I will love you for the rest of my life. Nothing will ever change that.”

Tears fell from her eyes as she brought her lips to his and kissed him. “Thank you,” she whispered against his lips.

For a long time they just sat in the silence, holding each other and listening to the sounds of the storm raging outside.

“What are we going to do about Silas?” Carter asked, breaking the silence.

Nathan sighed. “Fight him. The guy is obviously crazy.”

“Jenna called,” Carter whispered. “She was spooked by some chick who held her at gun point— asking about me. The woman claimed to be my sister.”

“Your sister? Couldn’t be. I was told today that Silas sells his children.”

Shocked flashed across Carter’s face. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

Nathan shook his head. “I kid you not.”

“That’s sick.” Carter said in disgust.

Nathan nodded his head in agreement. “Adrien Stone told me that and a lot more. Apparently he works for Silas.”

“Adrien Stone!” Carter exclaimed.

Nathan nodded and told her about his night. Carter listened without interrupting, focusing on every piece of information Nathan had collected. Nathan loved when she did that. It meant she was putting shit together that Nathan would never even think of putting together.

“Holy shit,” she whispered shaking her head. “And he wants to meet me?” she asked.

“Yep,” Nathan said with a nod.

Carter frowned and worried her bottom lip. “That’s interesting,” she muttered. “Well, we have a lot to think about.”

“Too much to think about. But before we move forward. I want you to talk to your mother Carter.”

Carter rolled her eyes and nodded. “I know, Nathan. I’ll call her,” she said with a sigh.

Nathan smiled and rewarded her with a kiss. When they broke apart he sighed and tucked a loose strand of hair behind Carter’s ear. “We’ll get through this, honey. I promise. If we have to start a war, then so be it. We’ll crush the motherfuckers.”

Carter chuckled and shook her head. “I blame all of this on our parents.”

Nathan smiled. “How very cliché of you, my love. “

For the first time in two weeks, a genuine laugh escaped Carter’s lips. Nathan closed his eyes and savored the sound of his wife’s laugh. He brought her closer to him.

“I know it’s cliché, and I wish it wasn’t true, but in a way, I sort of do blame them. The lies, the secrets. I just wish my father would have told me. He never really kept anything from me.”

Nathan frowned. “So you already knew about his past.”

Carter nodded her head sadly. “It was hard for me to hear that my father was taken as a child and raped by multiple men until he was a teen, but I was glad he told me. He gave me a realistic view of this sick world, and then he taught me how to protect myself from it.” She hugged him close. “I’m sorry you found out about your mother’s past like that, Nathan.”

Nathan let out a long breath. “Yeah, me too.” Nathan was feeling better about the whole situation. He just wanted to move forward now and forget that his mother was sold to his father. “We have to think about our next step, baby.”

Carter whined.

Nathan kissed her forehead. “I know … I know.”

“I suppose we have to separate Adrien’s truths from his lies,” she said with a sigh. “We need to find out the real identities of Silas’s men. I have a guy that I met in Italy that can help with that. We need to figure out how to contact Silas. He’s out his mind if he thinks I’ll willing go somewhere with him.”

Nathan listened to Carter speak as he assessed her features. She looked both tired and defeated. She rolled her eyes and sighed every time she listed a new task, and it bothered Nathan to see her so unhappy. He knew it wasn’t he that had caused her unhappiness, but as her husband, he couldn’t stand to see it nonetheless. When he spotted the bags forming under her eyes, he’d had enough.

Nathan stopped her from talking. “Stop, Carter,” he said. “Just stop.”

She looked at him, a frown on her tired face.

“You and I are going to take a break …”

Nathan had seven days until he had to leave the country for two weeks with his father. He planned to lock himself and his wife in the penthouse until the day he had to board the plane. By the time they left this apartment, his wife’s happiness would be restored. Nathan would make sure of it.

It was their fourth day of playing hookie, and Nathan couldn’t describe how much fun he’d been having with Carter. Only three more days of this, Nathan remembered. The thought of leaving her for two weeks didn’t sit well with him, but he knew he had to do it. In his heart, he knew their time apart would be hell for him. He was positive that he’d spend most of the trip calling in to check on her. Whether it be for two weeks, two days, or two hours, Nathan didn’t want to leave without his wife by his side.

“Honey, can you cut the fruit? I want to make strawberry syrup.”

Nathan looked up from his thoughts when Carter spoke. He smiled as he watched her dancing across the kitchen floor, stirring a large bowl of pancake batter. She looked so damn good in his shirt.

“Let’s fry some bacon and crush it up in the pancakes.” Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she moaned. “That would be so good. I can cook the pancakes in a little of the bacon grease. And I still want sausage, too, and hash browns.” She giggled. “We’re going to get so fat, Bubby.”

Nathan stood from the table and walked over to the refrigerator. He opened it and reached in for the strawberries and a few other fruits he knew she liked. After setting the fruit on the table, he walked over to retrieve a knife and cutting board, making sure he brushed past Carter and delivered a light squeeze to her juicy ass before taking his seat at the table. Carter squealed and giggled before shooting a playful glare at him over her shoulder and turning back to her task. Nathan chuckled and began cutting the fruit.

The music playing filled the silence as both of them focused on preparing the meal. They’d finally made it far enough to actually start cooking before Carter attacked him again. Nathan smiled. His wife had been keeping him very busy during their week of down time. Both her appetite for sex and food had increased significantly and quickly. She’d been ravenous both in the kitchen and in the bedroom, and Nathan was pretty sure he knew why.

Carter was pregnant.

A smile spread across his lips at the thought. He was pretty sure he was right. He’d been thinking about it all week. Carter was in a fit of depression the week before. She hadn’t eaten much, and if Nathan was recalling correctly, he’d heard her getting sick in the bathroom more than once. At the time, he thought the behavior had more to do with depression, but then this week came along. Nathan had become an expert on Carter’s cycle by her third period in their relationship. And since he’d met her, no matter the situation or stress levels, Carter’s period had never been a day late. They were going on day five now. Nathan didn’t know if she was in denial or genuinely didn’t consider it a possibility.

She bounced over to where he was and transferred the now-sliced strawberries into a small pot. Nathan watched as she added a couple of other ingredients then set it on the stove. Not long after, the aroma of sweet strawberries, bacon, sausage, and hash browns was thick in the air. Nathan couldn’t take his eyes off of her. He couldn’t believe that this time last year, he didn’t have this. He didn’t have love or happiness, and he didn’t have a sexy wife bouncing around the kitchen, singing along with the song on radio. It was hard to remember the life he’d had before Carter. It was hard for him to imagine ever being without her.

Nathan’s gaze descended to his wife’s flat belly. Soon she would notice the signs, take a test, and confirm his gut feeling. He took a deep breath, wondering what type of father he would be. He himself had a good father. Yes, Angelo had his flaws, but Nathan had never once doubted his father’s love for him. That was the type of father Nathan wanted to be to his own child. Flawed and firm, but also loving and supportive. Nathan didn’t know whether the child would be a boy or a girl, but he had recently figured out that it didn’t matter to him. He and Carter’s firstborn child would be groomed for leadership, no matter what its sex. After their first child was born, they would wait a decent amount of time, then get to work on baby number two. Carter didn’t know it yet, but Nathan planned on a whole army of children. He wanted their house full of kids. It had been a silent dream of his as a child to one day fill the castle with a wife and kids. After his mother had told him he could have Carter after acquiring a few things— and asking her, of course— he had set to drawing out plans for his life with his favorite box of crayons. His father even helped him write a letter, which he’d later found out was never sent. The letter had been simple and to the point—
Dear Carter, I have a job. Now come back so we can get married. I love you. From: Nathan Salerno.

Even in his childhood, Nathan was never one for beating around the bush.

“Why would he catch a grenade for her?”

Carter’s weird question pulled Nathan from his thoughts with a frown. “What?”

His question was answered when he noticed that the song had changed to Bruno Mars’
Grenade
. This song was Nathan’s shit.

“I will never understand this song.” Carter rolled her eyes and flipped the sausage patties.

Nathan chuckled. “This song is a good one, baby. Bruno Mars put his heart in soul in this shit.”

Carter turned off the stove and turned to him with a hand resting on her curvy hip.

“Nathan,” she sighed. “This song is about a selfish bitch.”

Nathan nodded. “Yes, it is.”

“Doesn’t it piss you off?”

“No, I think Bruno is a genius. You know that.”

Carter rolled her eyes. “I think he’s an idiot.”

“For loving her?” Nathan laughed. “That’s real love, baby. What woman doesn’t want a man who’d catch a grenade for her?”

“Nathan, its bullshit. He’d do all that grenade and blade and jumping in front of a train shit— for a bitch who wouldn’t do the same?”

Nathan laughed as Carter continued her rant.

“He said that if his body was on
fire
, she’d watch his ass burn, Bubby. The bitch is lying about how much she loves him, yet his dumb ass still comes back to the goddamn chorus, catching a bunch of fucking grenades for her!”

Nathan threw his head back and laughed loud.

“It’s not funny, Nathan. It’s sad,” Carter said, feigning seriousness, but Nathan could hear the laughter in her voice.

She rolled her eyes and set the food on the table. She went to the cabinets, took out one large plate, and grabbed a fork from the silverware drawer.

Once back at the table, she set the items down. Nathan reached forward and took her hand, pulling her to him. She straddled his lap and he looked at her with a smile.

“I’d catch a grenade for you
, мое красивое Роуз
.”

She smiled and kissed his lips. “I’d catch one for you, too, Bubby.” She cupped his face. “Then I’d find the motherfucker that threw it and shove it down his throat.”

Nathan laughed the captured her lips in a kiss. “You’re so sexy, Carterina,” he said against her lips.

Carter moaned and pulled back from him. “Stop it before you start something, Bubby. We’re both near starving because we couldn’t seem to get out of bed this morning.”

Nathan wrapped his arms around her waist. “Yeah, well whose fault was that?”

Carter pursed her lips. “It wasn’t just me in there, Nathan. I remember very clearly that you had no problem with what we were doing.”

Nathan kissed the sweet spot on her neck. “Still your fault.”

Carter moaned and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Nathan had no idea what happened, but it seemed like his hands had a mind of their own. He hadn’t planned to remove the shirt from her body. He definitely hadn’t planned to remove his own boxers and make love to his wife in the chair at the kitchen table. But that was what happened.

Later, they were sitting at the table naked, and Carter was feeding him the best pancakes he’d ever had in his life. He didn’t think her creation would be edible, but damn was he wrong. Carter stacked their shared plate high with food. Eggs, sausage, hash browns, and bacon pancakes. The pancakes were huge and each layer had sweet, strawberry syrup and whipped cream.

Nathan smiled every time Carter took a bite and moaned.

“This is so good, Bubby.” She fed him another bite, and he nodded his agreement.

He kept unconsciously moving his hand to her belly. He couldn’t seem to stop it. But from the looks of it, Carter didn’t think twice about the action. If she noticed, then she didn’t show it. She just kept eating and feeding him until their plate was empty.

They spent the rest of the evening outside of the apartment. Carter had had to see most of the beauty of New York without him in the beginning of their relationship due to his work schedule. But the last few days had allowed them to experience everything together. Nathan took Carter to all of his favorite spots in New York, as well as to some tourist hot spots he hadn’t been to in years. He was able to experience the city like he never had before. He kissed his wife at the top of the Empire State building and made love to her on a yacht in the middle of the Hudson. They experienced the city as any normal couple would— the only difference being the gang of security that followed them everywhere. But they barely noticed them.

That evening, they didn’t return to the penthouse. They’d decided to stay on the yacht. Carter lay back in Nathan’s arms as they gazed at the lights of New York City. Nathan wrapped his arms tightly around her body.

“I don’t want to leave you,
мое красивое Роуз,
” Nathan whispered in her hair. “We’ve never been apart for this long. Two weeks will seem like two years.”

It was true. Since the day Carter had come into his life, they’d never been apart for more than two days. Even those two days had been torture for Nathan. He didn’t like being in a place without her. They felt too far apart.

Carter reached her hand back and ran her fingers through his hair. Nathan leaned into her touch.

“I don’t want you to leave, either, Bubby,” she whispered. “I wish I could go with you.”

“Clear your schedule and come, baby. You’ll love it. I’ll make sure to spend time with you every day once the meetings are over. It would relax me to know that you’re near me.”

Carter sighed. “You know that’s not possible, Nathan. My schedule is too packed.”

“We can handle it when we get back.”

“No, Nathan. That will back everyone up for weeks. It’s too much to put off or put in the hands of someone who isn’t capable of keeping up with the way I’ve organized things. I have to keep things in order, or it will mess up my whole system.”

Nathan sighed, knowing that when Carter started taking about her “system”, there was no changing her mind.

“Are you mad at me?” she asked.

Nathan held her tighter. “Why would I be mad, baby? I just worry, that’s all. In my mind, no one can protect you the way I can. I don’t like not being by your side. The last time that happened, I almost lost you.”

Carter turned in his lap and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Nathan, everything is going to be fine.”

“You say that, but I don’t like leaving you here with all that has been happening lately. Adrien Stone, the Jenna call. I just don’t know if this is the right time for me to be going on such a long trip.” His hand moved to her flat belly again.

“Nathan, you have to go. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“You’re my wife, Carter,” Nathan argued. “I’m going to worry about you, and I’m going to protect you. Not because I find you incapable of protecting yourself, but because you’re my life. You mean everything to me,
мое красивое Роуз.
” He looked into her eyes. “Carter, you have to understand. If anything ever happened to you …” Nathan’s eyes flitted away from hers. “I love you too much, Carter.” Looking at her once again, he cupped her face and sighed. “Baby, I don’t even want to imagine what I’d do. This is why I must stop Silas from pursuing you. Do you understand? If I lose you, then I lose myself. Losing myself is not a good thing for a man like me.”

Nathan tried to communicate with her without words. He saw in her eyes that she truly understood the seriousness of what he’d said. Nathan smiled and released a held breath, satisfied.

She nodded and kissed him. “I understand, Bubby,” she whispered. “I’ll be here when you get back.” She smiled and moved her hand to rest on top of his hand, still on her belly.

Nathan captured her lips in a searing kiss. Carter kissed him back fiercely. Nathan stood, picked her up in his arms, and carried her below deck to their bedroom. He slowly removed her dress and lay her gently on the bed before removing his own clothing. Soon the quiet room was filled with the sounds of their moans and cries of pleasure. Nathan held Carter tightly as he made love to her slowly. He didn’t want to think about the two weeks they would be apart, but the thoughts wouldn’t leave his mind.

The truth was, Nathan had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He didn’t know how to describe it, but he felt like something was coming. Something was about to happen. Maybe he was just being overprotective like Carter accused him of numerous times. Nathan didn’t know. All he knew was that his gut feelings had never been wrong before, and this time, he didn’t want to be right.