Page 13 of A Seed Of Peril

“What happened before I knocked on the door?”

He sat back, playing with loose strands of my hair. Being so relaxed in the moment wasn’t the norm for him—or anyone else, for that matter.

My touch and my presence always seemed to calm him. Just as he did the same to me.

“She’s wanted us to talk about the past for some time now. I thought I was ready, but I guess not.” He swept the pad of his thumb over my cheek.

The war raging within him shone in his eyes. Bianca needed to realize it was all still too soon.

I pictured that scared, broken little boy… The little boy who was confused, who didn’t understand how the ones that were supposed to love, protect, and keep him safe created such danger and loneliness. The little boy who felt unworthy of love. I pictured a dirty, disheveled ten-year-old Dominic begging for anything—food, money, someone’s time—only to further be led to feel like a burden. I wondered if Bianca actually comprehended how much she screwed with her son’s head and broke him down to an icy shell of who he really was. Nadia, Hector, his brothers, even me—we all helped Dominic break out of that shell and rediscover himself, lifting him up and showing him that peopledidin fact care about him. That hewasn’ta burden, and that love and safety was here, with us. Blood never defined family.

“Tell her you need time and space. Her intentions may be pure, but she might not even realize she’s just creating more harm than good.”

Rubbing the ends of a loose strand of my hair between his fingers, Dominic said, “I did before you showed up. And again before that, back at that hotel.”

Maybe if I talked to Bianca, she’d finally realize. I wanted them to repair their relationship, but I agreed with Dominic that it should be whenhewas ready and onhisterms.Shewas the one that reappeared out of nowhere, not the other way around.

“What if I talk to her?”

He stopped playing with my hair and rested that hand again on my hip, contemplating my offer.

“Please,” I went on. I cupped his cheeks, leaning forward and kissing him between his eyes. “Let me be your voice when no one is listening.” Pulling back enough to see his face, Dominic opened his eyes, a smile pulling at his lips.

Nodding, he said, “Okay.” He then brought me back closer to kiss me.

The baby chose that moment to kick, stealing our attention and making us look down at my belly.

Pressing my palm to my stomach, another kick nudged my palm, and I smiled. “Seems the baby agrees,” I said, looking at Dominic. He chuckled, feeling my belly.

“What does that feel like?”

“The kicks?” I asked. He nodded. “Really, really weird.”

“It doesn’t feel like an alien’s in there?”

I laughed. “No, but close.”

Focused on my belly, I moved so Dominic could lift my muumuu over it. I readjusted against his lap. He felt around my belly, carefully pushing on it in some spots to get the baby to move more. The fascination on his face was beautiful.

“Have you thought about your appointment next week?” The baby kicked harder. Dominic made a surprised face, chuckling afterward.

Admittedly, I hadn’t thought about it as much as I probably should’ve. While Julie was explaining how my twenty-week appointment would go and everything that was to be expected, she asked us if we wanted her to attempt to determine the baby’s gender. Without hesitation, Dominic said yes. Me on the other hand… I wasn’t sure. I told them part of me wanted to know, but the other part of me wanted the surprise at birth. Dominic then said it was ultimately my choice and that he would support either.

A bigger part of me wanted to know now. While the baby’s health was the most important thing, as much as I wanted a girl, I secretly wanted to give Dominic a son the more I thought about it. Granted, the mafia rules were slowly adapting to allow women to be more involved, but there was just something about the bond between a father and son that I wanted to witness. Dominic was robbed of that bond, and I wanted him to be able to create one and for him to understand once and for all that he wasn’t the same as the men that raised him.

“I think so,” I answered. Dominic looked at me, keeping his hands on my belly.

“And?”

Nodding softly, I said, “Yeah.”

He went back to paying attention to my belly, and my thoughts morphed into this family and where I would stand within it. I knew Dino said to wait to talk about this, but here in the moment, it felt right.

“There’s something else I wanted to talk about.”

Sensing this was more serious, Dominic lifted his eyes and then his head, watching me. Leaning back, he clasped my hips again.

“What’s wrong?”

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