Page 80 of A Seed Of Peril

“Eh, maybe try that again?”

Dino slowed his steps. “What are you getting at, Lil?”

He stopped walking immediately after I did, slipping his hands in the pockets of his jeans, creasing his brows. It was clear he was desperately scrambling to figure out my angle. With my hands on my lower back for support, I leaned a little more into my right leg, now standing diagonal to him.

“I saw it, Dino.”

His brows furrowed more. “Saw what?”

“You taking off the mask for that split second.”

“Lil—”

“When Katrina asked you to make a wish.”

Relaxing his features, Dino looked toward the ground, lazily kicking it and scraping the toe of his sneakers against the pavement. He lifted his head first, and then, his eyes lined up with mine.

“What about it?” he snapped.

I knew he didn’t intend for those words to have any bite, but it still threw me momentarily off, like a quick, sudden slap. I shifted support to my left leg, clearing my throat a little.

“You don’t have to suffer in silence. That’s all I wanted to tell you.” A ghost of a smile possessed his lips. I held out my hand for him to hold. “Let’s go home.”

Sunday, May 21, 2017

When the gentlebreeze swept past, it was refreshing, even rejuvenating against my exposed skin. It was the perfect day, and the sun was shining at its highest point. As I stood outside on the upstairs balcony, I soaked in its rays. I brought my wine glass to my lips, smiling. On the grounds below, Bianca and Katrina were sitting at our stone fountain. Katrina wanted to play outside and have a picnic, but Dominic was stern in keeping her within the property lines. The ice between Dominic and his mother had finally begun to thaw, so when I suggested she be the one to entertain his niece, he didn’t object.

It wasn’t as if he had to worry, what with our armed men all around and plenty of cameras.

In the next couple of weeks, Bianca would temporarily move into the mansion so she could be near while we prepared for Vincenzo’s arrival. Her stay would also count as a test run of sorts. Dominic gave the green light for Bianca to watch Katrina unsupervised. If all went well, Katrina would get her wish of slumber parties with Bianca.

Vincenzo kicked, happy he was no longer being chased around with the ultrasound wand. My thirty-six-week appointment was this morning, and my fear of childbirth had only gripped me tighter. Not quite crippling but hovering over that line.

Julie told us Vincenzo was eight pounds and was in the ninety-sixth percentile. I was scared, to say the least, at the news, but she followed up by saying she saw nothing wrong and that he was healthy and all was still normal. Since he was this large already, I for sure needed weekly scans to assess whether it would be safe to deliver him naturally or schedule a cesarean.

That kind of surgery concerned me, but if it meant me and my son lived, then so be it.

Lost in my thoughts, I neglected to sense Dominic come up from behind, his touch startling me as he held my upper arms, thinning our gap to kiss my cheek. I leaned into him, immersed in his scent as I drank another sip of blood.

“I take it work is done,” I stated instead of asking. After our shopping trip today, he spent time in his office taking over paperwork from Dino.

Dino and the rest of our brothers helped unload and put away the bags of Vincenzo’s new clothes, toys, and additional stock of necessities like bath items and bottles and diapers. Dominic had a rather… Stressful outing. He hated shopping for anything other than new guns or suits.

Dominic rolled his eyes, stepping away and further into the aisle. I laughed but then just as quickly threw myself into a section of baby booties, fawning.

“Aren’t these cute!?” I grabbed a pair off the wall and dangled them in front of me for Dominic to see. He nodded and then once again paced. I dropped my hand, standing there, intending on tossing the booties and a pair of each of the other designs into the shopping cart. “You know, you could at least pretend to enjoy yourself.” I reached for more pairs, filling up the crook of my elbow.

I looked in time in our shared silence to see Dominic’s wide, toothy smile. I burst out laughing, dropping the booties in the cart. I shook my head, staring at our full cart as I took a few steps down the aisle, sidling up next to Dominic. “If you want, we can pay for this stuff and split. My feet hurt anyway.”

“Thank God,” he muttered, resting his hand on the small of my back as we walked together.

Exiting the aisle, I glanced around to make sure nobody else needed to pass us, inadvertently spotting a section across the way that had lamps, one of them horse-themed. Tears rose into my eyes as I gasped, overcome with grief, remembering how Nadia loved horses. I wasted zero time taking off for that lamp like my life depended on me reaching it before anyone else.

A heavy sigh trailed behind me.

“For now.”

Dominic gently lifted my belly, literally taking the weight off my pelvis. Alleviation rushed me like a wave, and I sighed in contentment.

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