Page 26 of Ti Amo

Sitting upright he put his face in his hands and sobered. Dominic warned him he’d disappear if he didn’t try to find something to live for. Well he had a reason. She was back in his life. Why his heart couldn’t or wouldn’t trust her return was beyond him. All he knew was that he needed her desperately.

He wished he’d seen her pregnant with Eve. He would have loved to be the first to hold his daughter and peer down into her face when she opened her eyes for the first time. Sighing he closed his and let go of his disappointments, vowing to make new firsts with her. After a long insufferable hour of sitting next to the dimming fire he rose from the sofa and headed to the bedroom. The door was partly open and he pushed it wider gently. They slept on their sides. Eve’s face was buried in her breasts, a place he wished he was.

Going to the bed he pulled back the covers and sidled up beside Mira. He laid his head on the pillow and pushed his face into her hair inhaling the soft clean smell of her. Running his hand up and down her hip he pushed his desire up against her lower curves. Mira opened her eyes sleepily confused by the contact. She looked back over her shoulder, and he seized her mouth with his. She kissed him back as he slid his hand under her nightshirt to her center. Stopping the kiss she grabbed his hand. “Don’t,” she said softly. “Eve.”

She turned over and faced him. He touched her face. “I have not forgotten how special you are to me. I want to earn your forgiveness. Give me the chance.”

“You’ve been pretty shitty to me.” She whispered back. “I don’t want to trust you, Giovanni, only to be hurt again.”

“Shhh, you won’t. I will prove myself to you. For our daughter. I swear to you it’ll be different this time. I swear it. Blame me Bella. I can take it. Just promise me you won’t leave, ever again.”

She closed her eyes. He kissed her lids and rubbed his nose over hers. Her arm went around his waist, and her body became flush up against his. He cupped her ass and squeezed. “Ti amo.”

“I love you too. I’ve been so lonely for you. I missed you,” she whispered back.

In the darkness of the room with their daughter sleeping beside them Giovanni told her everything. The night he learned she died, the way he closed himself off to people. How often he prayed for her soul and his. She listened, kissed his lips, and stroked his jaw. She pressed her sweet body up against him and told him her secrets. How she often cried after she left him. How painting was the only freedom she had. And she shocked him when she shared that she left breadcrumbs for him. She thought herself weak for wishing to return to him, but now she believed differently. They shared a soul tie with Eve and she never wanted to sever that bond. She’d been waiting for him. Only him.

Listening to her truths released him. And eventually he found peace in her arms and slept.

Chapter Five

One, two, three, taps against his cheek. Giovanni blinked several times before opening his eyes. A new day shone brightly through the bedroom window with his disheveled hair in his eyes he focused on the tiny pair of blue eyes peering into his. Eve swung her hand and smacked him lightly against the nose and mouth.

Giovanni laughed at his little girl’s eager welcoming. “Good morning,cara.” He gently took her wrist and pressed her chubby hand to his mouth to kiss her open palm.

Eve pulled her wrist free. She reached to touch the beard covering his jaw. She rubbed the spry hairs between her fingers. Giovanni moved his face closer to hers so their foreheads bumped. She smelled of fresh baby sweetness. Apparently he had come too close. Eve pushed his face away sitting up. Sucking on her pacifier she scanned the room curiously. This would be the most wonderful way to wake up. He’d make sure his baby girl’s crib was placed in the room with him and Mira so he could see her sweet face every morning. “You looking for Ma-ma?”

Quick, her head shot around on her small shoulders at the mention of her mother. He wondered if she would talk more if she didn’t constantly have the little plug in her mouth. He reached to remove it, but found his daughter was a mind reader too. She ducked and then suddenly backed away. Before she could scoot off the bed, Giovanni reached for her and pulled her back to him.

“Come to Papa.” He sat her on his chest. The questioning look in her eyes made her appear to struggle with whether the new man in their lives was friend or foe. Giovanni knew it would take time for her to bond with him and see him as her true father. He removed her pacifier and she frowned at him. Her gaze dropped to the bumblebee plug in his hand then rose to meet his. She spoke in her baby voice. The words she formed were melodic and incomprehensible. Giovanni chuckled. “She speaks?”

Eve didn’t see the humor in the situation. In fact she narrowed her jeweled eyes on him just before she snatched her pacifier from his hand and popped it back into her mouth. She had now lost interest in the game and scooted back to climb off his chest. Giovanni caught her again enjoying her stubborn determination; he sat her on his chest keeping her still. “My littlebelladonna, Papa’s going to call youlucciola. Do you know what that means?” He reached up and smoothed her soft brown locks of hair backward. “Lucciolameans firefly. That’s what you are my little firefly. Buzz! Buzz!” he tickled her side. Eve squealed with laughter.

Mira entered the room with a baby diaper in her hand. She wore a white t-shirt. He noticed the points of her thick erect nipples pressing through the cotton, and her shapely hips and ass escaped the cover of the nightshirt she’d chosen. He was glad he hadn’t seen all of this when he crept under the covers with her. It would have been impossible to control himself. Especially considering the dream he’d had of her just minutes before.

“Morning you two.Buon giorno,Mama’s baby.” Mira smiled at Eve.

“Unh!” Eve stretched both arms, pleading with her mother to free her from captivity. He had to release her. Mira laid her flat and began to peel back the sticky tape on both sides of the diaper. Giovanni sat up to watch.

“Somebody’s a little ripe, isn’t she?” Mira chuckled. She glanced over to Giovanni. “I’ll give her a bath later. But you’ll need to send someone out for food. There’s nothing here but wine.” She returned her attention to her daughter. “Lucky for him I packed your cereal and juice, huh baby? Or else daddy would have to get breakfast pronto!”

Giovanni smiled. In minutes Mira was done. He again reached for Eve. He couldn’t keep his hands off her. He never cared for kids or babies, though many were placed in his arms. He was the godfather to over two dozen children in both Italy and Sicily. Never once did he bond with the child he held. But Eve was different. He couldn’t be more in love with her. She came to him willingly. Mira rolled the diaper into a tight ball and then dropped it in the wastebasket. She climbed in bed. Eve lay between them both.

“What is this about fireflies?” Mira asked.

“Lucciola lucciola, gialla gialla… metti la briglia alla cavalla… che la vuole il figlio del re… lucciola lucciola vieni con me,”he sang. Eve clapped. She sat up to bob her head at the sound of her father’s melodic voice. Giovanni turned on his side and sang the nursery rhyme again, shaking her thigh. When it was over he kissed Eve’s arm.

“How sweet. I love to hear you sing,” Mira grinned at him. Damn if her smile wasn’t brighter than the sun. She made him feel so warm and loved with that smile he faltered in his singing. Either she didn’t know or understand the power she held over him. She fell back on the pillow and tucked their daughter in under the covers. “Where did you learn the song?”

“My father would sing a lullaby to me when I was a little boy. Reminds me of Eve. You speak Italian now, why don’t you translate it for Eve,” he said with a raised brow. He had noticed Mira’s comfort around the language.

“I do speak a little. I’m not that great. But I learned.”

“For me?” Giovanni asked.

“For Eve,” Mira winked. “I wanted her to know Italian and English. Look at her, she’s the best of both worlds isn’t she?”

“Yes she is. Grazie, for a such a special gift Bella.” Giovanni smiled.

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