Hold Him Like Gravity (Lombardi Family #4)

Chapter Twenty-Six

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Kick

“How is it that Rico has such good taste?” Saff asked as she looked around Rico’s apartment. “I mean, first the meat shop renovations and now this…”

“You’ve never been here?” I asked, watching the blue-haired woman run her hand over the waterfall island.

“No. Rico has always been a bit of an enigma. Don’t get me wrong, he’s an ever-present part of the family. Practically shares the boss role with Renzo. But he’s always kept his private life private. I kind of want to go snoop through his drawers,” she admitted. “Would you tell on me?” she asked.

“Probably,” I admitted.

“Fiiiine,” she said. “Probably for the best. I mean, I don’t know if I could look the man in the face if I found out his nightstand is full of cock rings or alien dildos. I mean, to each their own. But there’s some things I don’t need to know about my coworkers, you know. But… does he have alien dildos? I read an alien smut book recently and now I’ve got all these ideas…”

“Alien smut?” I asked, brows pinched.

“Yeah. It was our book club pick,” she said, opening up the fridge to snoop around in areas where she likely would not find Rico’s sex toys. If he even had them. “I didn’t think it would be my thing. But seven-foot-tall dudes with long tongues and cocks that have little notches on them? What’s not to like?”

“I didn’t even know alien smut existed,” I admitted. I hadn’t ever been much of a reader. I mean, sure, I went through a little teen dystopian romance phase like most girls my age had, but then kind of just lost interest.

“You never dive right into alien smut,” Saff said. “It starts with some romantasy with magical elements. Then maybe you dabble in fae. Possibly some vampire. Then, well, all bets are off once you start getting into demons, shifters, and monsters. I’m curious if Lore, Elizabeth, and Islah were as into it as I was. The aliens were a little possessive to the max. Which wasn’t my favorite. But the banging was hot. I mean, the dudes were big enough to hold the women up and fuck them. Hot.”

“Isn’t Lore Renzo’s wife?” I asked, still trying to keep everyone straight.

“Yeah. And Elizabeth is Elian’s girl. Islah is Elian’s sister. So if you can maybe not tell him that I’m having his little sister read alien porn, that would be great.”

“Your secret is safe with me,” I said, deciding I already really liked Saff. She was refreshing with how open she was. How sure of herself.

“You should join us next month. It’s Lore’s pick, so it’s more romantasy, not just straight up fucking with small plot points in between. I’ll send a copy here,” she decided, already reaching for her phone before I could object. She was still tucking her phone away when Evander came walking in, eyeing her suspiciously. “Holy shit. It’s a cat. Renzo has a cat?”

“Well, he’s mine. Sort of. But his heart belongs to Renzo. He barely tolerates me.”

“What’s his name?”

“Evander,” I told her. “Do you have any pets?”

“I work too much,” she said, trying to pet the cat, who eyed her warily but let her do one little scratch before he started to hiss.

“As a capo?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“Is that a common thing?” I asked. “Female capos,” I clarified. “TV and movies make it seem like—“

“A sausage fest?” she interjected. “Yeah, it usually is. There are five New York families. We are the only one with female capos. So far. I mean, maybe the others will follow suit. But they’re different families.”

“How so?”

“We’re kind of a hodgepodge crew here. Normally, it is very much so family . Like blood family. But the Lombardi family was in shambles when Renzo took over. Not a lot of guys who were actually blood-related to fill in. So he brought in outsiders. He was a bit of a rebel boss from the beginning, so it was no big deal to break the rules further and bring in women.”

“So all the other families you can only be in if you were born in?”

“Well, except for the Espositos, I guess,” she said, nodding. “That was a shitstorm of a situation a few years back. He had to rebuild like Renzo did. So he has more outsiders too.”

I wasn’t surprised the man I’d met on the street that night ended up being a mafia boss. That was the vibe he had. Powerful. Intimidating. In control.

“Okay. Enough mafia talk. What are we eating?” Saff asked, going to the fridge again. “Clearly not anything here,” she decided.

We went through the menu drawer, picking a restaurant, then meals for ourselves as well as Rico and Bass.

“He’s probably not coming home, but it doesn’t hurt to have leftovers.”

“Doesn’t Bass live here?” I asked.

“Right now, he’s living between the thighs of as many women as he can find,” Saff said. “Not that anyone can blame him when he was locked up for so long. But I imagine it has less to do with that and more to do with Rico wanting privacy with you.”

“I don’t want to put him out, though.” Even if it had been oddly freeing to walk around Rico’s place naked the night before, to be as loud as we wanted in bed that night and first thing in the morning.

“Trust me, he’s not upset about it,” Saff said, waving off my worries. “So… alcohol?” she asked, walking over to the cart without waiting for my answer. She didn’t need to. If ever I really needed a drink, this was it.

I knew why Rico wasn’t home with me.

He was… handling things with Kyle.

I knew a better person, a good person would have objections to his plan. I mean what decent human being condoned murder?

But I’d been living months thinking I’d killed Kyle.

It would be silly to be upset about someone else killing him. And after having been at his beck and call for many years, I knew better than anyone that the world would be a better place without him walking around.

I also couldn’t bring myself to have any issues with that attempted rapist getting a swift trip to hell either.

And after learning my brother was working with my ex, well, any remaining feelings of familial affection or obligation just evaporated.

I didn’t want him dead.

But I did want him gone.

I never wanted to see him again.

I wanted to put my faith to rest in the words of Primo Esposito.

Found family can be better than blood.

Because, damn, they certainly couldn’t be any worse, that was for sure.

I’d already gotten to know Rico, Bastian, and Saff. All of them cared more than my own flesh and blood did about me.

Saff was already inviting me to book club.

Rico was talking about condos with extra rooms.

Even Primo Esposito had mentioned wanting to come to the wedding.

It was scary to hope, but I was praying that I could fit in here, that I could eventually call all these people my own. That I wouldn’t have to know lonely holidays again or always only have myself to lean on.

“You don’t have to stay,” I told Saff as she nodded off for the fourth time in ten minutes, each time snapping awake to stare blearily at the silly comedy movie we’d put on to lighten the mood as hours slipped away. As the sky went from the darkest part of night to the lightest parts of dawn.

“I’m fine,” Saff insisted.

“There are guards outside,” I reminded her. “I’m safe here.”

“I’m gonna st…” she started, but was cut off by her phone beeping on her thigh. “Prince Charming is on his way home,” she said, finally getting up off the couch, stretching like a cat, and rolling cricks out of her neck. “So I am going to get going. Don’t forget to look for the book,” she said as she grabbed her purse. “It should be here in the morning.”

With that, we said our goodbyes and I waited anxiously to hear Rico’s key in the door.

In a few minutes, the door was pushing open.

And there he was.

He had a black hoodie on over his usual clothes, but I could still see a splash of blood on his neck.

“Are you hurt?” I asked, rushing forward, arms raised, ready to pull his shirt out of the way so I could see.

“Don’t,” he said, tone a little sharp. “Don’t touch me,” he added, voice softer. “I need to change and shower,” he told me. “And I need you not to touch me or the clothes, okay?”

This was a forensics type of thing, I realized. He was trying to protect me.

“Okay,” I agreed, but I did follow behind him as he moved through the apartment, making me realize his shoes were already missing when he’d come inside.

He toed out of his socks, grabbing them, and tossing them into the tub. Next went his hoodie, his blood-soaked shirt, his pants, underwear. Then he was completely naked and walking into the shower niche, turning the water on with his elbow, then stepping inside.

I stood there, watching as he soaped and scrubbed. Once. Twice. Under his nails, in his hair. Every inch of him must have been squeaking by the time he finally stopped soaping up.

I didn’t hesitate then.

I slipped out of my clothes, leaving them in the bedroom, then stepping across the bathroom and into the niche.

My arms went around him and I pulled him close, held him tight.

“Thank you,” I murmured against his warm skin as the hot water splashed down my back.

“Don’t ever have to thank me for protecting you,” he said, his arms going around me, a thousand pounds of pressure falling from his shoulders as he did.

A deep exhale escaped him as his face pressed against the side of mine.

“Do you want me to heat up dinner?” I asked.

“No, babe,” he said, taking a deep breath. “I just want to go to bed. And sleep in late. So, you’re calling out tomorrow and staying here with me.”

“Sounds good to me,” I said, wanting nothing more.

We stayed there for a long time, just enjoying the closeness. But, soon, we both started to yawn.

Climbing out in silence, we toweled off. When I went over to the sink to brush my teeth, Rico went to the linen closet, grabbing a gallon of bleach, then stopping the tub and starting to fill it with scalding hot water. And the entire gallon.

“Gonna keep this door closed,” he said after brushing his teeth too, turning on the exhaust fan, then following me into the bedroom. “That’s gotta cook for a few hours.”

With that, we both made our way to the bed, tumbling in and curling up.

Maybe we should have lain awake, tossing and turning, fretting over the moral repercussions of the events of the night.

But we both drifted off easily, lulled by one another and all of the possibilities laid out before us.