Sacrifice

Chapter Twenty-Nine

C ould Aribella possibly enjoy the same things I enjoy doing to her ? She's still shy about what she wants and needs. It's understandable and we will go slow. God, to know she wants to go back into the dungeon means a hell of a lot to me. Maybe we will never be fully into the BDSM lifestyle, but I can make her nightmares go away. To help her shape an understanding of the darker side of sex and not be afraid at night.

Walking her into the kitchen, Jorge is there, with a cup of coffee outstretched to Aribella.

"Here you go, Miss Bella."

I'm about to reprimand him for calling her Bella, but she takes her head out of my chest and giggles.

"Hi, Mr. Jorge." She takes the cup and sits down at the counter. Thank God, she isn't going to make me fire Jorge. I know she misses Miss Terrington, but Jorge seems to have won her over.

Mossimo is already sitting at the window seat with a very relaxed Espresso. A bark of laughter leaves me and I shake my head.

"Do you ever go anywhere without that damn cat?"

This gets both Mossimo and Aribella to gasp and look at me with mock outrage. Jorge snickers and turns around, flipping the pancakes.

"Watch how you talk about the cat, Vincent." Mossimo strokes the cat's back and looks at me with daggers in his eyes.

Looking over at Aribella, I see she's smiling at me like I'm in trouble. Goddamn, all this for a cat. Sighing, I sit down across from Mossimo so I can watch Aribella.

Jorge strikes up a conversation with her about the rose garden and I know that's my queue to talk to Mossimo.

"Have you given any thought to running the casino with Diego?" I raise an eyebrow at him, expecting him to answer me. He's had weeks to determine what he wants.

"I'm out," he says softly and looks down at where his left hand should be.

"What the fuck for?" I try to keep my tone gentle, but this man is a trained killer. Someone that before all this shit went down, would run through a blazing gun battle just to save my ass. Now he wants to quit?

"I'm no good to you, Vincent." His eyes won't meet mine and I realize that this may be the result of his hand being gone.

"Because you don't have two hands now?"

This question gets him to pop his head up and I see the anger in his eyes. "Yes. You would put anyone else out to pasture if they had no ability to fight anymore."

At least he sounds angry now. Fuck, I don't think I could handle another minute of him being mopey.

"Fuck that." I straighten my tie, and Jorge brings me a plate of pancakes, eggs, and bacon. A hot cup of coffee is handed to me and I thank him.

He goes back to Aribella and I can hear how animated she is about the library. She invited him into her sanctuary?! I am seeing red. Nope. Not happening.

"Ahem, excuse me." I look at Jorge like he had better fucking decline. Aribella turns her head to me and glares.

"What's wrong, Vincent?" That little innocent act she has going on is about to earn her a damn spanking.

"No one is allowed in your sanctuary except me." Alright, even I can admit I sound fucking petulant. Mossimo bursts out laughing and Espresso meows loudly.

"I stand corrected. Espresso is allowed in there as well." I touch Espresso lightly on the head and he comes over to me, head butting my chin. Fuck, the cat truly has endeared itself to me and I love it. I'm actually feeling guilty for ever using him as leverage.

"Jorge can come in because he reads the same types of books as me. Plus, he has some really good guy on guy books that he wants to share with me."

Blinking, I pet Espresso as he rubs all over me, getting cat hair on my suit. Not that I care. "G-guy on guy books?" I stutter and Mossimo can't contain his laughter.

"Yes. Love is love, Vincent." Aribella turns her smile away from me and I almost bellow in rage, but I look at Jorge and he has a twinkle in his eye. Oh, that cheeky bastard.

"Fine. But I will be in there with you."

"Oh, my goodness, Vincent. Jorge is happily married to his husband, and I'm obviously not— " Her voice trails off and a blush pops up on her cheeks. She's beautiful, kind, and loving. God, I want her, but we have an audience.

"You're obviously not, what?" I tease her, knowing this is going to make her even more embarrassed.

"Well, I mean," she points to Jorge, then herself, and back to Jorge. "I'm not a guy. So he wouldn't be interested."

Jorge doesn't speak and for once I'm glad I don't have to shoot someone. Mossimo takes Espresso from me and I growl. He looks at me and winks. The fucker.

"Anyone not interested in you must be dead because you are amazing, Aribella." I get up after eating my last bite of food. Standing next to her, I see her plate is empty as well and I'm proud of her for finishing.

She looks up at me with such sincerity; I have to take a deep breath to keep from having my emotions show. I realize this woman can take me down with one damn look. Pushing my hands through her hair, I bend down and kiss her. I'm not sure if it's to stake my claim on her, or if it's so I can taste her mixed with breakfast. Hell, at this point, I'm not sure if fucking matters.

"I've invited Janice to come over here today." I move my thumbs along her cheeks and she smiles. "There are some things I need to finish with Mossimo, and later, my brothers will be here. I'd like you to meet them."

"Thank you, Vincent." Aribella reaches up and pulls me into another kiss. I lose all track of time as we make out right in front of Jorge.

"Alrighty then," Jorge says, and it breaks the spell.

Pulling back, I look down at mi peque?a reina. She's smiling at me.

"Mossimo and I will be in the office for now. But if you need anything, let us know or Jorge. He can assist you." With one last kiss, I walk away with Mossimo trailing behind me.

Once Mossimo sits down in the chair next to my desk, I lock the door and I sit down across from him. "What kind of fucking nonsense is this that you aren't any good to me anymore?"

Steepling my fingers, I look at him, waiting for an answer.

"When your brother, Miguel married, and you found out that his wife had a massive heart condition, you benched him. Hell, Miguel was livid for months that he was no longer welcomed in the family business. But you did what was best for his wife. Which meant he dealt only with the legitimate construction business."

He pauses and I don't speak. No, this is his time to let me know what is going on.

"I don't have two hands, man. How the hell can I possibly run a casino, protect you, and be worth any salt?"

Taking a moment to understand what he's saying, I nod. "You're absolutely right. I did bench him, but I kept him in the family business. He runs a four state operation with one of the highest success rates I've ever seen. Miguel is happy and his wife doesn't have to worry about him coming home at night."

Getting up, I walk over to the far corner of my office, put my hand up against the wall and wait for the beep. The panel opens and I pull out the deed to the casino, plus the expansion plan I had drawn up a few weeks ago. Going back to the desk, I don't sit across from Mossimo. Instead, I sit next to him and open the file.

"This is the plan to rebuild the casino and the expansion plan for it. It would be a full hotel, spa, shopping experience, casino destination. There will be banquet halls for weddings, parties, or whatever people do in these damn things."

Mossimo takes a look at the plans and I can see the excitement in him. "We've talked about this kind of thing for years," his voice is barely a whisper, and I smile. I just might have sold him on taking this over.

"You're right. Mossimo, you've always been more to me than a hired gun. You know that." I put my hand on his shoulder and he looks at me. "We've been fighting alongside each other for years. Hell longer than we should have been. This is what I want for you. To take over this side of our business. Make it legit, and not a single person can touch it."

As he looks at me, I see the doubt in him, but I also see the need to prove something to himself, and possibly to me. "What about you, Vincent?"

"I can't stay in this life. It finally has clicked why Miguel let me push him out. He had something to bring him home, and to tie his fate to more than war and crime. Diego isn't ready to get out of the game, and I know he has the business savvy to help build this dream of ours. Yes, we had the casino, but we used it for bad. Now that it has crumbled, we can start fresh. I get dividends from all businesses, like I always have. Believe me, I'm ready for retirement."

Nodding his head, he looks me square in the eyes. "I can do this." He smiles and I shake his hand in a hard grip.

"I know you can. You've never let me down, and I know you won't start now."

I'm expecting him to let go of my hand. He pulls me into him for a hard hug and I am glad we got this shit over with. My phone goes off and I sigh. Hell, we’ve been in this office for over two hours. It’s amazing how time flies.

"Looks like my brothers are ready to meet mi reina , Mossimo."