Page 25 of A Wife’s Duty

He took the other bags from Frank.

“I’ll be right back.”

He started to unpack the groceries. Different cereals, bread that appeared to be sweating, some baked goods, along with several different pasta bags and sauces.

Boone put everything away, glancing toward the pantry.

He had a few items he had placed there in storage, as he had every intention of stepping away, retiring, building a life for himself.

Only, other plans had gotten in the way.

Now, he picked up a couple of jars of Italian seasoning.

Frank had also purchased multiple cans of tomatoes.

With no other source of meat, it was going to have to be a tomato pasta.

He made a note to go shopping in the morning, possibly with Lucia.

For that night, he just got to cooking them a meal.

Frank made his way out into the garden. Once alone, Boone was able to check on Leandro who was still stuck in one of Boone’s apartments.

The man looked ready to crack, but it had only been a day.

There was no way Leandro would be able to get a signal or contact anyone for help, which was the way Boone had arranged it.

A small device sent out a signal, blocking all cell phone signals, apart from the one outside the radius he’d set up for the security feed.

Ronald was working on restoring the café, and by the end of next week, it would be as good as new. Tomorrow, Nancy would be discharged from the hospital. Boone had already taken care of the hospital bills. The men were dead, and he had other men in place to keep an eye on their café.

In the meantime, Valdez and Bonaldi, along with multiple capos under his command, would be distracted, as up and down the country, he had initiated the cops to do some hunting.

It was lovely what a nice tip and video evidence could do, that would force a warrant, and then, boom , everything went to shit for them.

They had gotten away with too much in the past, and now it was time for them to feel the pain.

Slicing up some onion and bell pepper, he got that in the pan with a little butter.

This is what Frank had picked up, rather than olive oil.

He already had a pan of water coming to boil.

With the onions and pepper sweating down, he added some salt, pepper, along with a good pinch of Italian seasoning.

Next, he crushed and chopped up the garlic, adding that to the pot.

Frank had forgotten the olive oil, but he’d purchased a bottle of white wine.

Boone did not know how that man’s head worked, but it didn’t matter.

He opened the wine and added a good couple of glugs to the pan.

Giving it a stir, he next added the tomatoes, some chicken stock, and turned the heat down to a simmer the moment it had started to boil.

The pasta was thrown into the boiling water, along with a good pinch of salt. His father had always said that to have good pasta, you needed to heavily salt the water. This is what he did, still, to this day.

“Um, something smells good,” Lucia said.

“Just a little supper.”

She giggled. “We’re having vegetarian tonight? Frank already told me his car stinks of dead meat, and he wants to keep all the doors open and spray it with some kind of disinfectant.”

“Yeah, you need to blame Betty for the vegetarian meal.”

“As it happens, I love vegetarian, so I don’t mind at all.”

Boone smiled.

“So, uh, thank you,” Lucia said.

“What for?”

“For the dog.”

He stopped stirring the pasta and turned toward her. “You don’t need to thank me for the dog. If I had seen them hurting her, I would have stopped anyway.”

“I know, but I have no idea what I’m doing and you got me a dog anyway.”

“A dog is kind of like a baby. Only, babies grow up, leave home, and think they’re better at all the shit than their parents, until they get to an age and realize they’re doing exactly the same, or shittier than their parents.”

Lucia looked at him. “Is that what you thought of your dad?”

He opened and closed his mouth.

“Right, I’m sorry.”

“My dad was dead before I got chance to do that,” Boone said.

“I’m so sorry.”

“You don’t need to be. You didn’t pull the trigger that killed him. Life is what killed him, and getting complacent.” Boone turned back to his sauce. He hadn’t added too much chicken stock for it to be too watery.

Looking through the stuff, he pulled out a very soggy-looking parmesan cheese. He and Lucia were definitely going shopping tomorrow. No wonder Amy was always threatening to kill her husband. The man didn’t seem to focus.

Boone looked outside the kitchen window, and sure enough, he was on his back, sunbathing.

“Is he asleep?”

“Not yet, but I could smell dinner. I’ll go and wake him up if he is. I don’t want him getting sick with sunburn.”

Lucia turned on her heel and was already out the door. Boone looked down at Betty, who had sat on the tiled floor, looking up at him.

“You’re an adorable girl, and you already know it, don’t you?”

Her tongue came out the side of her mouth, and she looked a little on the goofy side, like she was actually smiling at him. She was just too fucking adorable.

He squatted down on his haunches and reached out, stroking the back of her neck.

“It’s okay, girl. Even if you are pregnant, your babies are going to be well cared for.

You see, your new mommy is going to be a sucker for all of them.

” He had no doubt when it came to Betty’s children, they were not going to be able to sell a single one.

His very quiet and peaceful home was going to be overrun with tiny little dogs. For Lucia, he didn’t mind.

Frank came in, yawning his ass off.

“What’s for dinner?” Frank asked.

Boone served their dinner, along with the sweating bread. It could have been worse, but thankfully, it wasn’t. The food was good.

It was also getting late.

Frank went to bed first, and Lucia looked down at Betty, when it was time for them to retire.

Boone knew that leaving Betty downstairs was not an option.

Down he went, picking the dog up in his arms and carrying her upstairs to their bedroom.

It would seem even though Betty was more than happy to go walking around the house earlier, she was too tired now.

Also, those puppy dog eyes she gave him were impossible to ignore, and he needed to carry her.

Lucia carried the dog bed with her. He was not going to have the dog on the bed, and he opened the closet for Lucia to put the bed down.

The closet was going to remain open, but there was enough space for Betty.

She would be close enough for them to hear, but giving them privacy as well.

He waited to see if Betty was going to be difficult, but he didn’t have to worry, as she climbed into bed and settled in.

Now, he looked toward Lucia and held his hand out.

She went straight to him. “Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me.” He would do anything for her.

Walking into the en-suite bathroom, he pulled Lucia into his arms. He cupped her face, tilted her head back, and took possession of her lips.

She let out a sigh. “That was amazing.”

And he kissed her again, this time he traced his tongue across her lips, and she let out a gasp. Plundering her mouth, he deepened the kiss, loving the taste of her lips. Lucia pressed her tongue against his, and they danced together.

Pulling at her shirt, he broke the kiss long enough to throw her shirt across the room.

He didn’t even take the time to see where it had landed.

Next, he took care of her pants. They were easy to take care of.

Now she stood in a bra and panties, both of which were black.

He pressed his face against her crotch and breathed her in. In response, she let out a moan.

He was growing inpatient, and he tore the panties right off her body. Standing up, he then removed her bra, and that fell to the floor.

Lucia was now naked, and he was very much dressed. She didn’t seem too happy about that. He wanted to run his hands all over her body, to learn every inch of her and find what made her yearn for more.

Instead, he was patient, allowing Lucia to remove his clothes.

He’d already dispensed with the jacket he was wearing.

It was up to Lucia to remove his shirt, pants, and boxer briefs, which she did with shocking speed.

Not that he was complaining, seeing as his own patience was starting to wear thin, and he wanted her, badly.

The moment they were both naked, he stepped them into the shower and pressed her up against the wall. Turning on the shower stall, he gritted his teeth as the spray hit him, but he didn’t want Lucia to feel the cold.

Taking possession of her mouth, he kissed her again. He would gladly kiss her for the rest of their lives. He was addicted to the feel of her lips on his, and he didn’t want to stop kissing her. He consumed each moan for himself.

Running his hands down her body, he tried to hold back, but he needed to feel her.

He spun her around, cupping her cheek, tilting her head toward him.

He kissed her, and at the same time ran his other hand down her body, stroking across her tightened nipple.

Moving from one to the other, he stroked each bud, pinching the tip, before he went straight toward her pussy.

Cupping her in his hand, he slid a finger through her soaking wet slit and then pressed forward, hearing her soft, subtle gasp.

He pushed knuckle deep, pulling out, and adding a second finger.

She was still so tight, and with a second finger he tried to stretch her cunt so she could take him without feeling a smidge of pain.

She whimpered, the sound echoing around the room.

“Am I hurting you?” he asked.

“No.”

“Good.”

He pulled his fingers from her cunt and stroked them up toward her clit.

Kissing her lips, he started to stroke her clit, sliding his finger back and forth, circling over her bud.

He felt her body start to shake as her orgasm climbed.

Boone didn’t hold back, though. He pushed her over the edge, hearing her cry out seconds before he kissed her.

Boone held her within his arms as the orgasm took over her body.

There was no holding back, no acting. This was all woman, pure and simple.

His woman. And he didn’t want to let her go.

He was falling in love with this woman. Actually, that was inaccurate, he wasn’t just falling for this woman—he was in love with this woman.

He had been in love with her from the moment he had seen her.

Knew the life she had lived. One picture had made him want to take care of her, love her, to show her life could be better.

When it came to Lucia, he wanted to make her world better, show her there was no need to be afraid. He’d take care of anything.

He’d make her world the best fucking place it could be, and he would do so because he loved her, and she meant the fucking world to him.