Page 30 of Desired By you (Always & Forever #3)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Gabriella

We sit in companionable silence in the car on the way to Brad’s mom’s house in Brooklyn. Last night was unexpected, and yet everything I didn’t know I was craving. If that’s how good sex is, and by sex, I mean the foreplay, because we haven’t gone all the way yet, then I want more.

“You okay?” Brad asks, side eyeing me as he drives through the New York traffic.

“Uh huh.”

We eventually pull up outside a brick townhouse with steps leading up to the front door. Balloons and a Happy Birthday banner hang on the door.

“Ready?” he asks, and I nod.

We exit the car, and Brad pops the trunk and lifts out the giant box wrapped in blue paper for his nephew. To my surprise, he takes my hand and leads me up the steps to the front door that he opens without knocking, allowing loud chatter and music to filter through the dark entryway.

Black and white tiles cover the floor, dark painted walls with picture frame after picture frame hang, making the space feel small yet warm and homely. The smell of Italian food wafts through the air, causing my stomach grumble.

Never letting go of my hand, Brad leads me to the back of the house, through a door where I’m met with women are huddled around a kitchen island, preparing food and chatting amongst themselves.

“…so I told her, if Ronnie is going to be out till all hours, she has the right to ask him, ya know?” a woman with long dark hair, wearing a black dress and big gold hoops yells above the chatter.

The room falls silent when they notice me and Brad and a woman screams, “Ahhhh, you made it.” She runs over, and Brad releases my hand so he can wrap his arm around her.

“Hey, sis. Where’s the little man?” She releases him and stands back to look me up and down as she smiles.

“Oh, he’s outside playing. Who’s your friend?” she asks with her thick New York accent.

“This is Gabriella,” Brad says softly.

“Hi, I’m Alessia. It’s nice to meet ya.” I smile, expecting her to maybe shake my hand, but instead she hugs me, pressing a kiss on each cheek. “Hey, Ma, guess who brought a girlfriend?” she yells.

Girlfriend?

“What?” a woman yells from somewhere in the crowded kitchen.”

“Marco brought a girlfriend.” Alessia beams.

Marco?

I look to Brad in confusion, and he leans down and speaks quietly. “I’ll explain later.”

A woman comes up beside Alessia. She looks like an older version of her. She reaches for Brad, embracing his face with her hands. “My Marco. It’s been too long.”

“Hey Ma,” I don’t miss the way his spine stiffens when she holds him.”

“Ma, this is my friend, Gabriella,” he says, gesturing towards me.

“Gabriella, oh my god, she’s gorgeous. Isn’t she gorgeous?” his mom says, taking my face into her hands and kissing both my cheeks.

‘It’s lovely to meet you…”

“Bianca, my name’s Bianca. Don’t mind my son’s manners. He forgets them from time to time,” she teases, tapping Brad’s chest with the back of her hand.

“Let’s get you some food and drink. Follow me,” Alessia says. We head down a set of stairs out to a patio where a large table filled with food and people sitting around under a parasol.

Alessia introduces us and my eyes immediately focus on the bouncy house at the bottom of the garden where children squeal and laugh.

Brad’s still clutching his nephew’s gift, his jaw tight.

I sense he’s uncomfortable here, but knowing now isn’t the time to push the subject, I slide my hand into his, caressing the back of it with my thumb to offer him some reassurance that I’m here.

When he grips back, my heart flutters. The moment is broken when a small boy with dark hair comes barreling towards us.

Brad bends down, so he’s at eye level with him, sets the gift down on the grass and opens up his arms to catch his nephew.

The little boy leaps and lands on Brad with such force, Brad falls back.

His butt hits the ground, and the little boy giggles as Brad tickles him.

“Happy birthday, little man,” His little face lights up when he tears the paper off the gift Brad handed him, revealing a Lego fighter jet.

“Thank you, thank you,” the little boy squeals, jumping up and down in pure delight.

“You’re welcome, bud. Hey, I want you to meet someone.” Brad turns his body, still sitting on the ground, and points to me.

“This is my friend, Gabriella. Gabriella, this is Luca.”

“Hey, Luca. Happy birthday. It’s so nice to meet you. Are you having fun at your party?” I ask, looking into his big brown eyes that look just like Brad’s. The genes are strong in this family. They all have the same eyes.

He nods his head quickly. “Yeah, my mommy got me a bouncy house and Legos, and I got a Lego cake. Want to see?”

“Sure do,” I say excitedly.

“You’re pretty.”

I giggle and blush. “Thank you,” I say, tucking a strand of hair that’s fallen in front of my face.

Luca gets up, dragging the big box with him, and Brad stands up, brushing his jeans down as he looks up at me.

“Wait there,” Luca yells as he walks toward the steps.

“We will, buddy,” Brad calls back.

“You’re very sweet with him.” I hold a hand above my eyes to shield them from the bright afternoon sun. It feels like a million degrees in New York today and it’s the perfect day for a garden party.

“Yeah, well, his dad isn’t around, so I try and make up for that by being in his life as much as I can.

He’s a cute kid, so that makes it easy.” And that right there has me falling for Brad just that little bit more.

There’s so much I am still yet to learn about him, and the more I uncover about him, the more I think I want him, and that thought makes the idea of stopping this thing between us cause a knot in my gut to form.

Brad has said he doesn’t want to settle down, and that’s what I want, or at least what I thought I wanted, but being with him has made me think about things differently and seeing him here with his family has just unlocked a new piece of the mysterious puzzle that makes up Brad, or rather Marco Russo.