Page 21

Tito

Murdered. My father had been murdered. I didn’t know what to feel.

What to think. Was it because Rocky and I were just teens when it happened?

Then again, a death is a death. Murder though?

Yes, if we knew this when he died, my brother and I would have found a way to get to Italy and find the truth.

It had been too long now though. I wondered if maybe Uncle Stephano already knew who had done it and had taken care of it.

There would only be one way to find out. Ask him.

“Tito?” Valencia asked as she took my hand in hers.

Looking up at her, I apologized, “I’m sorry. I was lost for a minute there.”

“Dang, Tito,” Romeo said. “Of course, you’re lost. Who the hell would have guessed this?”

“Rocky and I never did, that’s for sure.” I shrugged.

“Should we go and ask Stephano?” Valencia suggested.

“I’m not ready yet,” I told her. “I need to let this sink in before I take this to him.”

“I agree with that,” Julianna spoke up again.

“A person has to be fully ready to ask that man questions. To have to do it even in a court of law would be frustrating. You can’t tell when he is telling you the truth really.

He has this clever way of taking you for a ride so to speak. He’s quite gifted in that regard.”

“What about Rocky?” Romeo asked.

“He never knew about this!” I exclaimed. “He wouldn’t keep something like that from me.”

Romeo defensively raised his hands at me. “I didn't mean that. I mean we need to tell him.”

I stared at him. “ We ?” I asked.

“Damn, Tito.” Romeo scoffed at me. “You're my cousin. No, you are actually more than that. You and Rocky grew up here right beside us. You are our brothers. So yes, damnit. We!”

I reached over and patted him on the shoulder.

“Ok, ok. Calm thyself, Romeo,” I teased him then glanced over at the clock.

“Rocky’s at home with his wife right now.

So I can’t talk to him. I really need to do that before I do anything.

Then maybe he’ll have a plan. I mean I don’t want to…

How will Mama react if we dredge this up? She still mourns our dad.”

“First stop after Rocky should be Stephano,” Julianna stated firmly. “There is no way that he didn’t know. He’s still connected to Cicily and the old country as it is called.”

I stared at her.

Raising her hands, she explained, “Hey, I’m a lawyer and I know the angles.”

“Yes and if this gets dicey, you and Romeo shouldn’t be anywhere near this,” I told her.

“Dicey?” Valencia asked.

I shrugged. “This is about murder, Valen. It will be dicey as hell.”

“Ohhh.” She shrugged. “I never thought that today would be…” She leaned her head onto my shoulder. “...so bad for you.”

I patted her head. “I lost him a long time ago… And it was bad for me then. But this murder thing makes no sense to me. He wasn’t mafia. He was just an ordinary Italian man with a small business.”

“Married to…the sister of an all out mobster, Tito,” Romeo bravely stated the facts.

I waved that off. “For one thing, your father wasn’t all that big in the mob back then. For another…why kill his brother-in-law, Angelo Bruno? He wasn’t well known and he never hurt a soul.”

No one answered.

“It’s a real mystery,” Julianna said as she looked thoughtful and distracted.

“Now, now,” Romeo admonished her. “I know you love mysteries, but Tito’s right, we have to be careful about this.”

“Come on,” Julianna whined. “A decade old mystery? Happened in Italy? With no witnesses and no motive? I want to start looking into it…like now.”

I smiled at her and looked over at Romeo.

He nodded at me. “Yes, this is what she’s like most of the time. Her life revolves around the game of Clue, I think?” He laughed. “We watch a lot of crime-drama shows.”

“You told me you loved them too!” Julianna retorted.

“I said, I loved watching them with you,” Romeo replied.

“But the truth is…I love to watch you get animated as you're guessing about who done it. You have these stages. Like first, you get real quiet then your breathing picks up. Next, you are biting your lower lip and mumbling to yourself. Then I love your finale when you jump up and shout, I KNOW WHO DID IT!”

Valencia and I both smiled. No one could ever say that he didn’t love Julianna.

Valencia shook her head. “So you really are Romeo and Juliet! It was fate.”

“At least you two are funny together and not tragic like the play,” I mused.

“I mean I know you always thought your name was Julianna but wow! Romeo and Juliet?” Romeo exclaimed as he looked at Julianna. “It just makes it complete, ya know?”

I shook my head at him. “How can it be that you turned that whole name thing around? To make it about you?” I smirked at him.

He shrugged. “It’s a gift.”

We all laughed.

I gave them a nod as I took a hold of Valencia’s hand. “Ok, we're gonna go. See you in the morning.”

Valencia leaned away from me to kiss her twin on the cheek.

Julianna smiled at her. “Good night, Valen .”

Valencia chuckled and said, “Good night, Julie .”

I escorted Valencia out the door and down the hall.

We went to my room this time.

Shutting the door, I leaned back against it. Today had been a long and hard journey. Well, not all of it. The lake had been wonderfully easy.

Valencia looked around. “Nice room, Tito.”

I gazed around briefly. I had dark burgundy and white as a sort of color theme. There were some paintings on the walls that I really liked.

“Whose the artist?” she asked as she stepped closer to one of them.

“My cousin Amadeo.”

“Romeo's brother?”

I nodded. “He has real talent.”

She gazed at the art and agreed. “He really does. I love what he does with the skies. Like sunsets and this other one with the blue and clouds.”

“Let's just say, he loves the sky.” I chuckled.

“What?” She looked confused.

“He’s a pilot and that’s all he’s ever wanted to be. Uncle Stephano wants him to work next to Luca, but it isn't going very well from what Rocky told me.”

“Can’t he do what he wants?” Valen asked me.

“You would think so, right?” I agreed. “But remember what I said about my Uncle. Hard and complicated. Giovanni ran off when he was eighteen for that same reason.”

“You mean Legend?”

I nodded. “Yeah, Legend. I still have a hard time with that name. The Dark Legend.” I smiled. “He wanted to be a doctor and Stephano wanted him to work at Descalia Corp. Amadeo is different though, he is really trying to balance what he loves to do with what his dad wants him to do.”

“I never had a dad…” she paused. “Until today.”

I smiled at her. “We can fly to New York and visit them after we get…done with this lockdown stuff.”

“Ok, that sounds great, we can invite Romeo and Juliet.” She snickered.

“That is such a strange twist to all of this.”

She nodded. “Maybe but what Tommaso said about your father? That was a strange twist.”

“Like Twilight Zone strange,” I agreed. “And I’m not sure what Rocky will say about this. Like what do I say? Hey bro, did you know our dad was murdered?”

“I get it. But I’m here for support, just like you have done for me.”

I smiled at her. “I want more than that.”

“More?” She looked confused.

“Yes, more of you. Like in a shower.” I grinned at her. “Besides, we need one after that pond visit.”

“That was so relaxing though,” she said.

“It was… like floating around without a care.”

“Especially when we had a care or two,” she agreed.

“So first, I want you in my shower, then in my bed.”

She giggled. “In that order?”

I nodded as I reached over and grasped her dress to pull it up and off.

“What am I gonna wear after?”

I shrugged as I quickly got her bra unhooked. “I got a nice soft robe that you can have. But I don't want you wearing anything.” I tossed the bra away.

“When I go to my room, I can’t be walking around naked, Tito!”

I laughed. “If this was my world where I made the rules, you would do just that.” Then I paused. “Where are your panties?”

She slowly shook her head. “I think they are still in the pond?”

“Well, some fish is gonna be happy,” I quipped.

She giggled.

I scooped her up and strode toward the bathroom with her in my arms. I loved that giggle so much.

I never realized I could love something like that.

I did the one thing I never did before in my history with women.

I told her I loved her. Those words had never crossed my lips before.

But hell, I never met a woman who was such a perfect fit for me.

Yes, she was dragged here unwillingly, but that was all in the past. I’d seen her fire and resolve all day and it only fueled what I felt for her already.

The way she handled the parent meeting and even helped Julianna through it.

I finally halted next to the shower. “Ok, turn the water on, Valen.”

Her body shivered at my low tone as she reached over with a shaky hand and turned it on.

I set her down onto the tiled floor. Stepping back, I got rid of my clothes fast. I looked up and caught her staring.

She smirked as she looked me up and down. “Sexy, Tito. So danged sexy.”

I stepped in and moved her back as the hot water pounded against my skin.

I watched transfixed as the water ran over her curvy body, soaking her hair, dripping off her breasts.

Grabbing the body wash, I poured it into my hands and worked it into a fine lather before massaging it all over her.

I loved the way her skin felt beneath my hands.

Her body nearly slumped against the wall as she enjoyed the massage. “Tito?” she whispered. “You’re seriously washing me down?”

I became lost in the feel of her and the relaxed look on her face. I loved being able to feel all this soft, silky skin. “Yes, I am very serious about this . ” I ran my soapy hands up the length of her shapely legs. “Damn, you are just so beautiful, Valen.”

“I never had anyone like to give me a shower before,” she told me in a breathless whisper.

I slipped my hand between her thighs. Dipping my fingers inside her as I flicked her clit button back and forth with my thumb. My life seemed to be so different now. I could only think about her. I don’t think I would ever get tired of her.

“D-did you hear me?” she asked in a stammer.

I blinked and looked up at her. “Huh?” No, I’d been lost in her. Loving her skin, her tight pussy and her creamy thighs.

She laughed even as she was panting.

I kept playing with her clit then I slipped around her as I held her up, my chest pressing to her back. I moved my attention to her neck and kissed her there. With my free hand, I reached for her nipple and played with it. My other hand returned to her clit.

Her pants and moans were music to my ears as I noted her body was trembling with undeniable pleasure.

Valencia whimpered as she arched her body to push up against me. “I need you inside me, Tito. Please?”

I never replied. Instead, I bent her forward and opened her legs further, then lined myself up and plunged up inside her.

She sucked in her breath then let out a long moan.

Pulling her back gently, I held onto her hips while pounding into her.

“Oh,” she exclaimed breathlessly. “Yes!”

I plunged deeper and harder as I let out a guttural groan. Damn, this felt good. Almost too good. I thought we’d reached the top at the pond. But no, this was even better.

Now she screamed with pleasure from the sensation as I drove into her repeatedly.

Being inside her was heaven. Water streamed over us while I thrust in and out of her. She gripped me so tightly it took my breath away.

“Oohhh,” she whispered breathlessly. “Tito, I’m going to come…” Her body squirmed in my grip.

“Si, la mia dolcezza, you will,” I whispered to her ear as I thrust upward, deep into her.

Her body seemed to bend for a few seconds then she clenched her sweet, wet sheath around me. She cried my name out as she climaxed.

My name coming from her lips as she came was enough to send me over the edge too and I found myself coming with her. Despite losing my mind to pure ecstasy, I managed to hold onto her and remain inside of her.

After a long moment or two trying to catch her breath, Valencia whispered in a pant, “Sooo amazing…”

I finally let her go and turned her around. Immediately, my mouth found hers. Our kiss was wild and breathless.

When I pulled back, I could see that her eyes were closed as she seemed lost. I tucked her close to me, practically holding her up on her feet. “Are you okay?”

She grunted but gave me no words.

I chuckled. Moving her sagging body back, I sat her down on the shower bench. Now I was glad I had it put in. I sure never thought it would be for this, but I was glad nonetheless. “Ok, you are done…” I joked as I again washed her all over. I paused and leaned in to suck on a nipple.

“Tito!” She smirked at me.

I shrugged. “I can’t seem to help it. But I should dry you off and get you under the covers.”

She kept grinning and shaking her head. “I love you, Tito.”

“And I am totally, irrevocably in love with you, Valen,” I admitted outright. I pressed my lips to hers and said, “I don’t wanna scare you, but I want you to be Mrs. Bruno. So screw worrying over what your name is. You are gonna have my name.”

Grasping my cheeks with both hands, she met my gaze and said, “I would love that.”

I kissed her softly and as sweetly as I could. This petite redheaded beauty had become my whole world. For her, I would slay demons, I would face fire to pluck her from the flames. I would protect her with all that I was. Breaking the gentle kiss, I looked into her eyes.

We didn’t speak as our eyes remained locked for a minute.

As I gazed into her emerald eyes I realized she looked utterly sated, her expression reflecting a peaceful joy. I wanted to see this look on her face as many times as I could make it happen.

“I just feel so… complete.” She was breathless as she spoke, “I’ve never felt so happy and so calm before. You make me whole, Tito.”

“I would say we had fate working for us too.” I smiled at her.

She giggled a little and almost slumped sideways.

I reached over to grab her up then shut the water off as I chuckled. “I think you’re done, little girl.” I set her down and grabbed a towel. Drying her off, she wobbled a bit on her feet.

“Careful there…” I again scooped her up and carried her to my bed. I paused to yank the sheet and blanket back.

When I laid her down, she snuggled in and whispered, “Best day of…my life.” Her eyes closed and she emitted a cute little snore.

I snorted a laugh. Damn, she was adorable.