I can't keep holding out.
"I'm close," she whines. "So close."
"Come with me," I demand, one hand slipping between us to rub her clit in tight circles.
It sends her over the edge again, her pussy clenching around me like a vise and I follow seconds later, thrusting deep as I spill inside her, groaning her name into her neck.
She bucks and twitches and lifts her hips off the bed to meet me, but I maintain my pace until she begins to settle.
We collapse together, breathless and spent, her body pinned under mine while I hold her close, our hearts pounding in sync.
When I pull out and roll to the side, she curls into me, without saying a word I know she's feeling safer.
I pull the blankets up, ready to get a few hours of sleep before the real work begins, and let my eyes drift shut.
Knowing she loves me changes everything for me.
I'm not just fighting for a possibility.
Now, I’m fighting for a reality.
This is my family, Angelica and Sofia, and Antonelli Gerard just unleashed the beast in me.
He won't see us coming, and I’ll destroy everything about his organization so he can never come after me again.
My daughter's future depends on it.
25
ANGELICA
Iwake to the weight of Sofia sprawled diagonally across the bed.
One of her legs is flung over my hip.
Her arm stretches across Dante's chest.
She's stolen most of the blanket and wrapped herself in it like a burrito.
She must've come in during the night and climbed between us without either of us noticing, and I think how providential it was for me to insist that we put on clothing before dozing off.
Dante's still asleep.
His face is relaxed and he's at peace.
The tension that usually lives in his jaw has smoothed out.
His breathing is deep and even and Sofia's head rests in the crook of his shoulder while his hand is curled protectively around her back.
I watch them for a moment and commit the image to memory.
My daughter and her father.
The man I confessed to loving last night, who told me he'd never loved anyone until Sofia broke him open.
It's a sacred moment I know I'll never get to relive again, but it will live forever in my mind and I am okay with that now.
I ease myself out of bed carefully so I don't wake either of them because it's too precious of a sight to disrupt, and I grab one of Dante's robes from the back of his bathroom door before slipping out and down the stairs in search of coffee.
