“You’ve got to be kidding me?” Gia laughed when I waddled my way into the entry wearing my costume.
“Hey, it works.” I put my hands on my hips, or tried to, but my costume got in the way, along with my huge belly. I was wearing a big oven costume that, when you opened the door, a bun was inside. The word bun was written on the brown shirt that stretched tightly over my large, rounded stomach.
“It sure does,” Lorenzo grunted as he came up behind me. Wearing a black shirt that said the word baker across the front. “You promise to let me know if you are ready to go at any point?”
“I promise,” I agreed. It was the only way that he would allow me to go to the club with my sisters to help celebrate Nic finally turning twenty-one. We were all heading out to Area 212, and I wasn’t going to let the fact that I was about ready to pop stop me. I still had a few weeks until our baby would be here, so this would be one of the last chances I had to get out for a while anyway.
“Rome is meeting us there, along with Rossi and the other guards.” Lorenzo looked over at my sisters and shook his head. “You girls are trouble. Rome is going to lose his shit when he sees you guys.”
Gia was wearing a sexy witch costume that left little to the imagination, and Nic was a naughty nurse, heavy on the naughty side of things. “Romeo is going to spend all night growling at any man who comes near you two.” I laughed.
My sisters just shared satisfied grins. “It’s payback.” They shrugged.
“Payback for what?”
“For not telling us that he owned a sex club.”
I laughed and shook my head, “Do you really think that is something he would want to discuss with his sisters?”
Gia put her hands on her hips. “We are grown women. He can get the hell over it and stop keeping stuff from us.”
I held up my hands in surrender. “Okay, let's get going.”
We loaded into the SUV. I was up front with Lorenzo while my sisters piled into the back seat. We laughed and talked while we drove through the city toward the club my brother had rescued and turned into a profit machine. There was a line of people waiting to get in down the block, but we walked right up and inside. There were some benefits to being the sister of a powerful mob boss and business owner.
The music was pulsing through the club. The crowded dance floor was filled with women dressed like my sisters in sexy costumes with little to no imagination needed to tell what was underneath.
“I’m so glad you’re mine and pregnant right now,” Lorenzo leaned down and whispered into my ear as he wrapped his arms around me, as best he could with my cumbersome costume on. I felt his lips graze my cheek before he started moving us in the direction of the VIP platform.
Romeo was already there with Salvatore, and the two new guards Marco De Luca, Cesare Mazza, and the guy he called Rafferty. He had been the one there when Romeo had taken out Massimo. He was intimidating yet handsome, but I wasn’t sure I trusted him. There was a large blond man standing there with his back toward me. He was talking to my brother, his shoulders rigid and familiar.
“Is that?” I questioned Lorenzo and waited for confirmation. He nodded, and I smiled, moving toward the large man that I hadn’t seen in almost nine months.
“Alek?” I called his name when I was close enough for him to hear me over the music. He turned around at the sound of hisname and gave me a gentle smile. I still liked the guy. He wasn’t for me; nobody but Lorenzo was, but I did like him.
“Woah there, Sprite.” He checked out my costume and raised a brow before opening the oven door to see my belly beneath. His eyes moved over my shoulder toward Lorenzo, and he grinned. “You’ve been busy.”
“Had my hands full for sure.” Lorenzo nodded and pulled me into his side. My sisters were both joining our circle, and the guards started to block off the perimeter around us, not letting anyone close.
I introduced my sisters to Alek and told them all about how we’d met at the hotel over Valentine’s Day weekend when Lorenzo and I got married. Gia didn’t say much, but Nic seemed interested in the story. Romeo, ever watchful, had his eyes on the crowd below, not really contributing to the conversation that had changed the moment we got close enough to hear. He kept watching the crowd below like he was looking for someone.
“What are you doing in New York?” I asked Alek.
“I’m working on cementing a few things.” He shrugged. I couldn’t tell what he meant by that, but I knew he wouldn’t tell me anything even if he could. “Romeo mentioned that you and Lorenzo would be here tonight, so I thought I would stop by to see how you were doing.” He grinned. “I can see that you are well.”
“Yes.” I smiled and leaned back further into my husband. “We’ll have to come back down to Atlantic City sometime to visit.”
“You’re always welcome at the Obsidian, but I have a feeling that it won’t be anytime soon.” He gave a pointed look at my midsection, where my belly was hidden behind the costume.
Drinks were brought over for us to share a toast with Nic. Gia and I sang Happy Birthday, loudly and off-key, causing Nic to flush in both pleasure and embarrassment. I sipped on myShirley Temple, and Lorenzo sipped on a soda as everyone else drank and had a good time.
“Let’s go dance,” Nic demanded as she grabbed mine and Gia’s hands and pulled us toward the dance floor. There wasn’t a lot of room out there, but we made it work where we danced together.
“That Alek guy is seriously hot,” Nic said once we were far enough away from the guys.
“I like him, but I don’t think he’s anyone you want to mess with,” I warned Nic. I didn’t think Alek would hurt her, but I also knew that he was called the Grave Digger for a reason. He was dangerous.
Nic shook her head. “I’m not going to mess with anyone. I have school and stuff. I was just making an observation.”
