Chapter 51
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RAYDEN (27YRS)
When I walked into the kitchen the next morning, I could feel everyone’s eyes on me and I stumbled. Strong hands gripped my waist to keep me upright and I glanced behind me. With his freshly washed hair, eyes bright with morning awareness, Lorenzo gave me a smile I doubt I’d ever seen on him. It hinged between ‘I’ve got you’ and ‘I love you’ and a warm, fuzzy feeling, I couldn’t explain, rolled over me. While it was all new to me, somehow it felt right, almost natural, like we’d been doing this forever.
“You okay?” His large frame filled the entrance, making his appearance seem unreal.
“Yeah.” I turned as my father approached us. “Dad...” For the first time in a long while, I had no idea what to say. How to break this subject with my family.
“Lorenzo.” My father nodded a greeting to him then shifted his gaze to me, his lips wide in an affectionate smile. “We’re family, son. C’mon.” When we moved closer, my family looked up from their breakfast chatter. “Everyone, I’d like you to meet Lorenzo Rossi, my son-in-law,” there was no break, no hesitation, no bullshit in my father’s voice as he looked at me and winked.
As each member of my family introduced themselves, I watched Lorenzo, trying to gauge his expression, trying to establish whether his thoughts were as chaotic as mine. He wasn’t the family type of man, he was a cold, brutal killer and while the idea of him being in my home was still strange, I hoped he’d adapt to my lifestyle as easily as I’d adapted to his. Judging by the rapid Italian conversation between him and my grandparents, it looked like I had nothing to worry about.
Jardin ran up to me. “Da...ddy, baby up.”
“Hey, buddy.” I picked him up and nuzzled his cheek. “What have you been doing?” Since his arrival, between Kyra and my grandmother, Jardin hardly saw his bedroom. He alternated sleeping with them despite me telling them he needed to be in his own room. I had a feeling my son had become their new favorite pastime.
“Painting,” he mumbled, preoccupied with scraping red paint off his tiny fingers.
Laughing, I tickled his tummy until he squirmed. “Da...ddy, stop. See.” He held up his hand. “Boo paint.”
“It’s red.”
He shook his head. “Boo.”
“You want to wash it off?” He shook his head making me smile. “What did you eat for breakfast?”
“Milk. Nana. Car...rots.” He counted on his fingers, trying to pronounce banana and carrots, which I learned where two of his favorites.
“See what I got, Jardin.” Nina appeared with a paintbrush and a tube of red paint. He reached out a hand to take it. “Let’s go wash your hands first, okay?” He nodded.
“See you later, buddy.” I kissed his cheek before handing him over to Nina.
“Damn, boy, how the hell did you pull this off.” I turned slightly as Tamara grabbed my arms and swung me around to face her and my sister. “My nephew brings home a guy and he’s so fucking hot even I want in on that piece of ass,” she whispered.
“I have to agree with her,” Kyra whispered as well while both woman eye-fucked Lorenzo.
I cracked up. “Would you two get your own piece of ass.”
“Does he have a brother?” Tamara fanned her face, her eyes still on him. “I’m like literally having hermaphrodite action down south just watching that man.”
“He has a brother I could hook you up with.” I grinned, wondering if any woman would be able to handle Remo’s brand of fucked-up. After seeing him with Tia, I was inclined to believe she could.
“Is he hot?” Kyra asked, chewing nail polish off her fingernails.
“How the fuck would I know?” I mumbled. Both women looked at me like I’d just stepped off planet, shit for brains.
“Er, hello, you’re fucking a man, so technically you’d know if a man were hot or not,” Kyra rolled her eyes at me.
