Page 54 of The Godfather’s Christmas Twins

“I’m right here, Max.”

He kisses me. This time, it’s soft, sweet, and it makes my heart fill with emotions I shouldn’t feel, can’t seem to stop from feeling.

“You’re sure?” he asks as he turns me back to his desk.

“I should be asking you that.”

“I’ve never been more sure of anything. You, my sweet Gia.”

I tell myself this is sex talking. He’s not confessing his love for me. But my heart still grabs onto the words as if they do mean something.

There are no words after that. Just kisses and caresses. He unbuttons my blouse and unhooks my bra. His hands knead my breasts. His lips suck my nipples.

He slides his hands up my legs, lifting my skirt and tugging down my panties. I undo his slacks, freeing him, marveling at his length and hardness.

He steps between my legs, his eyes intensely gazing into mine. I give him a nod and he thrusts inside me. He’s hot, smooth, thick, filling me.

He lets out a feral groan, his fingers gripping my hips as he rocks against me.

His hand slides down my thigh, lifting it as he tilts me back further on his desk. “Fuck… so fucking good. Do you feel it?”

“Yes.” It’s so deliciously good. I hold on to his shoulders, my legs holding him to me as I move with him. It’s a perfect dance. Can’t he see that, how good we are together? Not just like this, but in all things.

I want this moment to last forever, but my body has other ideas. Max drives in, grinds against me, and I’m soaring. Pleasure washes through me. My body shudders around him.

“Gia.” He calls out as he thrusts again, warmth filling my body as he comes with me. “Sweet Gia.”

It’s a most beautiful moment, and I do all I can to sear it in my memory because I know that this won’t last. He cares for me. I know he does. But he doesn’t want a family. He doesn’t want to risk my brother’s friendship. When my stalker is found, this will end. There’s nothing I can do to change that.

17

MAX

Isit at my desk, my heart still racing from being with Gia. The leather chair creaks as I lean back, running my hands through my disheveled hair. The scent of her perfume lingers on my skin, my clothes. Her taste is on my tongue.

Fuck.

In twenty-plus years of being sexually active, I've never once foregone a condom. But with Gia, I lost all sense of control. The idea of being with her flesh to flesh, no barrier… I couldn’t not have that. At least not once.

My stomach knots as the memory of her sweet, wet pussy around my dick, how perfectly we fit together collide in my head. It was so fucking perfect.

But now, reality is like ice water tossed in my face. The situation with Gia is already complicated enough. Adding this risk into the mix… I press my palms against my eyes, trying to steady my nerves. What the fuck would Nic do if I got her pregnant?

It’s not that I don’t believe Gia that she’s on the pill because I do. But my cum is inside her womb. It’s still a risk.

But I’ve been taking that risk every time I’ve been with her. I took that risk six years ago. I’ve counted on a rubber to protect me each time. It hasn’t failed me yet.

An image forms in my mind—Gia round with my child, a little girl with Gia's honey-blonde hair and green eyes, or maybe a boy with her fierce spirit, not unlike Daniella and Dario. The thought of coming home to them, teaching them to swim in my pool, reading bedtime stories. Of being a family. My chest tightens with a longing I didn't know I wanted.

I shake my head hard. This fantasy can't happen. I'm Nic's most trusted capo and friend, Gia's godfather. The complications would destroy everything—my friendship with Nic, Gia's reputation, as well as mine.

"Fuck," I mutter, reaching for my bottom desk drawer where I keep the good scotch. As I down the scotch, I close my eyes, trying to burn away images of what our child might look like.

I blow out a breath and turn my focus to the present reality. Right now, I need to deal with Benny. The fact that he showed up here threatening Gia suggests I’ve failed. How was he in the casino and I didn’t know? Why did my men throw him out instead of bringing him to me?

I grab my phone and dial Tony, my head of casino security. "I want eyes on every casino, every street corner. Find me Benny Cantore."

“We tossed him, banned him?—”