“You do what you need to do, son. Leave your mother to me.” Pop was on the phone while I whipped up breakfast for Sloane and myself. He’d texted around ten asking me if I’d seen the headline of Tomlin’s arrest.


    There was no mention of the De Lis or the Zahkarovs in any article, which was how both crime families wanted it to go down. Tomlin was a part of a bigger sex-trafficking scandal. Kirill wanted them to clear Kolya of the Mistress Strangler case, but he’d pissed off the prosecutor who refused to let it go without evidence to support his innocence.


    I thought Margo had the evidence, but she’d changed her mind about handing it to Kirill, or maybe she’d been bluffing all along. I wouldn’t be surprised if Kirill murdered the matchmaker himself.


    The bratva was in a tenuous position. Ivan had turned a blind eye to Grigori and the sex parties and it was in their best interest to give the feds what they wanted since the now-dead Grigori was their scapegoat. His bloated body washed up on Brighton Beach.


    I wasn’t lowering my guard around the Russians because my sister partly instigated this whole mess.


    “Sure you can handle Lucy and Ma in the same house?”


    Pop sighed. “You’ve sacrificed so much for our family, it’s time you find your own happiness. Your mother knows where I stand. We argued when she started griping at me about you and Sloane leaving the g yesterday before the dancing.”


    I checked the croissant bread pudding and the sheet pan bacon in the oven. “Really? What did you tell her?”


    “That you’ve been a good son to us. You went above and beyond your duties because you love our family. You deserve to be happy and I’m shutting down any criticism she has about Sloane. She can give me the silent treatment if she wants. I won’t interfere if you go off on her if she insults Sloane or makes her feel ufortable.”


    Iughed. “What did she say to that?”


    “It made her think. I’m not sure I’ve gotten through to her yet. You know your mother.”


    “I don’t want hering around without invitation.” I’d already changed the code to the elevator and her keycard wouldn’t work.


    Pop sighed again. “You know I don’t control her movements, but I’ll try my best to keep an eye on her this weekend.”


    “Ask Lucy to help you.”


    “Heaven help us.”


    “Love you, Pop.”


    “Love you, Dominic.”


    I ended the call and took the bacon out of the oven. The pudding needed another ten minutes.


    I felt her before she spoke.


    “It smells good in here.”


    A grin yed on my lips. “Making sure I have breakfast for you.”


    I turned around and was struck at how I wanted to keep this image of Sloane forever. She had her hair piled in a mess on her head, but what I loved the most was she was wearing one of my white dress shirts. That was all she was wearing. It looked good on her. She was barefoot, and she was holding a purring Ginger in her arms.


    Me too, Ginger. I felt like purring in immense satisfaction that something I owned was touching her skin.


    “She was waiting outside our bedroom door,” I told Sloane. “Did she bother you? I figured if I blocked her from entering the room, she’d cause mayhem.”


    “She snuggled in bed with me. She doesn’t usually do that and wants breakfast.” Sloane approached. “She was surprisingly absentst night.”


    I smirked. “That cat knows when she’s not wanted.”


    “Mean.” Her short, huskyugh did something strange inside my chest. I wasn’t a man prone to romantic notions. Romance wasn’t in my wheelhouse. I understood nurturing to show love. I hadn’t had a girlfriend in over a decade. Did a man at my age even call his woman a girlfriend? That seemed so juvenile and a title that should be left behind for a guy in his twenties. Could I skip all those titles and go straight to fiancée or wife?


    I like the sound of wife better.


    “What are you grinning at?” Sloane asked.


    Without answering her, I dragged her close. Ginger hissed her displeasure and jumped out of the way before she got crushed between us. I swallowed Sloane’s surprised gasp with a devouring morning kiss. When I released her, she was breathing hard.


    “Debating what to do with you,” I murmured. “Debating what to call you. Girlfriend sounds so immature.”


    “And what have you decided?”


    “Wife sounds better.”


    “Dominic De Li, are you skipping a proposal and a wedding?”


    “No. We can get the ring now and have the license ready.” I was dead serious. All these weeks of trying to get Sloane to forgive me and take me back, I wasn’t wasting time and was locking this woman down.


    She pushed my chest. “You don’t know how to romance a girl, do you?”


    “I can romance you all you want. Just as my wife.”


    “I haven’t even told you I love you.”


    “Consider this our arranged marriage. You will fall in love with me, eventually.” I shot her a roguish grin. Color climbed her cheeks.


    Sheughed and pushed at my chest. “What has gotten into you?”


    “Understand you’re not a foregone conclusion. Now that the public knows who I’m crazy about, I’m afraid someone else is gonna try to steal you from me. Although I know you like viins and I’m New York’s most eligible viin after all, so I have the advantage.”


    Her body shook withughter. “You’re so cocky.” Then she narrowed her eyes. “But we’re not rushing into this, remember? So no calling me your wife.” She shoved me away. “Now go get me coffee.”


    “Meow.” That one meow from Ginger was demanding.


    Sloane muttered, “Let me feed this cat so she’ll forgive us for ignoring her.”


    I poured coffee into a fresh mug and refilled mine. “She knows who keeps her in style with her expensive tuna. She’s notining much.” I set Sloane’s coffee on the counter, nearly spilling my own as I took a sip. She was bent over, giving me an eyeful of the shadow between her thighs.


    My cock stirred behind my sweatpants, rapidly increasing in girth and length as Sloane continued to sh me her delicious pussy. My mouth watered, but I wasn’t ravenous for pudding and bacon. mming my mug on the kitchen ind, I stalked toward Sloane who suddenly straightened. Her eyes widened when she saw me heading for her.


    “Dom, what…?”


    “Breakfast. Now. You.”


    I swept the tes off the kitchen counter, lifting her onto it, not caring about the distant crash and an indignant feline howl. I was too focused on Sloane.


    I dragged her to the edge and spotted the gleam of triumph in her eyes. “You did that on purpose.”


    “Sometimes, food is not the first thing I want in the morning,” she breathed expectantly.


    “You got it,” I growled, burying my head between her thighs, and feasted.<hr>


    Sloane


    One could say I was like the cat who swallowed the cream.


    After Dom tongue-fucked and fucked me on the kitchen counter, we were both reclining on the couch while the remnants of breakfast—cold bacon and burnt croissant pudding—sat on the coffee table. Despite the vigorous activity in the kitchen, I wasn’t that hungry for food.


    “You know I love waking you up with my mouth,” Dom murmured in my ear. “But I thought I’d give you a bit of reprieve seeing how I wore you outst night.”


    “And I appreciate it, except the picture of you being all nurturing and cooking me breakfast got me all hot.” I was looking at Ginger who was cleaning her paws by the window, soaking up thete morning sun.


    “Hot, huh?”


    “What will I do with you, Dominic De Li?” I syed my fingers across his hard chest. The organ underneath it beat against my palm.


    “You can do whatever you want with me.”


    “You said being in a rtionship is fraught with expectations,” I said. “Is there something you expect from me?”


    “So far you’re meeting expectations.” He chuckled.


    “Be serious, Dom. This is not a job review.”


    “Exactly. That’s why corporate America was never for me,” he said. “I was wrong, baby, when I said that. I think trust is more important. I know I fucked up and trampled on your heart. I know why you’re hesitant to say you love me. You almost confessed, right? That night you broke up with me?”


    “I was falling for you.”


    He stilled. “Was.”


    “It was a bond that was poorly formed,” I exined. “We started trying not to feel more, and I started resenting my ce in your life because I was growing more attached. I had to end it. We were trying so hard to keep our affair impersonal, we forgot how to be friends. Friends who trusted each other. The situation could have ended differently, but I’m learning from those mistakes.”


    I could feel Dom nod his head. “We’re learning.”


    “These past few weeks, I’ve felt better about myself and I’ve learned to be with you without the pressure of a rtionship.” Amusement twitched my lips. “Okay, maaayyybe there’s pressure, but it was in a way that enabled us to be friends first without muddling it with a physical rtionship.”


    Dom snorted. “Is that how you see it?”


    I burst outughing this time. “That time I woke up rubbing against you and you were hard?—”


    “About killed me, baby. The sexual tension between us is incendiary.”


    “You did explode in mest night.”


    He nuzzled my neck. “I want to explode in you again.”


    We exchanged light kisses. My pussy was sore from that bout in the kitchen. Dom hadn’t shaved, and he’d given me stubble burns. Still, having this man lose control over me exhrated me and imbued me with power.


    It was noon. No word from the girls. Thest texts in our group chat indicated it was time for the women to shower attention on their husbands since they’d been all over me in the past few weeks.


    I didn’t mind being their glow-up project, but we all could use some time off. “What are we going to do today?”<fnfcbe> The source of th?s content is FindN0vel</fnfcbe>


    “Would you mind very much if I kept you in the penthouse all weekend?”


    “No, but just so you know, my pussy is sore.”


    He raised a brow. “Are youining?”


    Iughed. It was the most levity I’d experienced in a long time. Something had been anchoring my happiness to the ground, preventing me from floating away with giddiness. I was happy with myself, but being with him finally freed my heart to experience the joy of being in love.


    Love.


    I loved Dom.


    I informed him I wasn’t sure yet, but his confidence showed that he knew. He was waiting for me to catch up and admit it to myself.


    “Were you talking to your dad this morning?”


    He stiffened. “Yes.”


    “And? We left the g earlyst night. A g your mother helped organized.”


    “Are you asking if she has a problem with us being a couple?” He stood and grabbed the tes off the coffee table and strode to the kitchen.


    I followed him. The broken dishes were on the floor, so I went to the pantry to get the dustpan.


    “Leave that mess,” he snapped.


    I red at him. “You’re telling a cleaner to leave the mess?”


    “You’re not a cleaner anymore.”


    “No, I’m not. Doesn’t mean I won’t do any cleaning,” I retorted. “So, talk and don’t leave anything out.”


    He repeated what his father said. I was surprised because the few times Bianca and Sera talked about Dom’s parents, it was that Carlotta always got her way.


    Dom crouched beside me and gathered the bigger pieces. “You’re barefoot. Don’t step on it.”


    “I’m fine.” Uncertainty wrapped itself around my heart again. Not about Dom and me, but I wondered what battley ahead with his mother.


    He sighed. “Sloane, look at me.”


    I halted sweeping the shards into the dustpan. “What?”


    “I’m not gonna let Ma steamroll you. She never could with me. I gave in only as much as I allowed myself. And my boundaries with you are clear.”


    I shot him a reassuring smile. Dom was the one stuck between a rock and a hard ce. He’d made it clear he was one hundred percent in this rtionship and we wouldn’t know exactly what was ahead until we lived it. I trusted him implicitly. I trusted he wouldn’t betray his words ofmitment to me. Because if he did, I didn’t think I could recover enough to trust another man for a long time, but I knew I was going to be okay. I wasn’t going to fall into a deep depression over a man because I had my job to live for, and friends who would support me no matter what path I chose.


    And with rity and confidence, I was ready for this adventure.