I’m right close to him, and I can smell that intoxicating musky aftershave he wears. I shake my head.
“You assume my family will let you see him. They don’t even know you’re the father. Only my father knows. Alessandro has no clue, and he doesn’t pry.”
“Then I think it’s time I told him,” he says.
I shake in his arms. “He’ll kill you.”
“Or he’ll be reasonable like a Don should be. We have united our families through this child, so I don’t think he’ll attack me. Not immediately, at any rate. I want to talk to him, then if you don’t want to see me, that’s fine. We can arrange visitations through our families. You can be rid of me. You’ll never have to speak to me again.”
The thought makes me sad, which must show on my face because he looks at me oddly. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know what I want,” I say quietly and stop struggling. “I don’t want to see you, but I do. I don’t know how to sort through my emotions right now, but Miguel, I’m begging you to let me get back to Raphael. He needs his mama.”
Silence fills the room as Miguel’s green eyes stare into my blue-gray ones.
Chapter 26 - Miguel
Those passionate eyes. I studied them for so long that I could never forget them. I’d remember every speck. I lower my head, and we kiss gently. I let go of her wrists, and she rests her hands on my chest. I hold her arms more gently. We continue to kiss gently, and as I inhale the scent of her soap, I kiss her more aggressively. She whimpers in my mouth but returns the kiss, so I press her against the wall, forcing our bodies together. Where we touch is that old spark that we had thirteen years ago.
I break the kiss to kiss down her neck, and she tilts her head to let me make my way down to her collarbone. I take her breasts in my hands and squeeze them gently. I kiss her other collarbone and kiss back up her neck. I breathe heavily into her ear, pausing.
“I don’t know what to do, Kira,” I admit finally, nuzzling the side of her head with the side of mine.
She takes my face in her hands and turns me to face her, she kisses me again, and I groan into her mouth. Everything about her is as I remember.
She breaks the kiss and whispers, “You need to let me go, Miguel, because while I’m kept here, Alessandro won’t give you access to Raphael. He’ll want me to confirm you’re the father.”
“There was no one else?” I ask, feeling as though my voice might crack.
“Never,” she breathes, and we kiss again. She slides her arms around my neck, and I wrap mine around her waist. We part after a moment, and the space between us feels cold.
“I will let you go if Alessandro agrees to my terms,” I say finally. “I have to take care of family business, Kira. It’s nothing personal.”
“I know,” she says, looking up at me. “Just do the right thing, though.”
“I will,” I say, stroking her hair out her face. “Go to your room. I’ll let you know once we’re ready to go. It won’t be safe for you if my father comes here. He wasn’t happy about the news.”
“Okay, I trust you, Miguel.”
She leaves and goes upstairs with Jarred in tow.
I take my phone out and message the family to come to the house, meeting in the dining room. I order the maids to clean up quickly as we’re having guests.
I touch my lips where we kissed, and I close my eyes. I’m sure there is still magic, but I have to let her go. It would never work between us. We’re two different families now united by a little boy. I plan to use that as leverage.
The men of my family arrive, including my rather annoyed-looking father, and they all sit down in the dining room. I stand at the head of the table, and as I’m about to speak, my father opens his mouth, “We’ve already discussed what you should do with the girl.”
“You would go behind your Don’s back to make decisions without him?” I ask, looking at each person. They all avert their gazes. “I won’t hear your idea because this child unites the Rossi and Sorvino families, so I plan to use that to our advantage.”
“You can’t negotiate with the Sorvinos for territory or money because your bastard is one of them,” my father roars.
“And yet, that’s what I’m going to do. Now, you have all shown great loyalty to me. We have made so many advancements for the family together. Would I really steer you wrong with this?”
Several of them murmur, but my father stands. “I will not recognize a Sorvino relative as a Rossi. It’s not how things are done.”
“Then you deny your own blood, and that is not done,” I spit back, and my father does a double take. “If you don’t want to accept a Rossi, then leave the Rossi family because we’ve always protected our own.”
More murmurs from everyone, and Lyle steps forward. “I trust you, Don Rossi. I trust you will do what’s best for us.”