Twisted Bonds by Cora Reilly

CHAPTER 24

NINO

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Despite a lack of sleepa newborn entailed, Kiara seemed to glow with energy and happiness as she took care of Alessio. He hardly slept more than two hours in a row, a fussy and nervous baby who needed lots of attention. That was probably why his birthmother had burnt him. Some people should never consider having children, so very unlike Kiara who had an endless supply of patience, not just for Alessio but for everyone.

While Kiara prepared a bottle for him, I cradled him on my thighs. He was already mewling, desperate for food. “It’s okay, Alessio. Your mom’s bringing you your milk soon.”

I gently pushed up his shirt, checking the two burn marks on his belly. They were still red but healing. “Can you give me the salve?” I asked Remo, who’d been kicking the boxing sack, which he refused to have removed from the living area despite Kiara’s and Serafina’s not so subtle hints.

Stopping his assault, he grabbed the tube from the table, sank down beside me and handed me the salve. I put a bit of it on my fingers and rubbed it between them, so it wouldn’t be too cold then spread it on Alessio’s wounds. He stopped the mewling only moving his mouth as if he was already suckling the bottle.

“I can’t believe how fucking small he is,” Remo said, touching his finger to Alessio’s palm. “Nevio and Greta were already five months older when I first saw them, and I already thought they were tiny.”

When I was done with his burns, I pulled back and immediately Alessio mewled again so I kept rubbing his belly with my thumb. Kiara showed up with the bottle and I was about to hand Alessio to her because she’d handled the feeding and almost everything else so far, eager to finally be a mother, but she shook her head.

“Your turn.”

I took the bottle from her and she settled on the armrest. The moment I touched the dummy to Alessio’s lips, he eagerly began to suck but I kept stroking his belly since it seemed to calm him. Remo got to his feet and squeezed my shoulder then walked out into the garden.

“What do you see when you look at him?” Kiara asked, raking her fingers through my hair the way I always enjoyed.

I regarded the small child in my lap, the way he clung to the bottle as if it could be taken from him at any point, the red marks on his belly, the way he responded to gentle touch. “You. I see you.”

Kiara tilted her head with a curious expression. “Me? He doesn’t look like me.”

“That’s not what I mean,” I said, trying to put into words what I felt because that was what Kiara had actually been asking. “I see you because he needs protection and care like you did when you were given to me. I see you because he means you’re happy. I see your love. That’s why I’ll come to love him like I came to love you. You know, it takes time for me.”

“I know, and your words are already more than I expected.” She leaned forward and kissed my cheek.

When we brought himto bed around seven that evening, I wrapped my arms around Kiara from behind, nuzzling her neck. We hadn’t been intimate since Alessio had joined our family. Kiara couldn’t relax with him in the same room and she didn’t want to leave him alone yet. I pressed my erection against her lower back and she released a small sigh, and looked at me over her shoulder. “I can’t with him in the same room.”

“I know,” I murmured and held up the baby phone. “We can leave him here and still make sure he’s fine.”

She bit her lip, torn between her need to protect him and her need for physical closeness. I stroked her side. “Put on your new red dress but no panties and come down to the piano. Bring your red silk shawl. I’ll be waiting for you.”

Kiara nodded.

I turned and headed downstairs. After putting the baby phone on a side table on loud, I sank down on the bench in front of the piano. My cock was straining against my pants. I desired Kiara in a way I hadn’t thought possible. Being with a woman for a couple of years, I’d have thought I’d grow tired of her body, her scent, her taste, but far from it.

I started to play the song I’d created with Kiara until I heard the sound of heels. Kiara descended the stairs in her knee-length elegant red dress and the matching sling-pumps, clutching the red silk shawl in one hand. She looked curious and eager as she approached me. I didn’t stop playing until she was beside me.

“No,” I said when she was about to take a seat beside me on the bench.

Kiara frowned. I slipped the shawl from her fingers and lifted it to her face. “Can I cover your eyes?”

Surprise flashed in her dark eyes, then a flicker of excitement. “Okay.”

I carefully knotted the shawl at the back of her head. “I just want you to feel and for that to work we need to limit your senses,” I rasped.

Kiara released a small breath, shivering. I closed the lid over the keys then hoisted Kiara up on the piano. She gasped. I gripped one heel and set it to the elevated edge of the piano, then did the same with her other foot so she sat in front of me with spread legs. The flowy skirt gathered between her thighs, covering her up.

“Keep your legs like this,” I ordered.

Kiara nodded, her breathing already deepening. Gripping the hem of her skirt, I pushed it up and bunched it around her waist, laying her pussy bare to my view.

Desire raced through my veins, seeing her opened for me, her pink folds already glistening with her lust. I leaned forward and ran my nose along the small white scar on her inner thigh then inhaled. Kiara quivered. “Nino?” Need and a hint of insecurity rang in her voice. I peered up, found her cheeks reddening.

“Lie back,” I murmured and she did. “Relax. Feel. Listen.”

I pushed her skirt even higher then pulled her closer until her pussy hovered over the edge, tantalizing and teasing. I lifted the lid again and hit the A key. The low note reverberated in the piano and, seeing goosebumps rise on Kiara’s skin. She could feel the hum everywhere, even in her pussy. I played the low note again but this time I kissed her knee and trailed my tongue down her calf and circled her ankle with the tip before I moved back up and hit the next note on the piano.

Kiara breathed faster, her breasts rising with every intake, nipples pebbling against the luxurious fabric, and her arousal increased. I kept on this little stimulation, hitting the two lowest notes over and over again while kissing and licking her calves and ankle until she was panting. “You’re going to drip on the piano,” I said in a raw voice, leaning forward and licking up the droplet making its way down Kiara’s perfect butt cheek.

She arched with a small moan. “Nino, please.”

“Relax. Listen. Feel,” I told her.

I played a new, higher note and licked along her inner thigh right to the crook between her thigh and pussy, then inhaled again and my own arousal almost made me give up my plan. Fuck. I wanted to dive in, devour her pussy and then bury myself inside of her.

“Nino, please just ...”

“Just what? What do you want?” I licked over her scar then sucked the skin into my mouth and hit the low note again. Kiara’s thigh muscles twitched against my lips.

“Nino...”

“Say what you want.”

“I want you to lick me,” she admitted.

“Good.” I pressed my mouth to her pussy and licked, long and slow like the A note. As my fingers found the higher notes, hitting them faster and faster, I fluttered my tongue over her clit. She tensed and hitting the A note once more, I sucked her clit between my lips and she came in my mouth, arching up on the piano, an apparition of red fabric and white skin against the black lacquer. Closing my eyes, I allowed myself to feel the music, to savor Kiara’s taste. Perfection.

Drawing back, I closed the lid again then opened my fly and pulled out my cock. Grasping her hips, I pulled her down until her feet found the floor and she was leaning back against the piano with her pussy hovering above my dick.

“Bend your legs.”

She did and my tip pressed against her folds. Moaning, she tried to lower herself further but my hand on her hip held her fast. “Not yet.” I rubbed my thick tip along her pussy lips nudging her clit every time. She panted and my own breathing turned ragged. I couldn’t resist any longer.

“Ride me.”

She lowered herself, her fingers clinging to the piano lid behind her as she impaled herself on my length. She started moving her hips, up and down, rotating at the same time, chasing pleasure while driving me to the brink of my own control as I watched her.  Reaching for the shawl, I tugged it away. Kiara’s eyes blazed with lust and need, and she rocked even faster against me. Our eyes held each other, her lips parting in a small cry and she clenched around me, tipping me over the edge with her. She kept rocking against me even as I pulled her to my chest until finally she became slack on top of me.

“Wow,” she breathed. “I didn’t think music could be erotic.”

“When you are concerned everything can be erotic,” I drawled as I trailed appreciative kisses along her chest and throat.

“Where in the ever lovingfuck is he?” Remo snarled. We’d gathered in the common area to discuss Adamo’s disappearance.

“Not with C.J., that much is clear. She was the first person I checked. Diego said Gemma asked a few of her friends who know the people Adamo hangs with occasionally, but nothing,” I said.

Kiara walked back and forth on the terrace, listening, Alessio strapped to the sling in front of her chest, trying to get him to sleep, but she was listening, I could tell.

I added, “I think we must consider the very valid option that he found someone who’d sell him heroine and now he’s sleeping off his high.”

“If he bought it from the wrong people, he could be dead. Either they kill him, or they sell him low quality drugs that are cut with rat poison or the hell what else. He could be lying in a ditch with an overdose right about now,” Remo ground out. He kept rubbing his thumb up and down the scars on his wrist.

“You did everything you could to protect him.”

“Maybe he’s just at the race. You know he wanted to race this weekend and was pissed when he wasn’t allowed to,” Savio said, one arm braced against the bar.

“One of the crew would have told us,” I said.

“Not if Adamo managed to sneak in again like last time.”

Remo went over to his punching bag and landed a hard kick. “You mean the time he got himself captured by the fucking Outfit?” He exhaled, then gripped the bag hard.

Savio gave me a look that made it clear he was done trying to talk to Remo.

“Their camp is close by at the moment. Northeast of L.A.. We could head over there and check,” I said.

Remo grunted. “He would hide from us.”

“We could try anyway.”

Remo nodded slowly. “But if he’s shit-faced, if he really punched that shit into his veins again, you better hold me back or I might just beat him to within an inch of his life this time.”

Savio shoved away from the bar and plopped down on the sofa. “I guess that means I’ll have to stick around and play babysitter, figuratively and literally.”

“You and Fabiano. We’re lucky he got the house beside ours.”

“As if luck had anything to do with it. That plastic surgeon almost shit his pants when Remo talked to him.”

“He was lucky I didn’t just kill him, so there you go,” Remo muttered.

I headed outside to tell Kiara. From the worried look on her face she knew already. “You’re leaving to search for Adamo?”

“Have to. This kid ... he’s ...” I shook my head and stroked Alessio’s hair.

“Find him. Help him,” Kiara said. “We’ll be all right. Maybe you’ll find him before his cake goes stale.”

“I think you should eat it today. His birthday will be over by the time we find him and I suspect he won’t deserve a reward.”

Kiara pursed her lip. “It’s his birthday cake.”

Serafina sat on the grass and the twins were in the small baby pool she’d gotten them but she looked toward us. “We can bake something fresh once he’s back. Nino’s right, the key lime pie won’t last long.”

When Remo joined us outside, she looked at him and her face reflected the same concern I’d seen on Kiara’s.

Remo and I weren’t only responsible for our brothers anymore, we had wives and children. He gave me a pissed look, thinking the same and eager to kick Adamo’s ass. I wasn’t sure what to do with Adamo, how to handle him. If it wasn’t him, the solution would have been clear—torture, then death.

“I don’t know what to do with him if he’s drugged again,” Remo said when we sat in the car, ready to head out.

“We’ll figure it out. We can try again. Lock him in longer this time.”

Remo started the car. “What if it’s not enough?”

I didn’t say anything, because for once I couldn’t think of other options.

KIARA

I was stretched out on the sofa beside Alessio, trying to get some rest after a sleepless night. Alessio was sleeping soundly now. Despite my tiredness I couldn’t fall asleep. I loved watching his sweet face too much. Nino and Remo had been gone for one day and we hadn’t heard from them yet, which wasn’t unusual considering Nino despised unnecessary messages.

My phone buzzed on the table beside me. Turning awkwardly, I reached for it, trying not to wake Alessio. Adamo’s name flashed across the screen. I picked up at once, surprised he’d call me. “Where are you? I baked you a cake for your birthday yesterday but you just disappeared. We’re worried about you.” I hoped he hadn’t celebrated his sixteenth birthday alone. Maybe Savio was right and he’d spent it at the races, maybe with friends he’d made there, but why hadn’t Remo and Nino found him yet?

“Kiara...” The word was slurred.

“Adamo, what’s wrong? Where are you?” I asked, sitting up carefully.

“With my mother ... I was there to see her...”

Shock washed over me. I’d thought Adamo had put her out of his mind like his brothers seemed to have done. Why had he visited her, on his birthday no less?

“And now? Where are you now? Still in the hospital?”

“Nah ... ” he said quietly, a hint of hesitation in his voice, as if he wasn’t telling me everything. “Didn’t stay long ... she’s not right in the head ... she’s ...”

“Adamo, why don’t you come home? Take a cab. Don’t drive. You are drunk, right?” He couldn’t be far. The mental institution was in the outer suburbs of Vegas.

Adamo laughed. It was a soft, despondent sound. “Drunk, drugged.”

I began pacing the room, growing more and more nervous. “Do you want me to pick you up?”

“Don’t tell my brothers,” he said quickly.

There was no way his brothers wouldn’t find out. They’d suspected his relapse after all.

“I won’t. I can pick you up by myself. I’ll take a car. There are enough to choose from.”

“When’s the last time you’ve driven a car?”

I hadn’t driven a car in years, only during driving lessons when I was still in school.

“Adamo, tell me where you are. Let me help you.” I glanced down at Alessio who was moving his fingers in his sleep. If it was just me, I wouldn’t have hesitated to drive the car even if I was inexperienced. However, I wouldn’t risk it with Alessio in the same car, and I couldn’t leave him with Serafina. She had the twins to take care of, who were enough work, especially Nevio. Leona was on campus, and Savio and Fabiano couldn’t take care of a newborn.

“You won’t drive yourself. You’ll send someone, right?” he said miserably.

“No,” I lied even as I felt bad, but I couldn’t drive no matter how much I wanted to, and maybe Adamo needed someone who could carry him if he passed out.

“She ran away,” he said.

“Who ran away?” The conversation was confusing me. With my lack of sleep, I just couldn’t keep up.

“I thought it would be nice to see her on my birthday. She was nice. She told me it was okay if I needed to escape reality now and then. She stayed at my side while I got myself a fix.”

Anger bubbled up. “Adamo, who ran away?” A horrible suspicion was taking root in my head. I didn’t want to give it room to grow. It couldn’t be.

“Our mother, she ran away. Today. Gone. I don’t know where she went.”

I frowned, trying to understand what he was saying and wondering how much of it was the result of his drug haze. “I thought you saw her in the hospital. She can’t leave there. Remo’s given clear orders...” A feeling of dread was taking hold of me.

“He gave the orders that only one of us brothers could get her out.”

I closed my eyes. “You helped her get out of the hospital?”

“Yeah ... she was crying and apologizing. I thought we could ... I don’t know... I didn’t want her to die.” He released a shuddering breath. “But she used me. She ran off when I fueled up the car. I don’t know where she went. She isn’t right in the head. Fuck, Kiara. I’m such an idiot.”

Adamo was adrift and looking for an anchor but he kept looking in the wrong places when a safe haven was always waiting for him in these walls. 

“Come home,” I urged. “We’re all worried about you.”

“Remo and Nino will never forgive me for setting her free.”

“Of course, they will. They love you. They’ll go through fire for you, just come home. Everything will be fine.” But I wasn’t sure it was true. Remo and Nino hated and feared their mother equally. She was the thorn in their flesh, the tether to their cruel past and the gasoline that could fuel the fire of their monstrosity.

I said, “Let me help you. Let me pick you up.”

“No.” His voice was already fading as if he was lowering his phone. “I’ll have to find her. I’ll have to ... have to ... so Remo and Nino forgive me.”

“Adamo!”

The line went dead. I tried calling him back, but he rejected the call. Alessio woke from my shout and began crying. What was I supposed to do?