Loving Leo (The Romanovsky Brothers Book 3) Page 5

  “See.” Chet smiled. “And you thought your part in this play was small. You thought you were the understudy.” He winked at her. “Jess, you’re the main act.”

  “I will expose King.” Jessica knew Chet was coddling her, and it sent her stomach churning. “Even if I have to steamroll over every Romanovsky to do it.”

  4

  Family dinner long over, Tony and Val found themselves alone at the circular fire pit in the backyard. Tony was sitting on the edge of the stone structure with Val pacing before him.

  Tony’s eyes followed his son, blazing hotter with each passing second. “What the hell do you mean Rome knows?”

  Val stopped pacing and gave Tony a look. “I mean Rome knows. What do you mean, what do I mean? He knows, Pop. He knows. He knows.”

  “How?”

  “He had my mug shot in his hand tonight. In the study. He wouldn’t tell me where he got it, but my money’s on Angie Colt.”

  “Goddamn it. King said he got rid of everything in her office.”

  “Yeah, well, he didn’t.”

  “Watch your tone with me.”

  “Watch my tone?” Val laughed, but instead of lighting him up, it curled his lips. “Rome knows, Angie knows, and whoever put that mug shot in Angie’s hand? They know it too. God only knows where she got it. Who from. Our family is about to be torn to shreds, Pop, and you’re worried about my tone?”

  Tony stood tall, closing in on him with a finger pointed. “You made the choice to climb into bed with Zoey. Your irresponsible actions are what drove Roman to that fertility clinic in the first place, and eventually straight to Angie Colt. Your irresponsible actions are the reason all of this has spiraled so far out of control. All because you couldn’t keep your dick in your pants. So, yes, Valentin Romanovsky, watch your tone when you’re speaking to me, I’m your father.”

  Val stepped back, teeth grating, lips curled down. He dug his hands into his hair as his skin flushed crimson.

  “Calm down, Val. Christ, you’re shaking like a leaf. Take a deep breath.”

  Val’s breathing picked up, causing his words to lag and break. “It’s going to kill her, Pop.” His hands fell helplessly to his sides, moisture filling his eyes. “It’s just going to fucking kill her.”

  “She’s not going to find out.”

  Val looked away, tears threatening to spill out of his wide eyes. “Fuck,” he wheezed, jamming them shut.

  Tony swallowed hard and took the back of Val’s neck in his hand, tugging him in.

  Val exploded into sobs on his father’s shoulder, clutching the back of his t-shirt in tight fists, nearly ripping the fabric.

  “I’ll handle it,” Tony soothed, his unblinking eyes darting back and forth over Val’s shoulder as he clapped a hand to his back. “I’ll handle it, Son. It’s okay.”

  ***

  Leo made his way through his living room that night, sidestepping the sultry bodies all over his apartment. If he wasn’t tripping over sprawled arms and legs, he was dodging overturned wine bottles, glass bongs and purses overflowing with cosmetics and prescription bottles.

  “Leeeeoooo!” a petite blonde angel waved at him from where she was crouched next to his coffee table. Her smile faded as she pressed one nostril closed with her manicured finger and leaned down.

  Leo turned away before he could see her inhale the white powder she’d worked into a line on the table, pulling open the door of his balcony.

  One of the highest dwellings in the city, the views from his penthouse were unrivaled, so a majority of the women were on the balcony. It was the only place to be, nippy weather be damned.

  With a sigh, he stepped through the sliding doors and into the cool night air, immediately flanked by soft bodies, sultry voices, and suggestive words of welcome. He brushed away the advances of every curvy body that approached.

  “Leeeoooooo, let’s have some fun.”

  “Not tonight, ahh… umm…” He studied the eyes of the lithe beauty in his arms, faltering.

  “Monica!” she beamed, giving him a halfhearted slap on the arm.

  “Of course.” The corner of his mouth lifted. “I knew that.”

  She rolled her eyes and turned away.

  “Of course your name is Monica, baby, I knew that,” he called after her. More girls came, one after the next. He allowed them to slither in close, to rub their beautiful bodies against his. He even grabbed a handful of ass with his gluttonous palm from a few of his favorites. The smack of skin permeated the biting air, and the chocolate vixen on his arm bit her lip at the sound. “Mmmm… Leeeooooo… let’s go to the bedroom, baby.”

  “Not tonight…. Ah…” He hissed. “Urrrr…”

  “Jasmine!”

  “Jasmine.” He smiled. “Of course.”

  “God,” she scoffed through her smile, shaking her head.

  “Why don’t you go inside and make yourself a drink, Jasmine.”

  “Maybe we’ll link up later?” she asked, over her shoulder.

  His cheeks tightened. “Maybe.”

  Melancholy moans and pouted lips followed as he turned down what seemed to be a never-ending stream of sexual propositions and promises, only moving to the glass railing of his balcony when there wasn’t a single heart left to break. He took the railing in his hands, drinking in the city lights. Even the streets, seventy stories down, glowed like they were lined with white candles. The Empire State Building soared in the distance, miles away, but appeared close enough to touch.

  “Leeeeoooo.”

  Clutching the railing, Leo looked toward the sunken Jacuzzi in the far corner of the balcony, toward that high, beseeching voice, and locked eyes with the voluptuous red head. She smiled, a waterfall splashing down from her arm as she lifted it into the air and reached for him. When he didn’t come, she bit her red bottom lip.

  A blonde swam in next to her and sucked her earlobe between her lips. Foamy water bubbled around their pert pink nipples.

  “Not tonight, sweetheart,” Leo said, eyes falling to her breasts.

  The redhead poked her lips out. “Did you meet a nice girl? You only get like this when you’ve met a nice girl.”

  “Are you breaking up with us?” The blonde laughed, meeting his eyes.

  Leo clicked his tongue. “Never, ahh…”

  “Genevieve!”

  “I know.” He beamed. “And never, Genevieve. Never that.”

  ***

  Zoey brushed her fingers along Val’s stubbly jaw as she walked through the door he held open for her, stepping into their apartment.

  Val saw a chill race down her spine. She hugged her arms around her body.

  The door slammed closed behind him, and he covered her protruding stomach with his hand before he went to the thermostat across the room, turning the heat up. The room swam with warmth. He continued to watch the thermostat’s digital screen, bracing his hands against the wall on either side of it.

  “Are you waiting for that thermostat to flash you her tits? Because I really don’t think she’s that kind of girl,” Zoey teased. When his head suddenly fell, and stayed down, she sighed. “What is it, Val?”

  He pushed off the wall and faced her. They held each other’s eyes across the room, and then he swept his coat off his body.

  Her eyes followed him as he moved across their open loft, dropping his coat across the half-assembled white crib in the corner on his way into the state-of-the-art kitchen.

  Zoey stared at the crib, and couldn’t help it as her gaze moved along the various boxes that lined the wall. The gifts from friends and family piled up more each day as news of her pregnancy spread—furniture, high chairs, swings and toys. All untouched. All unopened.

  “Are you going to talk to me?” she asked, eyes narrowing.

  With his back to her, he ran his hands over the beanie on his head, back and forth, before finally ripping it off. The bright kitchen lights caught his rumpled dark hair, making it gleam as his arms came down to his sides.

&nbs
p; “I hate when you turn your back to me like that.”

  “I’m not turning my back to you, Zo. I’m in the kitchen.”

  Zoey’s gaze lowered, rose back to the half-built crib, and then she took a sudden, fierce hold of the dining chair next to her, almost tipping it over.

  Val fetched a pill bottle from the cabinet, turning just in time to see her grab the chair.

  The pills clattered in the plastic bottle as he raced across the room, taking the chair she clutched and pulling it out. “Sit down.”

  Zoey took the hand he offered and obliged, eyes jamming shut as she fell into the chair. “Just a little dizziness, that’s all.”

  He twisted open the pill bottle. “You were on your back when I woke up this morning. You gotta stop that, baby. You know how it messes with your blood pressure.”

  “Well, I can’t lie on my stomach and roll around all night like Humpty Dumpty, and lying on my side is uncomfortable as hell. It’s not like I can control what my body does while I’m asleep.”

  “We should ask the doctor if there are steps we can take to keep you off your back.”

  “Once upon a time you couldn’t wait to get me on my back. What do you think got us here?” She pointed to her belly.

  He rammed the bottle on the table, making the pills rattle. “Take your pill.”

  “Will you sit down and talk to me?” she asked, watching him make his way back to the kitchen while clawing his fingers through his dark hair. She fingered out a prenatal pill and swallowed it without water, even as he filled a glass at the fridge.

  When he turned back with the glass of water, he stopped mid-step, seeing that she’d already inhaled the pill. He pulled another bottle from the cabinet before making his way back to the table.

  This time, he set the bottle down patiently. “We forgot these.”

  Zoey accepted the water and the second bottle of pills, swallowing them as he took the seat next to her. When she was done, she sighed and met his eyes, smiling when he covered her hand with his on top of the table. He squeezed tight, almost to the point of pain.

  “Is it Novsky?” she asked.

  He squeezed his eyes shut, running his hands down his face. “Novsky, Rome, life, everything.”

  “Everything? Even you and me?”

  “You and me is the only thing in the world that still makes sense anymore.”

  “How do we change that? As the CEO of a major corporation, I think it’s safe to say that you and I can’t be the only thing that makes sense to you. There are a lot of other things in your life that need to make sense, too.” She squeezed his hand. “I hate seeing you upset. I hate even more not knowing what it is that’s upsetting you, because that pretty much solidifies that there’s nothing I can do to help you fix it.”

  His eyes opened and pounded into hers. “Just be here, baby. Just let me see you. Let me touch you.” He breathed deep. “That’s all I need.”

  “Apparently not. You touch me every night. You see me every night. And I mean all of me.”

  He looked away when a blush hit his cheeks.

  “Even your smiles are distracted. Halfhearted. Around for a minute, and then gone again.”

  “When have I ever been a smiler, Zo?”

  She giggled. “Never.”

  “Exactly.”

  “I used to pride myself on being the only person who could make you smile. Now I can’t even do it.”

  Val lifted her hand and pressed it to his chest. “You make me smile in here, baby.”

  “I love that. But I also love making you smile here…” She brushed her knuckle along the edge of his lips. “And here…” The corner of his eyes.

  He tilted his head and kissed her palm.

  “You know… It might be cheesy, but you’re like my hero, Val.”

  His eyes shot back to hers.

  “You’re seriously my superhero. And you’re going to be her superhero, too.” She looked down at her stomach, and back up at him. “Whatever it is… we can fix it. Because together? The three of us? We’re untouchable.”

  His breathing picked up. “Nobody’s untouchable, Zo.”

  “Nobody but us,” she insisted. “We. Are. Bulletproof.”

  Val gazed off into the space over her shoulder. His lips turned. His bones tightened.

  Zoey took the tip of her nail between her teeth. “How are my words of reassurance only making it worse? Huh? How do I stop the wheels spinning in your head right now?” When he didn’t answer, she removed her nail from her mouth and began to sing softly under her breath. The lyrics of David Guetta’s “Titanium” wafted softly through her lips, and a mousy smile lit up her face when her voice broke.

  He leaned in.

  She did too.

  Holding her gaze, he bent down, took the leg of her chair, and yanked it forward.

  Zoey squealed as the chair screeched across the white marble floors, but the sound was muffled when he covered her lips with his.

  A moan pushed in.

  Val dove deeper, thrusting his tongue inside.

  The kiss grew intense fast and before she knew it, Zoey was pulling at his shirt. He removed his lips from hers just long enough to snatch it over his head. He did away with her flowy top, as well, tucking his fingers into the low neckline and ripping the buttons open, exposing her lavender bra.

  She stood when their lips met again, moving faster, with more purpose. Their tongues swirled as his shaky fingers undid her jeans and removed them, along with her panties.

  His fingers trailed a hot path to her full ass, and he gripped it possessively, tugging her closer.

  She fumbled with the zipper of his jeans, hardly able to focus on anything past his strong lips, his insistent kiss. Her eyes fluttered open, and found his pressed shut.

  When she took too long to finish the job, he opened his eyes and swept her hands away. He finished undoing his jeans with urgent fingers, pushing them down to his ankles, followed by his boxers, while holding her eyes.

  Her hooded lids followed his orbs, a tiny smile pushing her lips.

  He drank that smile in like it was his last drop, even if he was incapable of giving one back.

  “Please don’t ever stop smiling at me like that, Zo. I swear to God, it dominates me.”

  She cupped his jaw as his erection sprang free, eyes locked to his as she turned away and clutched the table. Pressing her wetness into his heat erased the smile from her face, replacing it with a frown of naked need. She reached behind her to take him, push him inside, so thirsty to feel him spreading her, to bounce him to completion that everything else failed to exist outside of satiating that need.

  Pleasure shot through him, nearly claimed him, but he took her arms in the nick of time, just before that delicate balance between control and surrender tipped. That delicate place where logic still struggled to breathe, just before debilitating love won over and washed it away.

  “I don’t want it like that,” he whispered, moving his hands to her waist.

  Zoey followed his coaxing arms until she was facing him. He leaned forward and brushed his nose to her heat, inhaling deeply before she slid down onto his lap. She held his flexed biceps and straddled the chair, giggling when her protruding stomach pressed against his abs, soft on hard.

  “Yes, Zo, like this. I need to see you.” Encircling her in his arms, he gazed up at her. His breathing grew labored when their eyes met. He swallowed thickly, lips parting when she took his shoulders and stood taller, just high enough to claim him and push him into her soaking center.

  A moan burned passed his lips.

  She covered them with her own, tasting his pain as she sank down. “That’s it baby,” she soothed, tightening her walls as she took him, inch by inch. When his moans ebbed into strangled cries, she cradled his face between her breasts, muffling the sound. “There you go, baby, there you go…” He filled her to the hilt with ease, and she got to work swaying against him, giving a firm rock of her hips.

  He rocked back, f
eeling the darkness peel away. She was the only person alive who could send him awash with light, even as he stole every inch of it from her.

  Deep emotion clouded his eyes. He clawed at the skin on her back.

  “Let it go, Val. Just let it go, baby. Please. Give it all to me.”

  He cupped her head when he came, and didn’t make a sound, searching her smiling eyes with his tortured ones, scratching for a peace that had become impossible to find.

  His nails dug into her hair and pulled, harder, deeper.

  If he was hurting her, she didn’t show it.

  5

  Leo squinted against the bright light shining in through his bedroom window, spitting blonde hair out of his mouth while rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He sat up in his bed with a moan, only able to get halfway up.

  The blonde on his shoulder stirred and turned, taking the hair that had found its way into his mouth with her as she writhed to the edge of the bed and went back to sleep. The redhead drooling on his stomach moaned when he moved her away, even though he did it with a tender hand. She curled into a ball in the middle of the bed as he climbed out of the rumpled sheets.

  The wood floors froze the balls of his feet as he left the room, cursing under his breath when he stumbled into the floor heater in the hallway, jamming his knee. Hissing, he grabbed it in his hand, jumping on one foot into the living room.

  A sleepy smile lit his face as he caught sight of his favorite person in the world.

  “Good morning, Consuela.” He beamed, still on one foot as he waved to the four-foot-nine, heavyset woman pushing a mop along his living room floors. The strands that had escaped her jet-black bun stuck to the perspiration on her forehead, and her gloved hand fisted the black trash bag that she dragged around behind her. The empty liquor bottles inside sang as she did.

  She looked up from the middle of the living room, met Leo’s eyes, and curled her lip. Exploding into a tirade of Spanish, she dropped the trash bag and threw her free hand through the air, her voice rising to ear splitting levels.