The Hermit (Mafia Empire Book 1)

Dominik takes a seat, and Miro, the tattoo artist, quickly cleans the area on his neck.

“Go for it,” Miro says.

I take hold of Dominik’s shoulders, and my man grins ear-to-ear as I lean into him and bite the spot on his neck.

“Harder,” he murmurs, his voice deep and rough, making my abdomen tighten.

I apply more pressure and hold still for five seconds before pulling away.

Miro quickly cleans the area again, and while he traces the indents my teeth left in Dominik’s skin, I say, “I’m just going to run to the pharmacy. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes.”

“Wait until I’m done, miláčik. I don’t want you leaving my sight.”

Knowing it’s no use arguing, I glance at the pictures Miro has on his wall. “What do you think about me getting a tattoo?”

“If that’s what you want, go for it,” Dominik replies.

I hear a buzzing sound and glance over my shoulder. Moving closer, I watch as Miro works on Dominik’s neck, then ask, “Does it hurt?”

“Not at all,” my husband mutters.

Of course not. Nothing hurts him. I’d probably pee my pants.

I take a seat on the bench, and placing my hand on my stomach, I glance down.

The past week, my breasts have been tender, and I’ve been feeling nauseous. My period isn’t due for another week, but I’m too excited to wait.

My gut tells me I’m pregnant, and I want to be sure.

“Do you have a stomach ache?” Dominik suddenly asks.

I shake my head. “No. I’m fine.”

He stares at me, and after a few seconds, his eyes narrow. “Something’s up.”

Not wanting to have the discussion in front of a tattoo artist I met less than an hour ago, I say, “Nothing’s up. I promise I’m fine.”

It takes another ten minutes, then Miro says, “Done. You know the drill, right?”

I watch as he covers the tattoo with something that looks like a transparent dressing.

“Yes,” Dominik replies.

I get up, and when Dominik is done paying for the service, we leave the store.

The moment we step out onto the sidewalk, he takes hold of my hand and squeezes it. “Tell me.”

“I don’t even know if I’m right.” I glance up at him and watch his reaction closely as I say, “I want to get a pregnancy test.”

His eyes snap to mine, and I see the moment the shock hits. He tugs me to a stop.

“You think you’re pregnant?”

“I don’t know for sure. Don’t get your hopes up until I’ve taken the test.”

Suddenly, he starts walking fast, and I’m dragged to the pharmacy. When the doorbell jingles overhead, Dominik looks at the counter, and I assume he asks the cashier where the tests are.

When she answers, I’m pulled forward as he hurries to an aisle, and I watch as he grabs two pregnancy tests, then he pauses and looks at me. “How many do we need? Should we take five? Maybe ten. Just to be dead sure.”

“I’m not peeing on ten sticks. Three will do.”

“You’re right,” he replies, looking a little flustered while he grabs another one.

I’m dragged back to the counter, and after Dominik pays for them, he asks the cashier something.

She points to the back of the pharmacy, and before I know it, I’m hauled into a small restroom.

Dominik shuts the door behind us while I stare at him as if he’s lost his mind.

“You want me to do the tests here?”

“Yes. Pants down and start peeing,” he orders, already taking a test out of a box.

I undo the button on my jeans and lower the zipper. Grabbing the test from him, I sit and pee on the stick.

“We probably have to wait a few minutes,” I mention.

“Pee on the next one.”

“I’ve read it’s better to take the tests first thing in the morning.”

“It’s still morning,” he grumbles while staring at the stick he just took from me.

When I’m finished with all three, I quickly wipe off and pull my jeans up.

While I fasten the button, Dominik asks, “How do we know if you’re pregnant?”

“Two lines,” I reply as I lean closer, and when I see two lines, shock vibrates through me, closely followed by one of the most intense emotions I’ve ever felt.

Tears instantly jump to my eyes as I whisper, “It’s positive.” I grab the other tests, and when they all show two lines, a sob bursts from me.

“We’re pregnant?” Dominik asks, sounding dumbfounded.

I throw myself at him as I cry, “We’re having a baby!”

His arms lock around me, and he squashes me to his chest. We hold each other for the longest time, and when he speaks, his voice is hoarse with emotion.

“I’m going to be a father.”

He pulls me back and kisses me hard before staring into my eyes, and when I see unshed tears shining in his, my heart fills with so much love it might just burst open.

“Thank you, Grace.” He frames my face with his hands and gives me a tender kiss. “Thank you so much for being the mother of my child.”

Feeling completely overwhelmed, all I can do is whisper again, “We’re having a baby.”

DOMINIK

When we get home, it takes more patience than I have to unpack everything we bought for the coming winter.

Every now and then, Grace stops walking to stare down at her stomach in awe.

I pull my cell phone out of my pocket, and when she stops again, placing her hand over her stomach, I take a photo because it’s a moment I never want to forget.

My wife is carrying our child.

Jebat. I’ve never seen a more beautiful vision.

She glances up, and a breathtakingly stunning smile spreads over her face. “I’m going to be a mother.”

“An amazing one,” I add while walking to her.

Just wanting to hold her all the time, I can’t resist pulling her to my chest.

As I glance at our surrounding area, I begin to see all the dangers of raising a child here.

“We’re going to have to move,” I murmur.

“What? No!”

Looking down at Grace, I say, “The nearest hospital is two hours away. If something goes wrong while you’re pregnant and those two hours could’ve made a difference, I’ll never forgive myself.” I shake my head. “And the winters are harsh.”

“But this is our home,” she argues.

“No. It’s just a house, moja láska. You’re my home, and I’m yours.” My mind races a mile a minute then an idea pops into my head. “How do you feel about Chile? In case trouble comes knocking, we’ll be close to the island and Santiago.”

While she thinks about it, I add, “We can stay on the island until our child is ready for school and only then move to Chile.”

“The island is pretty,” she muses.

“I want you safe, Grace. I’ll have a nervous breakdown up here. Especially if we’re snowed in.”

“Fine,” she mutters. “But we’re keeping this house.”

“Of course. We can spend our vacations here once you’ve had the baby.”

She rests her cheek against my chest and looks at the house where we’ve learned to love each other unconditionally.

Her voice is strained as she whispers, “This is where I healed and became happy.”

I kiss the top of her head, and rubbing my hand up and down her back, I say, “The mountain will always remain our sanctuary.”

We stand for a little while longer before I let go of Grace so I can carry the rest of our haul into the house.

“If we’re moving before winter, we bought all these supplies for no reason,” she mentions while she grabs one of the lighter bags.

“Once we’ve decided where to settle down, we’ll bring it all with us,” I say as we head back up the hill. “Just because we’re moving doesn’t mean our routine will change.”

“Once a hermit, always a hermit,” she chuckles beside me. A moment later, she says, “If we’re moving to the island, I’ll need more bikinis.”

My head snaps in her direction. “No, you won’t.”

She glances up at me. “I only have one, and I’m not even sure whether it still fits.”

“You’re not wearing a bikini,” I grumble. “Ever.”

Her eyes meet mine, and the next second, a grin spreads over her face. “What if I promise to only wear the bikini in front of you?”

I glance at the path again. “Then you can wear one every day.”

She bumps her shoulder against my arm while chuckling. “You’re incorrigible.”

We enter the house and carry the bags to the kitchen, where we set them down on the table.

“Can we hold off on telling Evinka the good news? I’d love to do it in person so we can see her face.”

I nod. “Sure. I don’t mind.”

“Do you want a son or daughter?” Grace asks as we begin to unpack everything.

As I put cans of beans on a shelf, I reply, “As long as our child is healthy, I don’t really care. It would be great to have one of each, of course.”

Her eyes follow me while I carry a big bag of flour into the pantry, then she exclaims, “Oh my gosh, we get to decorate a nursery!”

“We do,” I agree, grinning as I walk past her to get the bag of sugar. “We can decorate the wall with little guns and grenades.”

She lets out a burst of laughter. “Blue ones for a boy and pi–”

I come out of the pantry and seeing a frown on Grace’s face, I hurry to her.

Placing one hand on her shoulder and the other on her stomach, I ask, “What’s wrong? Pain?”

She shakes her head, and her voice is tense as she says, “I hate pink. I never thought it would matter until today.”

“It’s just a color, miláčik.”

She tilts her head back, and her eyes meet mine. “He used to make me wear pink every single day.”

It’s been a while since Mallon’s come up, and it hits me with one hell of a wave of rage.

If I could have one wish, it would be to bring that fucker back to life so I could torture him.

Darkness and the thirst for revenge skirt around the edges of my voice as I say, “Then there will never be pink in our house.”

“That wouldn’t be fair to our daughter. It might turn out to be her favorite color,” Grace mutters. “I just don’t want to think of him every time I see something pink.”

“Maybe if we associate the color with happy things, it will change how you feel about it,” I mention. “Little pink bunnies. Pink teddies. Pink baby shoes.”

The corner of her mouth lifts slightly. “Or we can just make her love purple instead.”

I lean down and press a kiss to her forehead before engulfing her with my body.

“Whatever you want, moja láska.” I bring my hand up and caress her hair.

My phone starts to ring, and reluctantly letting go of Grace, I pull the device out of my pocket.

“What?” I growl.

“Well, hello to you too,” Santiago’s voice comes over the line. “Did I interrupt you having sex or something?”

“No, I’m unpacking supplies,” I mutter.

“Oh, that explains it. I hate shopping too.”

Closing my eyes, I let out a sigh. “Why are you calling?”

“That hurts, Dominik,” he says, sounding serious. “Here I am, taking time out of my busy day to make an effort to give you a call and you can’t even try to sound happy to hear from me.”

I stand rooted to the spot while it feels like my brain is backfiring.

The next second, his laughter bursts over the line. “I’m just fucking with you. Listen, I’m having a Halloween party. Are you coming?”

Slowly I shake my head while muttering, “What the fuck?”

“A party. Costumes. Fun. You can come as a grumpy bear, and that beautiful wife of yours can dress up as an angel because she has to be one to deal with your cranky ass.”

“No.” I keep shaking my head. “Definitely no.”

“Come on. Socializing with people will do you good.”

“No, it won’t,” I argue. “There’s no way I’m going to any party.”

I’m so caught off guard by this call that I hand the phone to Grace and say, “Deal with Santiago.”

She chuckles as she takes the device. “Hi, it’s Grace. Why are you torturing my husband?” She laughs at something he says, and it has me grabbing the phone again.

“Don’t make my wife laugh,” I mutter into the speaker.

“And you think I’m the insane one,” he says.

“I’m hanging up now,” I grumble.

“You’ll learn to love me, Dominik.”

I end the call and shake my head again.

“That man is something else,” Grace says while she grabs the tea and coffee.

“What do you mean he’s something else,” I bark as I walk after her. “To you, he’s nothing.”

Her laughter fills the pantry. “Oooh, are you jealous?”

I corner her against a shelf and give her a playful scowl. “You bet your sexy ass I’m jealous. Never laugh at anything Santiago says.”

“That’s impossible. He’s funny.”

I shake my head. “He’s annoying.”

I grip hold of her hips and tug her against my body before letting my hands travel to her ass.

Knowing what I need, Grace wraps her arms around my neck and says, “You’re the only man who matters to me. The only one who can satisfy me.”

I lean down, and an inch from her mouth, I growl, “And?”

“The only one who will ever hear me scream while I come.”

“Do you want me to make you scream, moja žena?”

“Yes, please,” my woman groans as she pushes her body hard against mine.

“Dobré dievča,” I grumble as I lift her against me before carrying her out of the panty so I can fuck her so hard she’ll feel me between her legs for days.