Bepi was fast asleep by the time he and Noemi arrived back at the mansion. Noemi put him to bed, stroking his little head. “I love you, little one.”
Downstairs she cleared up the mess from earlier, then sat down, waiting to hear from Rafa. It was a little after midnight and she longed to try to call Leonora, wanted her to yell at her or something just so she could feel less… what did she feel? When it came down to it, Noemi hadn’t gotten pregnant by design, especially not to torture Leonora. So why did she feel so guilty?
She remembered Lazlo telling her how hard it was for anyone to persuade her not to feel that guilt—maybe it was just in her genetic makeup. God, what a freakin’ mess. Exhaustion set in then, and she curled up on the couch to wait for Rafa to come home.
Rafa sat in the chair at the side of his brother’s bed and waited for him to wake. To his relief, Zani was responding to treatment and had been awake and cognizant for a few minutes but had fallen back asleep.
“Better for him to sleep,” the doctor had told him. “When he’s asleep, he’s not jonesing for a fix.”
“Right.”
Zani stirred now and opened his eyes. He saw Rafa sitting by him and pulled himself up against the pillows. “Rafa.”
“How do you feel?”
Zani smiled ruefully. “Dumb. Stupid.”
“No arguments here.”
“Is Noe okay? I feel terrible.”
“She’s fine. The babies are fine.” Rafa watched his brother’s reaction. “You knew?”
Zani nodded. “I overheard. Sorry. I don’t sleep so good.”
“That would be the coke and God knows what else. What the fuck did you think you were doing using in my house, Zani? Where my son sleeps?”
“I am sorry, brother. I truly am. God, Rafa… do you know how hard it is to be as good as you are? I fucked up.”
“You’re always fucking up, Zani, and don’t turn this around on me. Jesus, you’ve had everything, every chance, and now…” Rafa stopped, taking a deep breath, calming himself.
“Have you called Dad?”
Rafa shook his head.
“But you’re going to?”
Rafa nodded. “Unless you get treatment. Here. Now. You stay here and go through rehab. Then afterwards, you can live with us but with weekly drug testing. You work for me. You straighten out your life.”
Zani had a strange look on his face. “If only it was that easy, man.”
“What does that mean?”
Zani just shook his head. “Look… Okay. I’ll do it. Do you think I want to live like this? No. Fine. Rehab.”
Rafa didn’t know whether to believe him but decided to take him at face value. “Good. I mean it—you miss one session, fail one drug test, that’s it. Is there anything else you want to tell me, Zani?”
“Like what?”
“Like what happened in Europe? Like the reason you came back? It wasn’t just running out of money, was it?”
Zani looked away from him. “It doesn’t matter now.”
Driving back home, Rafa arranged for a security guard to be stationed at Zani’s hospital door. “To keep him in, as well as undesirables out,” he told the man.
When he got home, he found Noemi asleep in the living room. He picked her up in his arms, smiling as she stirred. “Come on, sleepy.”
Noemi was awake by the time they got to their bedroom, and she pressed her lips to his. They had no need for words now. All fatigue fled as they undressed each other and climbed onto the bed.
Noemi stroked his cock until it was rock hard then Rafa pushed into her as she wrapped her legs around him. They made love slowly, their eyes locked on the other’s, forging a deeper connection as they moved.
Noemi stroked his face with both hands. “I love you so much, Rafael Genova.”
“You are my love,” he murmured, his lips against hers, “The love of my life.”
Her eyes widened, and he nodded, showing her he meant every word and tears rolled down her cheeks. He kissed them away. “We are forever now, my love. Forever.”
His pace quickened as she clenched her vagina around his unrestrained, thrusting cock, and their breathing grew harsh and ragged as they both reached their climaxes. Noemi’s back arched up, and Rafa took her nipple into his mouth as she moaned and writhed, sucking hard then letting out a long groan of release as his cock pumped creamy cum deep inside her. They made love once more before falling asleep just before dawn.
A few hours later, a bored Bepi crawled onto their bed and settled between them, chatty in the early morning, making them both smile. Noemi took a long shower as Rafa dressed Bepi.
It was Saturday, so they ate a leisurely brunch, and Rafa called the hospital to check in on Zani.
“Well,” he told Noemi as he ended the call, “He’s still there. That’s progress.”
Noemi smiled and smoothed his curls. “It is. I’m going to call Leo to see if she’ll see me. We have to talk sooner or later.”
“You should… but can I ask a favor?”
“Anything, babe.”
“Could you call her later? There’s something I would really like us to do, and if Bepi is with us, it might make things easier.”
Noemi half-smiled. “Intriguing… what is it?”
Rafa grinned. “I think it’s time, Noe. I had planned a night out for us all at a restaurant, but now I think it’s important we do this today. I think it’s time you met my parents.”