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Lula
As Lula lay awake in bed that night, Dom’s strong body pressed against her backside, his arm across her hip, she felt at home. The evening had been wonderful; his family had been so kind to her that she was filled with a warmth that she couldn’t shake.
His mother had been exceedingly genuine and kind, and watching the brothers banter could be her new favorite pastime. Both Seb and Mason were handsome and smart and funny and even Steve was wonderful. Dom didn’t see it yet, but she hoped he would come around someday.
The feeling of being surrounded by a large family was new to Lula and it made her heart so full she thought her chest might burst. This is what she had been missing, what she needed in her life.
It made her desire to find her father even stronger, because as much as she loved Dom’s family, it wasn’t hers and she wasn’t guaranteed to ever see them again.
Dom had been extra loving with her when they got back from dinner. He kept his promise and made her come with his tongue so many times she lost count.
When she was completely limp from pleasure, he had pushed inside of her with such tenderness and reverence that she almost cried. She loved this man. It was stupid, but it was also too late to do anything to stop it.
He didn’t need to know. At least for now she would keep it to herself, treasure it while it was still pure, untainted by heartbreak.
She let her mind wander into uncharted territories. She imagined what it might feel like hearing those words from his lips, what a future together with him might be like.
Dear Lord, what was she getting herself into?
A quick panic tumbled through her when she thought about how he might react if he knew what she was thinking, and it made her hold on to him a little tighter. Come on, Lu, she told herself, keep some of your heart. She was going to need a portion of it to function after this was all over.
Dom stirred behind her and she felt his hand creep up her hip. “Are you still awake, babe?” His voice was sleepy, and he was likely unaware that he had called her babe. She cherished it.
“Mm-hm, I’ve just been thinking,” she said softly and turned into him so she could nuzzle into his chest. “I really had a great time tonight.”
He ran a hand across her cheek and kissed her lips softly. “Really? I thought it was all so awkward.”
She laughed. “Well, that was mostly your fault, Mr. Adams.” She poked him in the chest.
He smiled but it fell away quickly.
“I thought Steve was nice,” she added carefully, unsure of how he would respond. He hadn’t said much about the man after dinner and she knew meeting him was taking its toll. He hadn’t quite been his jovial and good-natured self all evening. His jaw had been tight, his eyes intense, and he hadn’t said more than a few words about it.
“I guess.” His voice was unsure. “I wish I knew why I was struggling with this so much.”
Lula suspected it was a fear of this man trying to replace his father. It was going to take some time. “I think it’s natural,” she offered. “You’ve been your mother’s protector, the man of the house since you were thirteen.”
He thought about it quietly for a few moments before he pulled her closer to him. “I really was trying tonight. I know it didn’t seem like it, but it took a lot of self-control to not say all the things I wanted to.”
She traced her fingers along his chest. “I know you were.”
“I never would have agreed to go if it weren’t for you, you know?”
Her heart skipped a beat. “Really?”
He nodded and ran his fingers over her lips. “You told me that my father would have wanted her to be happy. And”—he took a breath—“I think you’re right. So I’m going to try my best to ... to find a way to accept it.”
She kissed his fingers. “Tonight was a good start”
“Even if I threatened to kill him?”
Her eyes flew open. “You did not!”
“Oh, I did,” he said, grinning devilishly, “and I meant it.”
She shook her head. “Dominic Adams, what am I going to do with you?”
He rolled her on top of him and caught her in a sensual kiss. “I have a few ideas.”
––––––––
Dominic
Dom laughed as Lula bounced on the sofa cushions Monday after school.
“Okay, what next?” she asked.
They were sitting at his place, cuddled with a laptop between them. For the last hour they had been googling things that might help narrow down the search for her father.
They’d scoured social media, entered random information combinations into Internet searches, and they weren’t much closer than they were before. So far all they had gleaned was that there were far more Giovanni’s in Chicago than either of them thought possible.
“How about we look at all the Italian restaurants in Chicago run by Italian families?”
“Are you serious?” he asked, trying to cover his laughter. “I’d say all of them.”
She swatted his shoulder. “I’m serious, maybe the restaurant angle is the way to go.”
“So you want to research the hundreds of Italian restaurants in Chicago?”
“No, just the ones that were in Little Italy.”
“I hate to say it, babe, but that doesn’t narrow it down a whole lot, plus we don’t know if it’s even still open.”
She pouted cutely and he shook his head. “All right,” he said dubiously, “here goes almost nothing.” He ran a search while she watched with wide eyes. It was beginning to get harder and harder to say no to her, and he could only sigh when he thought about what old Dom would say about it.
He wasn’t even completely sold on the idea of her finding her father. His gut told him it was a bad road, even Lula’s mother’s friend had warned her off. But once she got that wide-eyed look, he had trouble denying her the help she needed to find the only chance at having a family.
It had become even harder this afternoon when he went with her to see Nan. She had hoped to introduce him officially, but Nan’s dementia was unpredictable and today had been a bad day. She didn’t recognize Lula at all and seemed frightened when two strangers entered her room. Nan had screamed for the nurses as if they were robbing her. He had rushed Lula out, tears streaming down her face.
So when she looked at him an hour ago and asked for help, what was he supposed to do?
“Okay,” he said after a minute of scrolling through web pages. “I think this is a pretty good list of restaurants in the area, some open, some not.”
She hung off his shoulder as they looked through the list and hit the “Italian” tab. She let out a deep sigh when the total number of candidates overwhelmed her.
He kissed her cheek. “We’ll figure it out, beautiful.” He closed the laptop and turned his full attention to her. “I have a friend at the Chicago History Museum. There’s a whole room full of old phone books. We’ll find the right year and start there, okay? Then we can see which ones are still open and canvas if we have to.”
She smiled. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. “You mean it?”
“Of course I do; I promised I would help you.”
“But you have all your other research to do. I feel like I’m taking all your time as it is.”
“Lula,” he said steadily, “I like the way you take all my time.” He slid his hands up her waist and drew a lazy finger around her nipple. It hardened almost instantly. So did he.
She moaned and he kissed her neck.
“Spending time with you is”—he bit at her ear—“fucking amazing no matter what we’re doing.”
Completely flushed, she smiled at him. “Tell me more about the fucking part.”
With a growl, he set the laptop down on the coffee table and pushed her back into the sofa with a hungry kiss.
––––––––
Lula
After Lit Club the next day, during which Dom gave an informative and engaging lecture on Napoleon’s military movements that had Lula fighting hot-for-teacher fantasies, he fulfilled his promise and took her to the Chicago History Museum. Tom had agreed to meet them after operating hours and had the whole research room open for their use.
Lula couldn’t believe the number of books and files and drawers upon drawers of microfiche. It was incredible that all of this was in one room, much less organized.
To her surprise, Tom had gotten to work already and had pulled down the Chicago area phonebooks from when she was born.
“We are looking for specific data points,” he explained. “Italian restaurants with family names and an address in Little Italy.”
He spread out an enlarged map. “I think if we plot each one on the map, it will help rule things out.”
He pushed a phone book over to Lula and motioned for her to sit. “You start with this”—he pushed the map in front of Dom—“and you plot. And when you’re done you should have a smaller data set to search for a surname.”
She shook her head in amazement, not quite understanding why this man would help her. “Thank you so much, Tom, this is incredible.”
He laughed. “Let’s see if you thank me after a couple days of this. I’m going to go check some other sources I have, you guys are free to stay until ten.”
Days? Her eyes widened.
Dom shook his hand. “Thanks, man, we appreciate it.”
Tom shrugged. “You know how I love these needle-and-haystack searches; I should thank you.”
“You look a little overwhelmed,” Dom told Lula as they settled into their seats.
“It’s just ... he said days.”
“Welcome to the seductive world of research, babe,” he said with a grin and kissed her lips. “Now come on, we’ve got work to do.”
After two hours of reading and plotting, Lula’s shoulders ached and her head screamed. There were only two dots on the map so far. They mocked her.
She dropped her head to the table and let out a moan. How could anyone like doing research? It was the literal worst. She picked her head up and asked, “How do you do this all the time?”
He laughed. “It’s easy when you enjoy it, Lu, it’s not for everybody.”
“No, it fucking isn’t,” she whined, drawing another laugh from him.
“Let’s call it a night, shall we?”
“Yes please.”
“Hey,” he said, pushing his chair back, “you never know, maybe one of those dots is the right one; we could get lucky.”
“Right,” she answered. Things like that didn’t happen for her. Luck was the last thing she was willing to rely on. “Luck doesn’t even know I exist.”
“I disagree,” he told her sweetly as he put his coat on. “I’m pretty sure it was luck that brought me to Mo’s that night.”
“Lucky for you,” she teased, and he captured her into a kiss that made her squeal.
“But I am going to have to buckle down on my own research the next couple of nights,” he said, brushing a strand of hair off her cheek.
She stilled and then nodded. Is this when it started? When he began to disappear slowly, bit by bit, so that she hardly even noticed?
“Is it okay if we don’t make it back here until Friday?”
“Of course,” she answered. She meant it. She wanted him to work on his research, but her brain was screaming other questions. What does this mean? Will I see you before Friday? A prick of panic started at the base of her spine and started to climb.
She searched his face for any sign of shutting her out. There was none.
“I wanted to know if you’d mind hanging out at my place for the next few nights. I can’t really spend much time with you, but I ...” He ran a hand down his face. “I would really like it if you were around.”
Her heart thundered back to life. This man. Christ, she loved him.
“It’s a little selfish,” he added when she didn’t answer, “so I understand if you don’t want to, but I thought I’d ask.”
“Dom,” she said softly, “of course I’ll be there. I’d love to.”
His face broke into one of his boyish grins and his green eyes sparkled with something she hadn’t seen before. It made her entire body shift. He kissed the top of her head. “Awesome.”
He helped her into her jacket. “Just so you know, I’ve had this recurring fantasy of you sitting around my house in nothing but that Cubs shirt and panties.”
Her eyes flew open and her body heated. She very definitely wanted to make this fantasy come true. “What color panties?” she asked coyly.
He grinned like the devil. “Your choice, beautiful. Surprise me.”