DAMIEN: Book 2 of The De Luca Brothers Series [COMPLETED]

13:

Once the doctor gives the thumbs up and confirms my baby is okay, Gufo had already arrived back in record time with my desired food. As I take the bag, he glances down at me and offers a sheepish expression, "Forgiven and forgotten?"

"Forgiven, not forgotten yet," I nod. "I need to talk to you in private though, about us."

He eagerly nods and lifts me up by the waist before taking me free hand and pulling me out of the room. A long hallway with whiteboards on every door is introduced to me, just as we step out of another door that reads 'MEDICAL BAY' do I realise that I am in fact inside of the gang mansion. My heart rate spikes and I grip onto his hand tighter. Gufo leads me through a series of hallways before we arrive into a grande entrance with a high ceiling, beautiful pillars and flooring with people bustling around minding their own business. Some stop to glance at us, others simply don't care enough, however they make sure to move around Gufo and I like the plague.

I flush as I notice a redhead girl eying me up and down with a nasty glare, her face contorting in disgust as she stares at our entwined hands. We begin to ascend the staircase and head right, however I can't shake the uneasy feeling that settles in the pit of my stomach.

He takes me through a labyrinth of corridors, all of them decorated beautifully and richly, causing me to sigh in awe. Finally we reach a door at the far end of the corridor, opening it it leads into a circular room with a kitchen, living and dining room all in one with three other doors branching off to three different rooms. I'm guessing this is where the De Luca brothers stay.

"So this is where I live," he goes on as if a tour guide. "Very snazzy, very quaint. We've got drinks in the fridge, some food depending on what we fancy, however we usually like to go downstairs since our cooks are fucking fantastic. My bedroom is the one on the left, which is now your room too!"

"W-we're sharing?" I splutter. "I thought I was going to get my own room..."

"Yeah, we're good but we aren't that good. You're room will be finished in a week, meanwhile you're staying with the sexy moi! Oh, I sent one of my men round to get your things, they'll be arriving within the hour."

"How will he get in? Did he take my keys? Speaking of keys, where's my stuff from college? I've got everything in there, plus what about—"

"Hush!"

My mouth snaps shut and my cheeks redden.

"Okay," he inhales. "We took your keys out of your bag that we retrieved from the stall that you passed out in. You can keep your job but it's not exactly necessary and ill advised since it leaves you both exposed and you're putting the baby in a stressful environment. You're pregnant, you need rest, water and food."

"I'm in the first trimester, I can still move," I grumble.

"I just don't want anything happening to you," he reassures, taking a step closer to me. "You have me a big scare just then."

"Scared myself," I mutter, looking up to him. He glances at my lips with a darkened expression and I can't help but do the same, only when the tangy taste of vomit reminds me of my unbrushed teeth do I cringe, "Sorry, vomit breath."

He blinks and his green eyes clear into emeralds. Pouting, he steps back, "Damn, that's a shame."

I laugh and we walk into his room. It's neat and maintained with a King size bed with red sheets and a matching settee are directly in front of us. The dresser and wardrobe are to my immediate left as a desk is on the adjacent wall from the door, a computer and a bunch of cables messily entangled around a coffee mug. Another door leads off into the potential bathroom. I dread to think how many woman shared his bed, but I push it to the back of my mind despite it's whispering.

"So this is la bedroom," he wiggles his brows. "You would have been introduced to this if I had gotten my way sooner."

"Maybe I would have if you didn't pull a disappearing act for six weeks," I grumble and he freezes. Hell yeah, this bitch does not forget. "Care to explain that by the way?"

"Okay," he groans. "You have to promise to not get mad, not to throw one of your tantrums and blow our relationship up over small little things. Also, you've got to be empathetic because this is going to sound very insulting."

I roll my eyes, "Okay. I promise."

"Pinky promise?" He asks, raising his pinky.

"Pinky promise." I take his pinky and we 'shake' on it.

"So my parents were here seven weeks ago," he begins, taking a seat on the edge of his bed where I join him. "They were the original leaders of the Thorns, highly respected, strong, unbeatable, etcetera, etcetera. When they heard Toro had a boyfriend, they just had to come see who. You have to keep in mind that they're homophobic and never agreed with Toro's sexuality, hence they clashed and Toro was declined the position of gang leader since he couldn't produce any children for the next generation."

"That's... horrible."

"It was a tricky couple of weeks, however my mom and I, we get along considerably well. Even though she's a hardhead, she has a soft spot and you have to understand her personality in order to get along. She sat me down and had a discussion with me, telling me I should marry someone with status, someone worth my time and love: I thought of you, however in her world she'd never accept her son marrying a stripper."

"Ouch," I mutter.

He sends me an apologetic glance before continuing, "Those were the most difficult weeks of my life. Not seeing you was torture, especially when girls get throwing themselves at me but I couldn't have sex with them. I wouldn't betray your trust. Come six weeks, I hit the mark and I just had to see you; only I wanted to protect you instead. So I kissed that girl to try and hurt you enough to forget me, only you were pregnant and I had to stay with you."

I bite my lip and glance. Don't get me wrong, that really hurt me but I can understand his viewpoint. It's like this baby saved our relationship that we both want, stopping him from 'saving' me by neglecting it.

"I want to talk about us: what are we? How are we going to raise this child? Careers, education, family. All the things."

"Well, I want us to be in a relationship 'cause I'm really into you," he bluntly states and my cheeks turn rosy. "Like, hot damn I'm lucky."

A laugh bubbles from my chest and I nod, leaning into hug him tightly. His warm embrace causes my heart to beat faster, the butterflies in my stomach to run a disco party and my mouth to tug into an aching smile. It's so surreal that for the first time for what feels like forever I feel safe again, in the arms of a gang leaders younger brother.