“No,” Holly said gently, biting her lip to keep from laughing. She didn’t want to make the woman feel bad.
“Oh.” Gia shrugged. “Okay then, yes, that is what I meant. These britches.” She pursed her lips. “It makes more sense than bitches anyway.”
“Yes,” Holly murmured as she moved back to the bags.
“But you really will like my cousins,” Gia announced. “They are both big, beautiful bad boys.”
“Bad boys? And you think I’ll like them?” Holly asked with confusion.
“They are not really bad boys,” Gia assured her. “They just look like bad boys with their long hair and leather. Inside though, they are dolce.”
“Dolce?”
“Sweet,” Anders announced, carrying in more bags. “Dolce means ‘sweet.’ ”
“Si, and Dante and Tomasso look big and pauroso—scary, but inside they are as sweet as gelato.”
“Sure they are, big as bears and sweet as ice cream,” Decker said with a smile as he entered now as well. “Speaking of which, I just got the call, they will be landing in an hour. Anders and I won’t be able to help put this stuff away after all. We have to head to the airport if we want a ride home.” He grimaced and added apologetically, “Otherwise we’ll be waiting for at least a couple hours for the plane to come back for us.”
Holly nodded with understanding, recalling Gia explaining that the planes they used were apparently behind on pickups.
Decker glanced back out to the garage, where Bricker was loading himself up with more bags, and then turned back to Holly and murmured, “Remember what we said.”
“I will,” she assured him solemnly. She was to avoid being alone with Justin. That shouldn’t be too hard with Gia and her cousins around, should it?
Justin stifled a yawn and shifted his gaze from the television screen to Holly. They were watching a nature show on lions. So far they’d watched them hunt, sleep, and have sex. It seemed to be all they did and while it was more interesting than his own life right then—at least the sex part was—it was boring as hell to watch. But Anders had said Holly liked nature shows so when they’d sat down with Gia to wait for Dante and Tomasso in front of the television, he’d spotted the show on the guide and put it on.
Gia had fallen asleep in her chair within the first three minutes of its starting and he was desperately struggling to stay awake himself. He hoped to hell that Holly was enjoying it at least, but it was hard to tell. She was lying on her side in front of the coffee table, her head pillowed on her arm, while he was sitting on the couch behind it. He couldn’t see her expression.
Sighing, he picked up his glass, noticed that it was empty, and then picked up both it and the empty plate he’d set on the table and stood, but then paused to peer at the woman on the floor.
“Holly? Would you like a drink or anything while I’m in the kitchen?” Justin asked softly, not wanting to wake up Gia. Too softly, apparently: Holly didn’t appear to hear him. Moving around the coffee table to get closer, he asked a little louder, “Would you like a coffee or something? I’m heading to the kitchen.”
Still no answer.
Frowning, Justin shifted around in front of her and then stilled. The woman was sound asleep. He’d been suffering the nature show for nothing. Cripes.
Shaking his head, he straightened and headed to the kitchen with his dirty dishes. Even hungrier when they’d finished unpacking the groceries than he had been at the restaurant, Justin had made himself four sandwiches to eat while they watched TV. He’d then pretty much inhaled the food and had considered going back for a couple more, but had decided against it. He didn’t want to spoil his dinner and no doubt they’d be having that shortly after Dante and Tomasso arrived.
Justin rinsed the crumbs off of his plate and put it in the dishwasher. He then grabbed a glass, got some ice from the icemaker on the refrigerator door and grabbed a pop. He took the time to pour it slowly over the ice, to prevent too much foam, and then headed out of the kitchen and back up the hall to the living room, but froze in the doorway when he spotted the duffel bags on the floor inside the front door. Dante and Tomasso were here. But where?
His gaze slid to the empty stairs and he started forward again, only to pause once more when Dante came out of the living room with a sleeping Gia looking like a child against his massive chest. The tall, wide-shouldered Italian nodded at him solemnly as he started upstairs with Gia, no doubt intending to carry her up and put her in her bed.
Justin nodded back, and then started forward again, only to freeze when Tomasso came out of the living room carrying Holly in his arms. She was asleep, curled against his chest and nuzzling her head sleepily into the crook of his neck as if looking for somewhere soft on the massive man’s hard body. Justin stared, noted the man’s nod, and scowled in return, showing teeth.
“Which room?” the man asked, his voice a soft growl.
“End of the hall on the left,” Justin hissed, battling an incredibly strong urge to jump the huge bastard and beat him silly. He wanted to smash his stupid face and—
The glass Justin held suddenly shattered in his hand, sending ice and soda splashing him in the face and chest. Tearing his gaze from a now-amused Tomasso, Justin glanced down to see the liquid dribbling down his legs to the floor. Sighing, he turned to head back into the kitchen in search of something to clean up the mess he’d made.
He’d just finished cleaning up the hall and was putting away the Swiffer in the broom closet when the kitchen door opened behind him and Dante and Tomasso entered. Closing the closet door, he turned reluctantly to face the duo.
“Food?” Tomasso grunted. He was a one word kind of guy, while Dante was more likely to string three or four words into a sentence.
“We just went shopping this afternoon. There’s lots in the fridge, freezer, and cupboards. Help yourself,” he suggested and headed for the door. Now that the floor in the hall was clean, there was still himself to consider. He needed a quick shower to remove the sticky liquid that had seeped through his clothes to his skin, and a change of clothes would be good.
“Both girls were dead to the world,” Dante commented. “Neither even stirred when we picked them up.”
Justin paused at the door. “Gia’s had no more than a short nap since yesterday and Holly is a new turn. They’ll probably both sleep for a while.”
Both men nodded and then Tomasso asked, “Life mate?”
“Yes,” he said grimly.
“She’s married,” Dante put in solemnly.
“I’m aware of that,” Justin growled, feeling his jaw tighten with tension.
“Tough break,” they said together.
“No shit,” Justin muttered and pushed out of the room. He was halfway up the hall when a knock sounded at the door. Moving a little more quickly, he opened it and peered out at the man in a black jacket with a rental agency name on the pocket.
“Justin Bricker?” the man asked.
“Yes.” He accepted the pen and clipboard the man offered and glanced over the rental agreement on it. Lucian had rented an SUV for them to use while here. What he held was acknowledgment of having received the vehicle. Justin glanced out at the SUV now parked in the driveway, then to a white car with the rental logo on the side and a man behind the wheel. He quickly signed the bottom and handed pen and clipboard back.
“Thanks.” He took the pen and clipboard in one hand and held out a set of keys with the other. “Have a good day.”
Justin muttered a thank-you as he took the keys, and then closed the door and returned to the stairs. He considered looking in on Holly, but Gia wasn’t the only one who had been up for quite a while and he was exhausted. Too exhausted to even want to think about the situation he found himself in for now. A life mate with a mortal husband. Tough break indeed, he thought grimly as he dragged himself upstairs to his room.