Pierced Hearts Duet - M. Robinson Page 0,156
He’d been staying over for the last two weeks since his twelfth birthday, and we were sitting out back by the patio in private.
“Aiden and I sat down with your mom the other day and we know she’s struggling, Curtis, with trying to stay clean. We don’t feel comfortable with you living with her anymore and we want to adopt you.”
“Like whatcha mean? I wouldn’t go home?”
“This would be your home,” Aiden informed in a stern tone.
“But what about my ma?”
“She could still be in your life as much as you want. We would never take her away from you, but it’s not safe for you to live under her roof.”
“You guys wanna keep me?”
“Curtis, I’m your girl. I have to do what I can to protect you.”
“I feel ya. Aiden, you cool with this? I know I let you marry my girl, so I don’t wanna have ya thinkin’ I’m tryin’ to get her back. She too old for me anyway.”
“Oh my God, Curtis.”
“Man to man,” Aiden retorted. “I’d love to be your legal guardian.”
“Alright. Can I get a fridge in my room?”
We all busted out laughing and we went from having three kids to four. Though Aiden quickly went to work on knocking me up with one of our own.
Tyler Ashlyn Pierce was born almost a year later. Aiden literally knocked me up on our honeymoon, exactly how he’d planned to.
We hired a nanny to help me while I was finishing up nursing school, but after a lot of soul searching, I decided I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. Five kids under the age of eighteen beneath one roof was definitely a full-time job, and it was one that I was honored to have.
“Gurl, were you guys just doin’ it in the bathroom?” Danté called me out.
“Oh my God! Why? Could you hear us?”
“Pssshhhh…with all these shitlins runnin’ around, hell naw.”
I’d never been so happy in my entire life. My whole world was in this clubhouse, and it was filled with nothing but happiness. I truly believe with all my heart that Bailey led me to Aiden because she wanted me to take her place as his wife, his soulmate, the mother of their kids.
Our future was with each other and our family. He wanted a whole soccer team, and he wouldn’t stop until that dream was fulfilled. I wanted to be surrounded by our babies and my husband, that’s all I needed. I loved being pregnant. I loved knowing that what was growing inside me was a part of Aiden and me. I loved hearing the heartbeat for the first time. Feeling the flutters and kicks.
There was no sensation like it in the world.
Aiden was the best father any child could ask for. Our lives had come full circle, and whatever the future held for Jackson, Jagger, and Journey mentally, we’d handle it as a family.
Jackson was the all-star quarterback, and going into his last year of college, but he was still a little shit to the core of his body. He and Harley went to the same college, and everyone assumed they’d finally fall in love and be together. Although, even after all these years, they still hated each other.
More so now than ever before.
I guess we were all wrong about them.
“Hey! Can I have everyone’s attention?!” Harley shouted to a house filled with all her family and loved ones, tugging me away from my thoughts.
Aiden grabbed my hand and we walked toward the living room together as everyone crowded around her, waiting to hear what she had to say. Once we were all quiet and eyes were solely focused on her.
She announced as if it were nothing, “I’m pregnant,” fully fucking aware that it was everything.
My eyes instantly darted toward Creed and Noah,
who were being held back by their wives, ready to kill.
When suddenly, the crowd parted as Jackson made his way through. Front and center until he was standing by Harley.
He didn’t falter, declaring, “And it’s mine.”
All I could think, all I could process, all I could scream was,
“Jackson, RUN!”
For the Pierced Hearts Duet.
It’s only the beginning or is it the end for…
Cruz and Sienna
TURN THE PAGE TO READ THE FIRST CHAPTER IN MY STANDALONE MAFIA ROMANCE,
EL DIABLO II,
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EL DIABLO II
PART I
Chapter 1
<>Cruz<>
“You’re to stay by your mother and your sister’s side. Do you understand me?”
“Why are you talking to me like I’m a child? We both know I’m not.”
“Cruz,” my father hissed, cocking his head to the side. “I will not have this discussion with you again. You’re their protection.”
“Protect my sister. Protect my mother. I’ve heard that my entire life. I already know this considering your goons have guarded us within an inch of their lives for as long as I can remember. But tell me, Padre?” I emphasized father, meeting his intense glare. “What exactly am I protecting them from?”
“Don’t question me, Crucifixio. Just do as I say.”
I couldn’t help it, I never could. I narrowed my eyes at him, searching for the answer I’d desperately wanted to know since the moment I realized my life wasn’t normal by anyone’s standards. You see, growing up with bodyguards would do that to a child. I was inquisitive, intuitive, and you know what they say…
Curiosity killed the cat, and I was a fucking lion.
King of the jungle.
My childhood wasn’t what I would call a typical upbringing, and I’d figured it out for myself.
The rumors.
The light whispers.
The downright obedience my father commanded anytime he walked into a room wasn’t something I could ever overlook. It was blatant, right in front of our eyes. Although no one ever told us why…
We always knew.
My older sister Adriana and I would talk about it behind closed doors. We were only a year apart and had a close relationship. With my help, our father shielded her from the world.
I, on the other hand, was taught that fear wasn’t an option.
Maybe it was the symbolism behind my name which meant cross in Spanish. His mother, my late grandmother, wore a silver cross around her neck her whole life. From el barrio, the streets of Colombia, to the United States of America, the land of the free and the brave.
I’d heard the stories. My grandfather migrated to the US to divide and conquer. He was a god in a land of greedy disciples chomping at the bit to have his head on a silver fucking platter.
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
My father wore it until the time came for my mother to wear my grandmother’s cross proudly around her neck. Protecting her from his Hell was what my father did best, and I wasn’t talking about his life.
Her roar hushed his demons.
Or should I say…
El Diablo.
I’d heard the stories. I’d read about him online. I’d seen the evidence with my own two eyes. Photos of the people who had crossed him and didn’t live to tell about it. However, I had yet to meet this man people used to call The Devil.
Never once has he admitted who he truly was.
Is.
I could feel it in the deepest part of my bones. In the center of my being. The truth hidden in plain sight. The devil I was born to be was reflected in his eyes. The fire, the darkness, the soulless glare that stared back at me every time he barked an order.
He knew it too.
He felt what I saw.
Once I was born, the cross was passed down to me, and I’ve never taken it off.
My protection.
From what?
I wasn’t sure, but I’d spent the last eight years trying to find out. Down the proverbial rabbit hole I’d jumped night after night since I was eight-years-old, desperately seeking the meaning of my life.
The way my father was toward me, his only son, compared to how he treated my sister who was seventeen, was like night and day. She was his greatest tesoro. His treasure. La peladita of his heart and soul. Adriana hated that he still called her a little girl. Despised it more than anything else. She was homeschooled up until two years ago, and had never stepped foot into a real school until he had no choice but to give in to her demand.
On his conditions, of course.
Everywhere she went, I followed. Along with three armed men. The private school we attended was funded by our father. He built the library, the cafeteria, the goddamn football field. They might as well have called it Martinez Academy.
Money always ruled with an iron fist.
Administration allowed us to do as we pleased because of the almighty dollar.
“Where are you going?” I questioned his authority, needing to know.”
“Where I go is none of your concern and quite frankly, Cruz, it’s none of your business.”
I didn’t hesitate, if I did…
I’d lose.
“What if I’m making it my business?”
If you want to meet Alejandro Martinez, Cruz’s dad, one-click EL DIABLO, available now on all platforms.