Beautiful Bounty(98)

“No, but they’ll be fine with it. They ran out to get something to eat. They’re bringing me back something.” When he still saw her doubtful expression, he gave her more words of encouragement. “They know you love him, I told him what you said in the ambulance. He loves you. You’re family now and to us that means a lot. No one is mad at you, Ronnie.” He winked at the nurse, and she blushed again as the door swung shut on her.

“Oh, thank you,” Ronnie cried, a small gasp escaping her lips. She had been really worried about what Nikko’s brothers thought of her. Her worries dissipated when Nikko murmured in the bed next to her. It sounded like her name.

“I’ll leave you two alone for a bit,” Gio offered as he looked at her and then back towards the door. “I’ll keep my brothers away too. For a bit. You’ve got an hour,” he winked conspiratorially. Without waiting for her answer, he began to leave.

“Thank you,” she mouthed the word as he left.

“Oh Nurse Daniels, honey,” she heard him call out in the hall way. She couldn’t help but laugh. He was such a tease, that one.

Nikko was waking to her left, and she reached over to take his hand. It was wonderfully warm.

“R-ronnie,” he murmured, coming to wakefulness.

“I’m here,” she whispered and squeezed his hand reassuringly.

He tried to sit up and groaned from the effort and pain. “You okay?” he asked and winced at the same time peering at her under heavy eyelids.

“I’m fine,” she hastily moved, swinging her legs onto his bed careful to avoid jostling him. She slid into bed next to him.

“Oh good,” he let out a breath and cracked one startling blue eye fully open. “I love you, Ronnie.”

She propped herself up on one elbow, lying on her side, careful not to move him too much for fear of causing his injured shoulder any pain. When both of his eyes were on hers and he moved his right arm, the one nearest her, and luckily the one that wasn’t injured, she was able to snuggle into the crook of his arm. She gazed at him one more second before finally saying the words he longed to hear.

“I love you too, Nikko Marino. I love you!” She kissed his lips, and pulled back. “I love you,” she kissed him again. “I love you.” And again.

“Thank God!” he whispered. And despite his injury, he was kissing her back. This bounty was worth it.



(Keep reading for a sneak peek at Blaze’s story

Beautiful Chase – The Marino Bros.)





His heart pounded in his chest beating a furious tattoo. It was much later than normal for him to head to his fiancée Nicole’s apartment. She wasn’t expecting him tonight. He had a paper due tomorrow for his Constitutional Amendment Rights course and he told her he’d be working late. It was his last class that he needed to ace in order to graduate with his law degree, and he was also cramming for his BAR exam next month as well.

Nicole had been patient with him. For the last two years, their relationship was strained because of all the time he needed to put into his studies. But they had been together for four, and he knew she was the one. Once he found a job with the Prosecutor’s office in Manhattan, he was planning to propose. It was just after one o’clock and he had been packing up to head to his apartment in the city when he had gotten the strange text. It had been a picture of Nicole dancing with someone. The picture revealed her kissing that someone, someone he recognized. And it floored him. It must be some kind of mistake. He had to ask her about this, and see what it all meant.

Nicole was finishing her undergraduate degree and shared a small apartment with two other girls. They were both out of town this weekend, and so he let himself into her apartment with the key she had given him.

He was immediately struck by the sounds of passion. It shocked him. He really hadn’t expected that. But the sounds he heard could not be denied. Those were the sounds she made with him. He knew that murmur of satisfaction very well.

“Oh God, yes,” she purred. “Yes, baby, fuck me.”

His heart that had been beating so fast, now began to slow, but he could feel the blood pumping in his brain. What the hell? It couldn’t be. Nicole, sweet and innocent when he met her as a freshman, and he a senior. He had fallen for her innocence immediately. Her southern charm, and wavy brown hair reminded him of photos of his mother when she was just married. His mom died six years earlier. He still felt the pang of her loss, and his father’s. They died together in the end.

But Nicole. It just seemed so unreal as he crept down the hallway. He had been her first. Well, he thought that, but this picture told a different tale. A tale he hadn’t even suspected her capable of.