Straightening, Dante yanked gently on the gag and Catrina's red locks in his fist, pulling her up with him. Catrina's hands flew out to meet the headboard, bracing for what was to come.

Catrina glanced over her shoulder, the heat in her stare cracking Dante right in the chest.

"I know it's difficult, Amore, being as mouthy as you are, but be good and stay quiet for once, hmm?"

A sly wink answered him back. She was loving this. Loving the force he was using and being gagged while he fucked her hard from behind. His free hand curved her thigh and found her clit as he withdrew his cock and thrust in to his wife's heaven. Their pace was brutal but so fucking good. Catrina backed into his cock with every crack of his hips meeting her ass. She turned to watch Dante with wide eyes and teeth gritting around the gag.

Over and over Dante pounded into her, his breaths turning into short, harsh pants. Catrina's arousal coated his cock and her body fit exquisitely around his shaft. He kept his fingers pressed firmly to her clit, keeping her nerves stimulated and her body close to blowing.

There was nothing quite like the two of them like this, Dante decided. He loved the way she took him, never hesitating. The sounds of their flesh meeting and her stifled cries rolled over his senses like liquid gold. It was perfect, so damn good.

When Catrina's shoulders began to quake, her walls clenching around his shaft started to flutter, and a tear escaped the corner of her eye, Dante knew his wife was coming. He released this hold on the gag, hearing her sharp intake of air as the silk fell. Dante pulled Catrina to his back, turned her head just enough to catch her mouth with his own and kissed her through her orgasm.

His fingers weaved into her hair while his other hand held tight under her jaw. Catrina moaned and shuddered, but Dante didn't relent in his tempo. That fantastic heat was beginning to build with a pressure in his groin. His balls were tight and his back tense. Just as the milking contractions of Catrina's orgasm subsided, Dante's release blew through his nervous system with an almost blinding intent. The intensity took away his sight and breath for a brief moment.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, yes," Dante mumbled to Catrina's trembling lips. "Cristo, bella. You kill me."

"Mmm," Catrina hummed in response, grinning.

Dante struggled to catch air, falling down to the bed and pulling Catrina with him. He tucked her tight into his side, wanting her as close as possible.

Catrina turned so she could press her lips to the underside of Dante's jaw. "Ti amo tanto."

Dante chuckled. "I thought you weren't going to say it every second of the day."

"It's been a few minutes. You're a man with a fickle mind. You might forget."

"Where's my grandson?"

"Right behind us," Dante heard Lucian reply to their father.

Johnathan perked from his spot on Dante's shoulders at his grandfather's voice. That kid loved Antony like crazy. Dante's father could be one mean, cold motherfucker, but when it came to Johnathan, he turned into the softest teddy bear.

Dante knew better than to tell his father that, though.

"Behind you?" Antony's brow lifted as Dante stepped into the kitchen with Catrina at his side. His wife's hand held his, while he used his other to keep a tight hold on the wiggling boy on his shoulders. "Oh."

Dante lifted his nephew from his spot and placed the boy on his butt to the floor. Instantly, Johnathan was crawling to where Antony was standing across the room. Cecelia smiled at her second oldest son, but said nothing like her husband.

Honestly, Dante was shocked they managed to keep silent about him showing up with Johnathan at the breakfast instead of Lucian or Gio like he usually would.

Gio, however, didn't stay quiet. "This is new. Since when do you tote John around?"

"Giovanni," Kim admonished as she leaned over the island to grab the icing sugar. "Be quiet."

"It's fine, Kim," Dante said, waving off her concern over his youngest brother's nosiness.

"Was he good for you?" Jordyn asked, her hands already buried into some kind of dough. "Did it go okay?"

Dante knew the question wasn't posed for his wife at all. All eyes turned to him and he simply shrugged in response. What did they think would happen with him and Johnathan? That a two night sleepover would turn Dante into an emotional mess?

Right ...

Sure, Dante had his asshole moments back when he first found out Lucian and Jordyn were expecting, but that was mostly from the shock of the entire situation. Never mind the fact that it all kind of sneaked up on Dante in the worst way. Life usually had that shitty kind of effect.

"He was good. Really," Dante said.

"Perfect," Catrina agreed at his side. "We'll probably come pick him up next Friday, too. We should bring some toys over that he'll like, I think. Just to have them there."

"And Cat decided she needs to go buy a high chair and things," Dante added, chuckling. "Something else for her to spend money on."

Catrina smacked his middle playfully with their conjoined hands. Dante felt his wife's fingers squeeze his before she let go. Catrina pressed a soft kiss to the underside of his jaw, and then joined the women who were just beginning to start the makings of what looked like a buffet of breakfast foods.

"Friday, you said?" Jordyn asked.

"Sure. We don't have anything coming up," Catrina replied.

"Sounds good to me," Lucian said, sliding into the open table chair beside Gio. "At least I don't have to worry about a dog swallowing his fucking head or something."

"Lucian, watch your mouth!" Cecelia barked. "Mio Dio, that's completely ridiculous and unacceptable. Your son is right there and you're in my kitchen! I ought to wash out your mouth with-"

"Cain loves that kid," Gio said, punching Lucian hard in the shoulder from behind. "Fucking asshole. And he's never, ever tried to hurt him."

"Giovanni ..." Cecelia's eyes narrowed as her words trailed off with a dangerous edge every Marcello man knew all too well. It usually meant someone was in trouble, and being an adult didn't make a difference. Dante hid his grin with a fake cough and his palm, happy it wasn't him. "That's it, every man needs to get out of my kitchen right this minute."

Antony glanced up from Johnathan in his arms. "But, Tesoro, John and I weren't doing-"

"Get out!"

Dante was gone from the space before his mother really got started. He was a man, but he wasn't a fucking idiot.

Dante made faces at little Johnathan while fifteen people in the pew behind theirs stared at him like he was diseased. He ignored them. The baby could have stayed downstairs with the daycare Sunday school, but apparently Lucian didn't trust them with his child.

"You know, I think we Italians make too big a deal of this whole Catholicism thing," Catrina muttered at Dante's side.

"Oh?"

She nodded, crossing her legs and readjusting her seat in the pew. "So, maybe not Catholicism itself but more religion in general. I don't want to get into the whole debate of religion and God. I'm just trying to say that this whole farce seems a bit much for people like us. Like maybe us coming here is too much of a distraction for others given the way we're stared at constantly."

"The masks we wear are the burdens we bear, kitten. Church is one of them."

Dante felt his wife's fingernails cut into his palm warningly but he caught the twist of her smirk out of the corner of his eye. He only called her kitten in bed, so chances were, the pet name made her just as hot outside of sex as it did during the act.

It was never a good thing to be turned on in church. It made a person feel like they were going to hell just for thinking.

Dante chuckled when Catrina shook her head and glanced up at the ceiling. "Feeling like you're being judged based on the lifestyle you live just for choosing to come to worship is okay with you?"

Apparently their conversation wasn't as private as they thought.

"Don't you just love the smell of Christians judging other Christians first thing in the morning, piccolo?" Lucian asked his babbling son he was entertaining.

"Yes," Dante said, tossing his brother a grin at Catrina's right. "It leaves a distinct flavor on the back of your tongue, right?"

"I'd say so," Giovanni added in, glancing down the pew. "Kind of like-"

"Self-entitlement and shame all mixed into one," Antony interjected quietly.

Low snickers rumbled down the pew.

"Hush," Cecelia demanded.

Everyone turned silent with their eyes to the front where Father Peter stood, still droning on.

"Well, that was nice while it lasted," Catrina whispered so softly Dante strained to hear.

Dante shrugged. "Masks, kitten. Slide it back on and smile like I know you can."

"Oh, quit it with the kitten nonsense already. I know what you're trying to do."

"Nothing, bella. I'm doing absolutely nothing."

"Right. If you're good, maybe we can defile the confessional later," Catrina murmured in Dante's ear.

There was one thing he hadn't done before. It sounded awesome, though. Dante stiffened in more places than one. "Jesus Christ, you are wicked."

"I know. It's wonderful. Imagine the fun we could have. Church would be a lot less boring that way."

Well, Dante sure as fuck wasn't going to argue that point.

Another forty-five very long minutes passed before the congregation stood to join Father Peter in the final prayer. The priest blessed the worshippers before bidding them a good day. Dante turned to leave only to come face to face with his father.

Dante lifted a single brow, waiting for Antony to speak. "Yes?"

"Go on, he'll catch up, Catrina," Antony said. Then, he waved at the pew. "Sit, Dante."

He did, kicking his legs out to cross his leather shoes at the ankles in a much more relaxed pose than he would normally take on in church. Antony took his regular spot beside his son, staying quiet for a minute.

"This was nice. Today, I mean. Laughing in church. There's a first time for everything."

"Cat's ... something else. She keeps my life entertaining."

"I can see that," Antony mused, eyeing his son. "Are you ready, Dante?"

"Hmm, for what, Papa?"

"You've managed to do everything I asked, didn't you?"

Dante shrugged, not understanding his father's ramblings. "I always do."

"In one way or another, sure. Still, I can't help but wonder if you would have done anything I asked of you if not for your wife."

Well, Dante didn't know about that. "Cat-"

"Is your equal who tests you, makes you consider things beyond what is only in front of you, and she makes you happy all the same. It's crazy, isn't it? Finding that person when you least expect to?"

Dante wet his lips, laughing quietly. "Okay, I guess so. She is crazy."

"Ah, there's no guessing, Dante. I know it all too well. So, are you ready, son? The meeting of the Commission is a month away."

Oh.

"I want to be," Dante replied, blowing out a breath of air. "I think I am. The last few months have been one major overhaul for me. Taking over officially is the next step, right? It's what I've wanted my whole life."

"You didn't even realize how easy I made it for you to take over until you were right in the thick of it."

"You should have given me a little warning that first tribute. I still hate you for tricking me into it like that."

Antony's hand smacked Dante's knee. "No, you don't."

"Kind of."

"One month," Antony repeated quieter. "I have this odd feeling. Something I haven't experienced often before. I'm nervous for you."

Dante glanced at his father only to see Antony sporting a stony expression. "Why be nervous for me? I've had no issues from our side of things. Everyone seems amicable to me taking over. I don't see the problem."

"Our family is our family, Dante. The Marcello Cosa Nostra isn't other families."

"True."

"And I know you," his father added, sighing. "She's going to be right by your side, no questions asked."

Dante didn't bother to deny it. Catrina was, like his father said, Dante's equal.

"The Commission is definitely not going to be a fucking cake walk, I know."

"No, but like we always have, the Marcellos dominate the table. You met with the other New York families, yes?"

"Well, the Calabrese with Cat. That was ... fun. They passed my message along to the Donati family."

Antony chuckled. "I only asked because I felt I should, but I already knew. It wasn't long before they took a liking to her."

"Of course, not. When you put the option of a cheaper way to buy a good product under their nose, they'll always grab it up. Who gives a fuck if it's a Queen Pin with the contacts, right?"

Antony's hand landed to Dante's shoulder as his father stood. "Exactly. There has not been a capo di tutti capi in a long time."