Gates of Paradise (a Blue Bloods Novel)

Tomi clasped her hands around his back and pulled him closer, and said the same words to him. With that vow they were bonded, just as they had been since time eternal.

She pulled him away from the window and into the bedroom. Gio had seen to everything—that morning Tomi had moved her small things to the new home they were to share. It was a palace in Florence, above the Arno. The room was aglow with a hundred tiny candles flickering in the dark. She smiled at him shyly, even as her breath quickened in excitement. He kissed her again, starting from her lips and toward the base of her neck, and she kissed him back, with an urgent passion that rose as they moved ever closer together.

She felt his warm hands reach for the straps of the simple blue dress she wore, and then his hands were on her skin. Soon they were lying on the bed together, and he was moving against her and she was pressed against him, and when she looked into his eyes, she saw that they were filled with love. He was so beautiful. She moved her body with his, quickening to his rhythm. His hands on her hands, holding them behind her head, his hips sliding against hers, the two of them joined, bound, together now, just as at the beginning of time.

“I’ve wanted this…I’ve wanted you so much, for so long,” he said, and kissed her fiercely now, biting her lip, and he pushed against her with a ferocity that excited and frightened her.

“I’ve wanted you too, so much,” she said, sitting up so that she could see him clearly, and show him just how much she loved him.

He pushed against her, harder and harder, faster and faster, and his strong hands on her waist gripped her so tightly she almost cried out in pain.

“I want to drink in every part of you,” he seethed, burying his face in her neck as he shuddered against her, slamming her body with his.

“Michael,” she murmured. “Michael, my love and my light.”

“Shhhh,” he whispered. “Shhhh…”

The next morning they were awoken by a barrage of fists on the door. “Gio? Tomi? Gio! Wake up!” The voice belonged to Bellarmine. He had been on watch the night before.

“What is it?” Gio called. “What is so important that you must disturb us on the morning after our bonding?”

“My deepest apologies for this intrusion, but we do need to consult with you in this matter,” the Venator captain explained.

“I suppose we should see what he wants,” Gio sighed.

Tomi removed her arms from around his chest, her legs from around his. “I suppose we should. Alas,” she said with a smile.

They dressed quickly and walked out to the courtyard, to find Valentina and Bellarmine standing at the door with white faces, looking agitated and upset.

“What happened?” Tomi asked, feeling a dread rise in her stomach. There was something terribly wrong, but she did not know what.

Valentina turned to her, her face ashen. “The Mistress—Simonetta has been killed, and her baby gutted.”

Tomi gasped and Gio turned to the Venators angrily. “No harm was to come to her! How did this happen?” he growled, his handsome face flushed an angry red.

“We were bespelled. When we awoke, Simonetta was dead, and we found this by her bed,” Bellarmine said, offering up a bloody dagger.

“Andreas’s blade,” Gio said with a scowl.

“Then he survived the fire,” Tomi said, her heart sinking. She had been certain they had triumphed, that the devil had been destroyed. “But why would he kill his own child?”

“So that we would not torture it?” Valentina offered.

“It doesn’t make sense,” Tomi said, confused.

Gio grasped the dagger. “We will find her killer. We will find Andreas and we will destroy him.”

Tomi shuddered at the anger in his voice, at the wildness in his eyes. She had never seen him this way before. Kind, gentle Gio. He was on fire with rage. Tomi shrunk back from him, frightened, and remembered their lovemaking the night before, the wildness of it, the ferocity.

She looked at him and he was a stranger to her. She did not know who he was.





THIRTEEN


Schuyler


he sound of breaking glass woke her from her sleep. Schuyler glanced at the clock on her bedside table. It was four in the morning. She put on her robe and walked out to the living room. “Who’s there?” she called. She padded through the dark hallway, looking for the light switch.

She turned on the light and saw Kingsley in the middle of the room, with a broken wineglass in his hand. “Oh, sorry, sorry—we were trying to be quiet and I tripped over the damn rug.…” he said.

“I’ll get the vacuum.” Schuyler frowned and pulled the vacuum cleaner out of the closet.

“Bye, Dani,” Kingsley said, as a sleek blonde walked out of his room, dangling her stilettos on one finger. She was a dead ringer for Mimi Force. The same almond-shaped green eyes, the same mane of lustrous platinum hair. The same sexy-pouty expression.

“Bye, darling,” she said, kissing him on the cheek.

“Mind the mess,” he warned, motioning to the broken glass on the rug.