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A sense of peace settled over her She murmured occasional comments to Gabby and Rocky, and slowly, her lids closed

"Carina?"

Her name slid froooey and delicious She smiled and lifted her face upward, too relaxed to lift her arms The delicious sne drifted on the breeze "Hers caressed her cheek She pressed against that warm hand and kissed his pal You should co hihs, and slide home Her muscles clenched in delicious anticipation She nibbled on his strong wrist and sighed "Taste good S ood intentions and her brain waves She blinked and reached up Pushed back the crisp strands of hair across his brow Traced the arrogant hook of his nose, his soft, full lips "You’re so beautiful," she h Aren’t you, Max?"

"Fuck this I’m no saint"

His lips coasted over hers War an expensive glass of wine His taste exploded on her tongue and she , slow moments that went on and on, until she reollen and wet When he finally lifted his head, she knew he’d won Waited for hi her into his bedroom And at that

The ding caused Rocky to launch off his rest spot and bark She bu and pushed herself up Max shook his head "I may kill whoever’s at that door," he said With one last hard look, he disappeared through the French doors

Carina slid out of the chair She wondered if Fate stepped in to save her How long could she hold out before falling back into his bed? The voice of her sister-in-law floated through the screen and she took a deep breath to steady her nerves She was safe froie waddled in looking generally huge, uncomfortable, and majorly pissed off The black stretch knit dress hit her knees, and rhinestone flip-flops slapped over the onna take the rooe of the co she wouldn’t be getting up unless they had a crane

She clucked with syie They’re close"

Maggie glared and took the glass of seltzer with lemon from Max "No, they’re not I just went to the doctor yesterday, who told ht Nada Niente They’re nice and cozy in there They get food, sleep, and play karate when they’re bored Why would they coet a C-section unless necessary but I think it’s the only way They need to feel threatened or they’ll never come out"

Carina patted her sister-in-law’s hand "I bet within five days you’ll be holding two perfectly healthy, happy babies Re happened with Alexa? She eeks late with her first"

"Yeah, that was a riot Nick alht Ma fire "Yeah, I heard that story, a pure classic How is Alexa doing?" he asked

"Fine They took Lily to Sesame Place for the weekend You kno she obsesses over El lit the sky, and a ru "Supposed to be a wicked stor late"

"Yeah, he was going to take the car into Manhattan for his oing on by Wall Street today and he didn’t want to get stuck in traffic He should be okay"

Maggie rubbed her ht Awful indigestion all day" The ringing tune of "Sexy Back" booie reached over for her purse "That’s Michael I can’t reach it"

Carina grabbed the hot pink cell phone and handed it to her Maggie’s side of the conversation included curse words and syoing to be believe this There’s a major blackout in the city and all the trains are delayed He’s stuck there for a few more hours"

Carina nibbled on her lip "Will he be okay? Are there police? Where is he right now?"

Maggie sighed "He’s eating at La Mia Casa It’s a little Italian restaurant I used to haunt, and now I got hiood care of Michael"

"Thank God Well, you can sleep over here if you want We’ll treat you to a ho"

Mama Conte snorted "I willfor ht ill have a sluie asked

Max lifted a brow "Somehow I don’t think Mama Conte will like that choice"

"Why?" the older woman deie said "It’s good"

Her roaned "I’ood conversation, laughter, and food Michael called once more to check in and confiret out of the city until early led under a comforter Max finally caved and allowed theretted it when all three women panted over the first scene He threw popcorn at the television screen to distract the credits rolled "I love that movie," she declared "It’s so deep"

Max snorted "It’s fe it"

"You’re just mad because the hot chick never took her clothes off"

"I have more respect for woht, I think--Oh, ie Pure horror contorted her features She breathed deep and glanced down in shock "I think my water broke"