I sprawled out on my towel in the sand. There was a small beach only two blocks from the house, which was nice.

I was happy to get a little tan before the rest of the winter drained me of the little tan I had left from Summer.

I dragged the boys along to let Sampson and Esther have some alone time. It was a little too crowded in the house with all of us there. We were leaving tomorrow night, and I was already missing them.

I sat up wiggling my toes in the sand while they all looked around the beach for some type of threat that wasn't coming. The beach was full of families with their small children. I doubted one of these moms' was packing an AR under their umbrella.

"I'm going in the water to take a dip and then we can go back to the house if you're ready?"

"Yeah, it's too hot. I'm ready to go," Enzo agreed.

"All you do is whine" I teased.

Alessio snickered. Dante nodded over the coconut he bought from the street vendor. Stefano stayed focused on any possible threats.

"Come on, you can come with me to cool off. Then we'll leave."

He made a sound that sounded like an unghh but got up anyway to follow me. I held his hand as we walked toward the shore and continued holding his hand as we walked through the shallows.

The water was a pretty clear turquoise color. I could see tiny fish moving a few feet to my left.

We waded through the shallows and once we got to our knees, Enzo picked up my hand and pressed it to his lips.

His lips brushed my fingertips and then he let go. "Try not to whine too much. Okay?" he smirked. Before I could register, his hands wrapped around my waist and he threw me several feet into the air away from him where I fell into the deeper water.

I could swim, but I wasn't going to wet my hair. I was only going to go up to my waist. I choked a little as the water burned my nose. I swam up to the surface and glared at Enzo, who was swimming towards me in skillful strokes.

He looked sexy with no shirt on, all his muscles on display while he swam. When he reached me quickly he pulled me into him, holding us both up in the deeper water.

"I can't stand not sleeping with you in my bed. Dante is a horrible bunkmate, you know."

I giggled at the thought of them cuddling.

"You should have objected to the bed arrangements."

"I respect Sampson; this is his house. Even though I am on the verge of exploding if I don't get to have you soon. I miss your taste, and the noises you make, baby." He whispered to me, kissing my cheek. It was a family beach, we wouldn't push it further than that much PDA. But I was stupid horny for Enzo, and I knew he felt the same way. I was itching to jump him.

"I miss you too. Tomorrow, and then I'm all yours," I smiled at him and gave him a wink.

"I can't believe tomorrow is already the 19th, only a few days till Christmas. Will we decorate a tree when we get back to your house?"

"Anything you want, of course. I'll even bake cookies for you. It's a special recipe from Italy that has been in my family for generations. We'd eat them every Christmas when I was younger. Maybe I can teach you how to make them?"

"I'd love that," I blinked up at him. I didn't want to look into it too much but it was sweet of him to share his family's recipe with me. That was special to him, for sure. I smiled, thinking of what it will be like. I wondered if we'd wear matching pajamas or if Enzo would have stockings hung. Maybe that was ridiculous since we were all grown adults. But, I still liked the idea of that.

"Will we decorate the apartment?"

"It's a little late, but if you want to we can."

"Yeah, it'll be fun! I'm happy we're all spending it together."

"Yes. But, it's just going to be the five of us, alright?"

I nodded happily.

"I have to go shopping when we get back. What do you think I should give them?"

"I don't know. We don't exchange gifts, really. If we do it's stupid or not something you'd buy, like a new gun or coke for shits and giggles. Dante once hired a hooker for Stefano. But he declined." he laughed with amusement.

"Coke?! You do that?"

"Yeah, a few times I have tested products."

My eyebrows scrunched together. I didn't like the idea of him doing that.

"It isn't a regular thing, Lilly. I can count on my hands the number of times I've used it. But, I definitely won't do it again. Now that I see how much it upsets you," he frowned at me.

I frowned back.

"I haven't snorted coke in a year," he defended.

"Is that supposed to be a good thing? Listen to yourself right now," I argued.

"Lilly, I didn't even know you. You can't get mad at me for that. Please, don't be upset with me."

I rolled my eyes and swam away out of the water. I guess I wasn't that surprised. His people sold it. It was in the warehouses we worked in.

Enzo followed me silently, letting me process the information he had just thrown at me.

When I got back to the boys I pulled my blanket off the sand and started packing it up into my bag. They all got up and followed suit.

"You guys go, we'll catch up," Enzo said sternly.

They all left while Enzo and I stared at each other with too much tension.

"Angel," he started, but I cut him off.

"Don't you 'Angel' me. I can't believe you've done that."

"I don't do it anymore. Please, forgive me. I was younger and liked to party. I was just for fun once in a while."

I frowned. As I kept thinking about it, Enzo was right. Even though I hated to be wrong... I didn't know him, so I couldn't be upset.

"Do you really not do that anymore? I don't like drugs, Enzo. Don't lie to me"

"I promise, don't be mad at me?" he frowned back, tucking my damp hair behind my ear. His hand trailed down my neck, his touch light as a feather. I shivered, but it had nothing to do with the chill leftover from the water.

"I'm not," I held his hand. "That stuff just scares me. You using it scares me. I'm sorry for reacting that way. I care about you a lot, but it was wrong for me to get mad over your past."

"I know. I feel the same way about you."

I nodded as I wrung out my hair.

"Come on, baby. Let's go. You should spend some more time with Sampson before we go back to my apartment tomorrow. Then, we have a busy week ahead of us."

"Busy how?" I whined.

"Christmas decorating and shopping," he sighed.

"Oh, I thought you meant assistant-mafia-work-stuff" I smiled.

"Oh, hush. I barely have you working. I'm making you cum more than I'm making you do work," he huffed an appreciative laugh, pulling me against him. He placed a chaste kiss on my lips and let me go.

I blushed and looked away with embarrassment. This man had a way of making my skin permanently glow red.