And when she climbs into his lap, just as she did with me, Dante loosens a shuddering breath. Her hands land on his face, pushing his cheeks together as she regards him seriously.
They watch each other for long, silent seconds. I glance over as Luc stumbles down the stairs, stopping short as he sees it too.
Alessia runs her palms over Dante’s face, over and over again, feeling the stubble beneath her fingers with a fascinated expression. His lips twitch up into a smile as he watches her.
And Alessia throws back her head andlaughs- a pealing, joyous sound that rings out in the otherwise silent space, following it up with more of that incoherent babbling.
Dante nods as if he understands every word.
He doesn’t move, except to lift up his hands so she can balance as she scrambles to her feet.
And his expression… is nothing I have ever seen.
Except, perhaps… when he looks at me.
“Cuore mio,” he whispers finally, low and rough, before he glances at me with bright eyes. “My heart, Cat. She’s perfect,tentazione.”
She is perfect.
And this time, when he holds out his hand… I don’t hesitate to take it.
7 – Giovanni
My bare feet are near silent on the cool floor as I settle next to Luc. “Thanks for the clothes.”
He flicks an inquisitive glance my way at my low murmur, nodding before turning back to them. I follow his gaze, my own chest clenching as Cat slowly moves across the floor to where Dante sits.
He looks… dazed. Unsteady, as he watches his daughter. Alessia has grown more since the photo was taken, another half-inch to the curls that bounce around her head as she uses the V’Arezzo capo like a climbing frame. She giggles as Cat settles back on her heels and watches them with a small smile as she pushes back the long sleeves of my sweatshirt.
Beside me, Luc rests his wrists on his bent knees with a smile. “That’s a good sound, Fusco.”
The sound of laughter. Of happiness. “Yes.”
We both sit quietly, drinking it in for long minutes until Luc turns to me with a sigh. “It’s not over.”
“No.” I don’t take my eyes off them. “But we have bought ourselves a little time. Time we need, Luc.”
Those who survived the extermination of the Asante compound will have carried the events straight to Matteo’s ears. And Matteo has more men than Asante –paidmen, mercenaries and assholes gathering like vermin who know nothing of the code of the Cosa Nostra. Those men only know the money that lines their pockets, without care or thought to our traditions.
“The Asante battle was a warm-up,” I murmur. “We rest, regroup. Because the next one will be worse.”
Luc looks grim when I glance at him. “I have plenty of information on him to share.”
I dip my head. “Like I said. Rest first. You need it just as much as the rest of us, Morelli.”
Perhaps more so. His cheekbones stand out in sharp prominence, his voice hardening. “He’s a dead man.”
I stay silent. I thought that, once. Thought that it would be as easy as a gunshot across a hotel reception to rid us of his filth.
Caterina paid the price for my mistake, then. Took a whip across her back to save my life.
My sister paid the price for my insolence before that.
I will not risk this family by rushing again. Matteo has taught me that, if nothing else.
“Soon,” I say eventually. “But not yet.”
“He has Amie,” Luc says abruptly, and I cast him a sharp glance. “Cat’s… friend. I couldn’t have gotten Alessia away without her. She risked everything to stay behind. I can’t… I can’t leave her there.”
