“Hello, my heart,” I said in Italian, smiling down at her, touching her head with my free hand.
The little boy in question ran out of the room, right behind her, his mother close on his heels. He wasn’t two, by the looks of him, more like four or five.
Old enough to fucking know better.
His mother went pale when she saw me, took him by the shoulders, and shoved him back into the room.
“Dat boy kisses my cheek,” Mia said, smiling as he was shoved deeper into the room, though he kept trying to turn back.
“Oh, how about we go—uh—” Eunice started to stumble over words. It had to be from the look on my face.
“Here—” Scarlett said, reaching out and taking Matteo from me. His head swiveled, looking at me, arms moving, legs kicking out, his eyebrows set in a determined stance, making his eyes look more intense, before she kissed him and passed him over to Eunice. “I’ll be in in a moment.”
“Good,” Eunice said with a nod, kissing Matteo too. “You’re worried about your daughter.Huh!” She sent me a pointed look. “You have no idea whatthosewomen are doing to your son. Already planning his wedding!”
I watched her take them back into the fray. My arms felt weightless; the warm bulk of him had kept me rooted, and I felt a deep sense of sudden loss wash over me, quick and painful, like I was too close to drifting without an anchor to keep me harbored.
Scarlett said nothing, just watched me watch my kids, until Juliette passed through, holding Angelo’s hand, and Dante, their second born, in her free arm.
“Back?” Scarlett smiled at her.
“No one keeps Romeo Fausti’s children from participating, in anything, or so he informed me. If Angelo was defending his cousin, he has his rights.” She laughed, the sound of it echoing like bells in a church. “By the way—” She pointed Angelo’s shoulders toward the room, pushing him toward Mia, Matteo, and Eunice, and then turned towards me. “Your father wants you back in the game.Adesso.”
“Naturalmente,” Scarlett muttered underneath her breath.
Juliette smiled and repeated the word, “Naturally,” and then left us to join the group with a sigh.
Out of the blue, I was shoved deeper into the hallway, in a spot not touched by natural light, and my back hit the wall. Of course, I let her shove me once I realized what the hell she was doing.
Cupping my balls in her hand, she turned her fierce eyes up, almost slaying me with their intensity.
“Make sure these are warm in my bed tonight, ah?” She spoke in Italian.
“You’re using sex against me, Scarlett Rose Fausti.” My mouth twitched, but then I muffled the groan when she moved, using her weapon against me.
“No,” she breathed out. “You’re a man. You’ll do what feels right. But I’m your woman, and I do what feels right to keep you safe, alive, and warm in my bed every night.”
She reached up, pulling my head down to hers, her tongue finding entrance to my mouth and moving with mine.
“Tell me that’s not using your sexual prowess against me,” I said when I was able to. “I dare you.”
She smiled, a slow-spreading, sly one. “Just a reminder of what you’ll miss.”
My hands came over her breasts, my thumbs stroking her nipples through the material. Hard without me even touching her. I could only imagine how fucking slick—I shook my head. “I’ll never forget, my wife,” I said in Italian.
“Better not.” She nodded her head, her cheeks flushed, eyes still blazing. “By the way, the man across from Rocco is the one to beat. You have to play the game, but no one said you couldn’t have help.” She winked at me.
Halfway to the door, she stopped and turned. “You are really, truly someone’s father, Brando. Two little people who belong to you.”
“I know.” I grinned at her. “I’m really, truly, someone’s husband too. One woman who belongs to me.”
Her smile met me, one that made me feel the deep dip in the pit of my stomach, and that set my hand to my heart.
I watched her go, so damn graceful as she entered the room, though she had swayed at bit, at first.
Though my family had separate agendas, seeing them all together made the hard yearning ease, knowing they were together.
Releasing a sigh that made the pressure in my chest lighten, I headed back.
