Four years was a long time to be away, and between my brother’s behavior and Enzo’s remark about a security breach, it was clear a lot had happened in my absence.
“Sounds like we’ve all been through it since we last saw each other.”
Matteo huffed out a laugh. “Damn, that voice is going to take some getting used to.”
I hummed. “Couldn’t leave anything up to chance.”
“Clearly.”
Gesturing to where Rory sat unconscious, I said, “Sedation will wear off soon. I’d prefer not to force her into one of the vehicles, kicking and screaming, so if we could move this along.”
“Right.” Matteo nodded, reaching into his pocket to pull out something that looked vaguely like a pregnancy test, but more high-tech. When I arched an eyebrow, he explained, “Nico developed this while you were gone. It’s a lancing device that’s programmed to read the DNA from your blood sample and cross-reference it with the one we have on file for Gio.”
“Kid’s a fucking genius,” I remarked, impressed.
“You can say that again. I have half a mind to offer him a partnership so we can venture into the tech sector. We could make a mint.”
While we made a fortune in our illegal ventures, it was never a bad idea to branch into more legitimate enterprises. We hadlocal law enforcement in our pockets, but the feds were a whole different animal, and if they ever came sniffing around—or worse, found a way to nail us—we needed to ensure our family’s survival. The more clean businesses we had, the better.
Jerking my chin in the direction of the device, I asked, “How long’s it take?”
“Half an hour.”
I extended my hand. “Let’s get on with it, then.”
The finger prick took less than a second, then all that was left to do was wait for the results.
Since we had time, I decided to catch up with my little brother.
Pouring myself a glass of scotch, I took a seat, propping one ankle on the opposite knee. “How are the girls?”
A smile formed on Matteo’s face at the mention of his daughters. “Precocious as hell and forces to be reckoned with.”
I chuckled. “I’d expect nothing less of pint-sized Bellini women.”
“God help us because there are three of them now.”
My eyebrows rose at that piece of information. At the time of my departure, Matteo had been struggling as a single dad, so hearing he had a third child was beyond shocking. Especially since I’d been the one to drive him to the procedure that would eliminate the possibility of future procreation if he ever chose to move on after Allegra’s passing.
“No kidding. Vasectomy didn’t take?”
“Oh, it was successful.” The corner of his lips twitched. “As was the reversal.”
I choked out a laugh. “Well, okay then. What’s my youngest niece’s name?”
He pulled out his phone to show me a picture of three raven-haired little girls—the older two I recognized as Bianca and Serafina, along with a toddler—wrapped in the arms of a blonde woman who appeared to be in her mid-twenties.
Beaming with pride, my younger brother pointed to the youngest of his daughters. “That’s Aurora. She’ll be two in a few weeks.” Then his smile grew even wider as he shifted to the blonde. “And that’s Summer, my wife.”
“Wife, huh?”
Matteo pocketed his cell. “Going on three and a half years.”
That timeline gave me pause. “Wait. You gotmarriedsix months after I left?”
“Five,” he corrected.
A stunned exhale slipped past my parted lips. “No offense, but you were a fucking wreck when I went after Rory. What the hell happened?”
