“If you asked Enzo, he’d tell you that I became madly obsessed with the nanny and would stop at nothing to make her mine. But the truth is that I found my soulmate, who just so happened to naturally become a mother to my girls.”
For a minute, I surveyed him. There were fine lines at the corners of his eyes that would suggest he smiled or laughed often, and the tension that had been ever-present at the time of my departure was gone.
“You look happy.” I vocalized my observation.
“I am. Deliriously so. And the only thing that would make me happier would be to hand the reins back over to you so that I am free to focus more on my family and less on the bullshit that comes with being Don.”
I reared back. “You didn’t enjoy your time sitting on my throne?”
“Fuck no. Swear to God it aged me ten years.”
“Enzo said something about a security breach?”
Matteo snorted. “Wish that was the extent of the shit that’s gone down these past four years.”
Before I could open my mouth to ask exactly what had transpired during my unprecedented sabbatical, there was abeep from the device in my brother’s hand, and I could hear my heartbeat in my ears as he stared down at it for what felt like an eternity.
Slowly, his gaze lifted to meet mine. “It’s a match.”
“Thank fuck,” I breathed out, relief slamming into my chest with the force of a sledgehammer.
“Should probably get you home before your sleeping beauty wakes up and turns into a feral cat.”
Matteo knew better than anyone how vicious Rory could be when provoked; she’d never bothered to hide her feisty side. My spoiled mafia princess wife gave zero fucks what people thought of her, and she went out of her way to make sure everyone within earshot knew how much she hated me. The only person she ever concealed her true feelings about me from was her father. There would be no sympathy from the man who had all but sold her to my family to gain more power for himself, so she didn’t bother to waste her breath complaining.
He motioned to my wife. “Need help carting her out?”
I practically growled at the offer. Brother or not, the thought of another man putting his hands on Rory made me see red.
Being cut from the same cloth, Matteo understood my wordless possessive reaction. “Hands off. Got it. You two take the central SUV. I’ll follow behind in the rear.” He disappeared through the open door, his footsteps sounding on the metal staircase.
With a grunt, I scooped up Rory and carried her down the steps before placing her in the backseat of the car in the middle of the convoy as Matteo had instructed. He must’ve relayed the results of the DNA testing because there was no hesitation from the soldiers, despite my change in appearance. Each one ducked their head, muttering “boss” under their breath in acknowledgment as I passed.
Climbing into the SUV, I reached over to secure my wife’s seatbelt before latching my own. Then I turned to the driver, surprised to find the man sitting up front wasn’t Marco, the head of my security detail. If he wasn’t here, that could only mean one thing: that he’d lost his life in service to my family. He’d been loyal, and I made a mental note to get the details from Enzo so I could properly pay my respects to those he left behind.
“Move out,” I commanded, and within seconds, the vehicles began to roll forward.
As we drove, I stared out the window, finding comfort in the familiar streets as we drove toward the estate where I’d lived for most of my life. The sprawling mansion had served as the ancestral home of the Bellini family for generations, passed down from Don to Don. I had been raised there, and it became mine after my father’s murder. Someday, it would belong to my son.
Matteo and Enzo had purchased homes in the same upscale neighborhood, but as we passed those addresses, the lots sat empty, which was strange as hell.
It was enough to have fear creeping in that I would wake up to find all of this had been a dream. How else did you explain two houses just vanishing unless this whole sequence of tracking down Rory and impregnating her with my heir was a figment of my subconscious?
The motorcade rolled through the front gates of the Bellini Estate, coming to a stop in the circular drive.
Pulling in a few deep breaths, I turned to my wife, who was still dead to the world. Softly, I brushed the strands of red hair away from her face, stroking the soft skin of her cheek with my thumb.
“Time to wake up,tigrotta. We’re home.”
Chapter 9
Rory
“Timetowakeup,tigrotta.We’re home.”
I woke with a sharp gasp, my palm pressed over my racing heart. I couldn’t remember anything about the dream I must’ve been having, but it couldn’t have been anything good. Not if it involved the pet name Gio used to taunt me with, calling me his little tigress. He especially loved bringing it out in the midst of the passion-filled hate sex we used to have.
An involuntary shudder rolled through me as memories of those moments flashed before my eyes.
