“What do you mean, he’s not dead? Then where the hell is he?”
He shoved both hands into his pockets. “Indianapolis.”
The throbbing behind my skull intensified. “What Bellini business do we have down there?”
“He’s leading the team that was sent to guard Gemma and her family when shit hit the fan with Dario,” Enzo explained.
It took me a minute to process those words.
“Gemma, as in Gemma Bellini? Your sister, my cousin?”
There was a nod of confirmation. “One and the same.”
“And you said she has afamily?”
My only female cousin had begged for my protection against her father’s attempts to sell her off into marriage to the highest bidder. While I might not be a saint, there were many men within our world who beat up on their wives and children. My uncle had left enough marks on Gemma’s body to last a lifetime, so it had been a no-brainer to shut down the prospect that she would be shipped off to become the property of yet another abusive man.
After Rory’s “disappearance” and Allegra’s death, Gemma felt the walls closing in as the last Bellini woman standing, and she made a petition to leave Chicago—to leave the mafia life behind—and start fresh on her own. I’d granted her request for freedom, but my cousin was the ultimate black cat. I could only imagine there was a hell of a story behind someone getting her to let down her guard enough to earn her trust and settle down.
Enzo rocked on his heels. “Husband and two little boys.”
I choked out a disbelieving laugh. “I leave for four years and come back to find everyone’s coupled up and having babies. What’s next? You gonna tell me you’re a dad too?”
A shadow passed over my cousin’s eyes, and he tugged on the back of his neck. “Nah. No kids for us.”
“Ah, still drowning in childhood trauma and scared to pass it on to the next generation?”
Gemma wasn’t the only one who carried scars inflicted by Dario. Enzo had managed to hide most of the physical ones with the black ink covering almost every inch of his skin, but the mental ones ran deeper. We didn’t talk about it often, but I knew his outright refusal to procreate stemmed from having the world’s shittiest father.
Enzo averted his gaze, clearing his throat. “Something like that.”
His reaction gave me pause. It almost felt like there was more he wasn’t telling me, but I decided not to press the issue. His family planning was none of my business. At least not anymore, not with my heir on the way. My brother and cousin were officially off the hook for supplying a backup in case I never managed to have a son.
With a flick of my wrist, I dismissed him. “Go home to your wife.”
“Good luck with yours.” He winked before slipping out of the room.
I didn’t need luck. Not when Rory would doanythingto keep from being separated from our son.
She was completely under my control from this point forward.
The way it always should have been.
After a haircut and a shave, I felt much more like myself, even if the man staring back at me in the mirror might as well be a stranger.
Speaking of strangers . . .
I did a double-take when I walked into the back room of our underground casino, ready to face my capos after a four-year-long absence. There wasn’t a single man among the eight seated at the table that I recognized as the ones I’d left in charge of managing the many facets of our operation. But they had one thing in common. They were all young, either in their thirties or forties.
It would appear Matteo had cleaned house while I was gone, removing the old guard and bringing in fresh blood. Wishsomeone had warned me before I walked into this meeting, because the surprise of it knocked me slightly off-kilter.
Four of the eight were the sons of my previous capos—Al Barone, Vince DeLuca, Ricky Bianchi, and Stefano Marchetti—so I was confident they had learned the ropes from their fathers. But the other four had been nothing more than soldiers when I’d left. I had to trust my brother knew what he was doing in promoting them because, in a time of internal warfare, we couldn’t afford any weak links.
“Gentlemen,” I addressed the room, standing at the head of the table.
Without hesitation, they replied in unison, “Don Bellini.”
“I’ve been gone a long time, been through some changes.” I waved a hand in front of my face. “But my dedication to this family and all those who serve it has not wavered. And I am pleased to share with you all that I have secured an heir, thus strengthening our position into the next generation.”
