“I thought you were somebody else!” she screamed in my face.
Straightening, I assessed her agitated appearance. Face flushed and chest heaving with each ragged inhale, she looked sexy as hell, and I couldn’t help the biological response of all my blood rushing south.
Despite clearing my throat, my voice still came out husky. “You might not have consented to the pregnancy, Rory, but don’t try to act as if I forced myself upon you. We both know you were a more than eager participant in our sexual relationship.”
She clapped her hands slowly, spitting out sarcastically, “Wow, congrats. You have a big dick and know how to use it.”
We could go back and forth all day, so I decided to be the bigger person and end it, steering us back on track. “This meeting is mandatory for every adult with the last name Bellini. That includes you, whether you like it or not.”
“Great,” Rory mumbled. “Can’t wait to see what this is all about.”
Thankfully, that was the moment our guests arrived, effectively ending our argument. Matteo entered the room with Summer by his side and Enzo trailing behind them. Rory was quick to notice my cousin hadn’t brought his wife, and mouthed,Mandatory my ass.
Yeah, she was pissed, and I could already see the gears turning behind her eyes, conjuring up all the ways she planned to make me pay. The next time I went into the bathroom, I’d make sure to throw away my toothbrush because, if I knew Rory, that would be the first thing she went for, using it to clean the toilet.
Summer took a seat beside Rory on the chaise, checking on her after her discharge. Enzo went straight for the wet bar, pouring a few glasses of scotch for the men, and Matteo sidled up to me.
My brother hummed. “I see you decided to double down.”
“Don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about,” I grumbled.
“Even if we didn’t overhear the two of you going at it before we walked in, she’s too busy shooting daggers at you to even look at Summer.”
I accepted the offer of hard liquor from Enzo. “Didn’t we establish yesterday that I’m not interested in your marriage advice?”
“Oh, goodie, I got here right in time.” My cousin’s glee couldn’t be contained as he nudged my shoulder. “Matteo thinks he’s a marriage guru because he’s tied the knot twice.”
Grunting, I gave my brother a side-eye before sipping my drink. “I’ve noticed.”
“Laugh all you want,” Matteo remarked. “But neither of you can say you’re married to a woman you chose.”
“Which is why you have zero business telling me how to handle my wife. Our marriages arenothingalike. They never will be.”
From my opposite side, Enzo spoke, a wistful lilt to his words. “Ah, I remember those days. When you’re both spitting mad to the point where you can barely see past the haze of red clouding your vision, nothing more than a couple of bulls with their horns locked in a stubborn stalemate. Though I’ve gotta say, once you get over the hump, tear each other’s clothes off, and open up your heart, it gets waaaaaaay better.”
I hitched a thumb over my shoulder, addressing Matteo. “Do I even want to know?”
My brother shrugged. “Might make you look like less of an asshole for abandoning your pregnant wife in the hospital overnight if she hears about how Enzo took a dig at Allie’s weight at their wedding.”
Choking on my sip of scotch, I coughed violently as I swung my wide-eyed gaze to Enzo. “Fuck, did you have a death wish or something?”
He pursed his lips together, nodding. “Actually, yeah. Death would have been preferable to marriage back then.”
I looked between the two men. “Am I missing something?” Because from what I could tell, Enzo was head over heels for his wife. So much so that he decided to excuse her from our family meeting because yesterday’s situation with Rory had been so triggering.
“Uh.” Matteo gripped the back of his neck. “So, you know how Logan is Allie’s father, right?”
“Hard to forget,” I muttered, cutting a glare in Enzo’s direction. I still couldn’t believe that fucker thought it was a good idea to bring the Commissioner’s daughter into our inner circle.
My brother cringed. “When I found out he was to blame for Allegra’s death, I may have—in a moment of weakness—offered him a choice.”
I reared back. “I sure fucking hope it was whether you killed him with a bullet to the head or with a knife slashed across his throat.” Even then, it was far more generous than I would have been with a man who owed our family a life.
“Nope.” Enzo popped the p with a shit-eating grin on his face. “Dumbass over there gave him a chance to live, but only if he agreed to hand over his only daughter in marriage to me.”
“You did what?!” I roared, my outburst causing both women’s heads to turn in our direction.
Since my focus and anger were fully fixed on my brother, Enzo leaned over to add, “Oh, and he did all this without asking me first. I walked in expecting a murder and walked out betrothed to the enemy’s daughter. Fun stuff.”
