“You must come over for dinner when we get back. We can tell you all about it.” He winks, and I throw back my head laughing.
“I’ll gladly listen to the censored version. The rest you can keep to yourselves.”
We chat casually for a few more minutes before saying goodbye and ending the call.
I am sorting clothes in my closet when there is a knock on my door.
“Nat. Can I come in?” Bennett asks, and I squeal, dropping the dress in my hand onto the floor while I rush to answer the door.
I throw myself at my brother when I yank the door open, and he stumbles back a little, chuckling. “Benny! You’re home early!” I hug him tight, and his arms wrap around my waist as he holds me close. “I missed you.” The last time I saw him was at my twenty-first birthday party at the end of April. I ease back, holding on to his arms as I do a quick inspection. He looks uninjured and in good health. “Are you hurt any place I can’t see?” Ben always comes to me when he’s injured, and I personally tend to his wounds unless it’s of a serious nature and he needs to see the doc.
I like looking after my brother.
In the same way I used to look after Mateo and Leo.
He shakes his head, slinging his arm over my shoulders as he saunters into the room, closing the door behind him. “I’m not home early because I’m injured.”
“You’re sure?” My brows crease in concern as I rake my gaze over him again. Since he got shot last year, I’ve been on edge every time he goes away. I cannot bear the thought of anything happening to him.
I already lost one brother.
I don’t want to lose another.
“I’m sure.” He presses a kiss into my hair. “What happened last year won’t happen again. I never make the same mistake twice.”
“I can’t help worrying.”
His expression turns tender as he looks at me. “I know.” He brushes his fingers across my cheek. “I know how badly you miss Mateo and how much it hurt to lose him like that. I never want you to go through it again. It’s why I’m going to change things, Nat. The way things have been done will change when I’m in charge. The violence and bloodshed of the past can’t continue. I am going to build a new empire and modernize the Cosa Nostra in the US.” He tweaks my nose. “Mark my words. Change is coming, and I will be steering that ship.”
“I have no doubts about that.” Pity it won’t happen in time to save me from my fate, but Papa only just turned fifty-eight, and he isn’t slowing down. He has no plans to retire and hand the reins to Bennett any time soon. “But violence will always be a hallmark of the world we live in, and you will always be a target.”
“I know.”
He readily agrees, and I love that he doesn’t lie to me. I know more about themafiosinow than I ever did because Benny shares things with me in a way Mateo wouldn’t. I know he tones down some of the stories, but I am on this journey with him, even if he is often miles away. He doesn’t treat me like a kid or a weak woman who needs to be sheltered from the truth. Ben believes knowledge is power, and he wants me to be fully versed in the things that happen so I can defend myself.
The old bastard—aka Papa—would throw a hissy fit if he knew the things Ben has told me. What he doesn’t know can’t hurt him.
“But I am skilled now, and I can properly defend myself,” Ben continues. “And I have Leo and the guys watching my back. Nothing is going to happen to me. No one will get close enough to take me out.”
“Did Leo come back uninjured?” I ask, like always. As much as I have closed my heart to my feelings for him, I still worry about Leo too. Whenever Ben comes back, I always ask if he is okay too.
“Leo is fine.” Ben drills me with a look. Somehow, he understands Leo is an off-limits topic, and he never pries, even though I know he knows there is more to the story. Perhaps he asked Leo and Leo told him.
“Whatever the reason, I’m glad you’re home.” I snuggle into his side, heaving a sigh of contentment. The world always feels like a safer place when my brother’s arms are around me.
“I won’t be traveling so much in the future.”
My eyes widen with hope. “You won’t?”
“Angelo just promoted me to capo, and he assigned me a team of men. I’ll be staying in the city, with the odd business trip required, but I’m going to be around more.”
I hug him tighter. “This is the best news ever.”
“I need to go apartment hunting. I was hoping you would come with me?”
“I would love that. I have a couple of months before I return to NYU, so I have time to help you to find and furnish a place.”
His brow puckers, and his face glimmers with a myriad of emotions as he pulls me over to my window seat. We sit at opposite ends, staring at one another. “What is that face for?” I ask, instantly on guard.
