“Alex and Dom didn’t, until they did it with Natalie and Kate.”
“Really?”
“Yup.”
“So you carry me over, and then the whole family knows we’re soulmates? Does that mean they won’t give me any shit over the breakup?” she asks hopefully.
“I don’t know about that. There’s bound to be some ribbing from at least one of my siblings.” I give her a big smile. “Gia’s on your side, and I bet Ari and Belle will be too. My brothers will probably be dumbasses.”
Ella opens her mouth to reply, but stops when my door is pulled open with gusto. I turn to find Sebastian, his face tense. “Dude. Your brothers just found out your grandmother has been involved in all the stories onThe Eagle Has Landed. You better get in there before Nonna murders one of them.”
“There’s no fucking way she’s involved! How can that — wait.” I pause, looking at Sebastian as I unbuckle my seatbelt and step out of the car. “Why would Nonna murder someone?”
Sebastian gives me a pointed look. “Have you met your grandmother? If anyone is getting hurt this morning, it’s one of your brothers. She will take them down, one by one, and still sit peacefully for brunch.”
“Leo, your grandmother scares me,” Ella whispers from beside the car as she takes Violet out of her car seat. “Are the kids safe here?”
I scoff. “No one is going to murder anyone. I think.”
I pull Oliver from his seat, then wait for Ella to round the car. Sliding my arm around her, we march toward the front door, where the majority of my family awaits. “Everyone still alive?”
“For the time being,” Dom says ominously. He looks back into the house, then back to us. “She ran off with Sebastian’s daughter. We can’t kill her in front of the kids.”
“She ran?” I ask.
He rolls his eyes. “Figure of speech. She ambled slowly with her walker, but conveniently kept Camila behind her so we couldn’t take her out.”
Our dad snickers. “She’s going to make you pay for those comments.”
Dom shrugs. “She literally had that website print a story that Katharine was cheating on me with my own brother. Nonna is lucky I didn’t smother her as soon as I saw her.”
“They printed my high school picture before anyone even knew I was with Luca,” Hannah comments.
“They’re the ones that busted my romance book club,” Isabella adds. “We had to shut it down because of too many people showing up uninvited.”
“I really miss that club,” Arianna says with a pout. “It made for great foreplay with all the phallic shaped items we’d make to go along with the book.”
“I could do without that being broadcast to your parents, Princess,” Stone mutters.
Dad groans. “I really don’t want to hear any of this.”
“The Eagle Has Landedis responsible for Abbie running away from home when an article hinted that Natalie and I were in trouble,” Alex growls.
Natalie pats him on the arm. “In their defense, we were in trouble.”
“The whole town didn’t need to know that, though,” he replies. “That stupid website has brought a lot of pain on all of us, and I’m really pissed that Nonna was involved.”
“Has she always been involved? When did the articles start? Does anyone know? All I can remember is it’s been quite some time,” Ella asks quietly. When everyone turns to look at her, I notice she visibly shrinks against my side. “I wonder if something was a catalyst. Like maybe the articles helped her cope, or gave her a purpose.”
We’re all silent as everyone thinks back to the beginning.The Eagle Has Landedused to be the town website, welcoming tourists and new residents with good information on amenities, restaurants, and special events. Then it suddenly turned, going full-on gossip site. But when?
My mom gasps. “Oh, no. It was right after Nonno passed away.”
My eyes flutter closed as I think back to that time. Our grandfather, Nonno, was the perfect match for our grandmother. He quietly brought her back down to earth when she was so busy reaching for the stars, she forgot to keep her feet on the ground. They balanced each other incredibly well, because she brought him out of his shell. When he passed after a long battle with cancer, we were all worried Nonna might die of a broken heart.
We’re all somber as we think back to that time. Was that what kept her going? Helping someone — or a group of someones — write blind items and Santo-centered articles focused on gossip? “I really hope this isn’t true, because if it is, I feel like we failed her. We could have done a better job of helping her.”
“How would we have helped her? We didn’t even know she was struggling,” Gianna interjects. “And everyone was so young. We wouldn’t have known how to help her. We were all just kids.”
