“And if you hadn’t brought that doctor...” her voice trembled, “I wouldn’t have made it through the night.”
I looked at Brando. He seemed genuinely shaken.
“What you did was reckless,” I said. “It could’ve all gone wrong. You could’ve been killed.”
He met my eyes. “It was worth it. I had a family I needed to protect.”
“I understand why you did it. And I’m grateful. But if you ever go behind my back again, I’ll chop off your balls and make you eat them.”
Brando went pale.
Then, out of nowhere, Emily burst out laughing. A bright, wild, unfiltered laugh that caught both of us off guard. We turned to her, confused.
“I’m sorry, Carlo,” she gasped, still laughing. “But I was imagining youactuallymaking him eat his own balls. It’s ridiculous!”
Brando looked at me like,Did she just snap?
I took another sip of coffee, stroked her back gently, and explained with a straight face, “Pregnancy hormones.”
Brando mouthed, “Ahhh,” slowly, watching Emily with a mix of disbelief and amusement as her laughter rang through the room.
EPILOGUE
Carlo
Gabriel was babbling nonstop, his tiny fists smacking me in the face. I kissed one of them, earning a wide, toothless grin and another playful slap.
“I see the fatherhood hormones are rubbing off on you,” Brando teased, leaning over to stroke Gabriel’s cheek. “Who would’ve thought the infamous wife-killer would turn into a doting dad?”
Gabriel grabbed Brando’s finger and shoved it in his mouth, gnawing on it with his one lonely tooth.
“He’s got all the Bruni madness in his blood. That’s for sure,” Brando added.
“He’s like the grandma fromThe Croods,” Giorgio chimed in from across the room.
Lorenzo raised an eyebrow. “Since when do you watch kids’ movies?”
“It wasn’t voluntary,” Giorgio grumbled. “Don Carlo’s dictator wife made me sit through two hours of cartoons with Gabriel. Meanwhile, the little gremlin used me as a punching bag. If my men find out, I’m screwed.”
“You’re always saying she’s an angel,” Brando smirked.
“She is,” Giorgio admitted with a sigh. “But she can be an angel from hell if she wants to.”
Everyone laughed, except Maxim. He was on his third drinkand judging by that look on his face, something was eating at him.
I handed Gabriel over to Brando and walked over. “What’s going on?”
“I fucked up, Carlo. Big time. And I don’t know how to fix it,” he said.
That wasn’t like him. I waited, letting the silence pull the truth out.
“I went to Heaven the other night,” he started, rubbing his jaw. “Ordered a redhead, as usual.”
I gave him a look. Of course. Maxim and his redheads.
He ignored me and kept going, more serious now. “This girl walks in, not dressed like the others. Jeans, a T-shirt. Gorgeous. Not the usual hooker vibe. She asks if I’m Maxim. I thought she was being coy, maybe a newbie trying something different. So I grabbed her by the throat and kissed her.”
He dragged a hand through his hair, frustration all over his face.
