Page 2 of Matteo

Soave is my home, figlio mio, she always says, when we ask her when she’s coming to live over here so that we can all take care of her. She teases that she’ll come when she has grandchildren to babysit.

She has felt so much guilt over being with a man who was married—even though she never knew he was married. She was devastated to find out that he had a family, and even more so when she learned of Aurora’s suicide. But it would make Mama happy to see us now, all together and sharing jokes and a meal.

Brooke, Jett's little girl, is here, too. I don't get to see her much because we live in different apartment blocks. Me and my brothers live in this apartment block in SoHo, and the American Knights are over in Tribeca.

Tonight we’re having ribeye steaks with fries. The women demanded green veg, so Dex threw in some asparagus. I threw everything I could find in Rio’s fridge that looked healthy into my salad.

“You're overcooking it, bro,” Dex snaps at Rio.

“Dude, it's medium rare.”

Dex takes a look. “That's medium.”

“Leave me to it, please?” I sense Rio's patience is being tested.

“Do we get to eat today?” Jett stands over them in typical doing-nothing fashion.

“You'll get fed, don’t worry,” Rio mutters.

“Brother! You're overcooking it again!” Dex cries.

The women are in the living room, sitting on comfy couches with wine glasses in their hands. They stop talking and glance over.

“Guys, please stop shouting at the meat!” Dani yells.

Raquel lets out a huff. “Men.” She rolls her eyes.

“Do you need a hand?” Cari offers.

A chorus of “NO!” resounds from the women.

“Surely they can handle one meal?” Raquel says. “They've done a day's work for daddy, and now they can cook for us.” She walks over, takes a peek before sniffing performatively, and saunters back to the women.

“Almost done.” Rio’s face glistens with a sheen of sweat.

Jett folds his arms. “Brooke doesn’t like steak.”

Dex nods. “You’ve told me ten times already. I've got chicken goujons for her. Coming up real soon, princess.” He winks at Brooke. She's been hovering around, looking bored and restless in a room full of adults.

“So, tell us some more about your vacation, dude,” Rio says to Zach when he’s finished from topping up everyone's wineglasses.

“Aw, man. It was amazing.” Zach slips a side glance at Maya. The rest of us might as well not be here the way these two have only had eyes for one another. They took Maya's mom with them on vacation to Puerto Rico because she hadn’t been back for years and she wanted to see her family.

“Where did you stay?” I ask Maya.

“My mom stayed with family,” she replies. “They live down the coast in Loíza, and I would have happily stayed with them, but Zach needed something more ... to his taste.”

“I didn't know anyone,” Zach cries, in his defense.

Maya grins at him. “Oh, come on! That wasn't your problem. You knew me.”

Dex chortles. “Can't see my little bro staying anywhere but in the lap of luxury.”

Maya takes a sip from her wineglass. “My goodness, yes! It was awesome where we stayed.”

“I booked a private villa,” Zach announces proudly.

Jett chuckles. “Course you did.”