Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 23833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 119(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 119(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
He had seen the same thing happen to Massimo, with how the other man had fallen for Ysabel despite hating her at the same time.
And I get it now, he thought.
Because it was also happening to him.
"Ahem."
Ezio pretended not to hear this. If Signora Marchetti wanted him to give up the pleasure of kissing his Cattleya, then she would have to be less subtle—-
"Per carità, bambino! Let the girl breathe!"
More laughter followed as Ezio pulled away with visible reluctance, but when he saw the way Cattleya was blushing yet again, it was just too damn much.
Ezio pulled a stunned Cattleya out of her chair and straight into his lap.
"Ezio!"
Even Giancarlo himself was hard-pressed not to smile at this point. His youngest brother had always kept to himself, and so it was refreshing, and a great relief as well, to see Ezio acting otherwise.
His gaze drifted to the rest of his famiglia.
His little sister Gazelle couldn't look any happier, and his beloved grandmother had a smile on her lips that could only be described in one word, and 'humble' was not it.
Cesare and Penelope, Massimo and Ysabel, they, too, were delighted for their newest engaged couple, but equally obvious was how each couple was in a world of their own.
And finally, Sarica.
His gaze turned to his own fidanzata, and just like always, he caught her staring at him. She quickly looked away, and his lips curved at the way she had also automatically raised her chin as if already preparing to deny the truth.
Un giorno...
One day...
Their turn would come.
But for now, there was a snake in their midst that he had to deal with.
Giancarlo waited until breakfast was over, and most of his famiglia was busy saying goodbye to the newlyweds, before catching his younger brother's eye.
Ezio came to stand by his side. "Che cos'è?" What is it?
"I looked into it."
His brother stiffened. "And?"
"Whoever it is, they know enough."
"How enough is enough?"
"Enough that we should all be watching our six."
"Fuck."
"Some of Morrison's men have managed to piece additional clues, but it's not much."
"Not much is better than nothing," Ezio said grimly. "What else did they find out?"
"They've managed to trace one of the IPs she used. She's either in New York or has ties to it."
Ezio's gaze narrowed. "Penelope is from New York."
"You really think it's her?"
"Never."
"That's why I say it's not much."
"Anything else?"
"This is more of a gut feeling," Giancarlo said reluctantly.
"I'd trust that over anything."
"I think she's one of us."
Ezio was in disbelief. "A Marchetti relative?"
"Blood is not always thicker than water. Is that not a lesson we have to learn over and over again in our world?"
Ezio's lips tightened. "It will break her heart if she were to find out about this."
There was no need to ask who 'her' was since there was only one woman in their famiglia who had risked her life - and almost her soul - just to save all of them. But with how things now stood, it seemed her sacrifice didn't mean much to one of their kinsmen.
"It will break her heart," Giancarlo acknowledged flatly, "and that's why we are not going to tell her anything. She has done enough for us. We handle this ourselves. Senza sangue." Because that was how they now operated. For better or for worse, their famiglia had sworn off violence, and they now enforced their rule without blood being shed.
Ezio slowly nodded. "I will always follow your lead. But I think, with how things are..."
"You are worried about your fidanzata."
"Sì."
Giancarlo considered his younger brother's shuttered expression. "It seems you already have a plan."
"If we have a public wedding, she will become a target. But if I do not marry her, and something happens to me or any of us...she also requires the protection of our name."
"So you plan to marry her in private?"
"But only after I come up with a reason that will not have La Strega suspect anything is amiss."
"That will not be easy."
Ezio's lips twisted in a humorless smile. "When has it ever been, for our famiglia?"
"Tocatto."
Another moment of silence passed, but Giancarlo knew his brother well enough to know that the other man was still weighing his thoughts.
"It is like the past is about to happen all over again."
And there it was, Giancarlo thought.
"Someone dares to betray us because they know we have changed, and they think it has made us weak."
"Let them do their worst," Giancarlo said silkily. "And we shall show them that we know more than one way to make a man bleed."
Seven
"AND SO THE COUNTDOWN begins."
It was the first words that Cat's boss-and-future-grandmother-in-law spoke as soon as she entered La Strega's study.
"Sì, signora," she agreed placidly as she took her usual seat across the matriarch's desk.
The older woman snorted. "None of that now. You are to marry my grandson already. You will call me your 'nonna' whether you like it or not."