1. Matteo
Matteo
Six Months Later
From beneath heavy eyelids, I tried to make sense of the figures on my computer screen, but they kept blurring together. Heaving a frustrated groan, I sat back in my desk chair and pressed the heels of my palms into my eye sockets.
“You look like shit,” a familiar voice called out from the doorway to my office.
Blinking a few times, my vision still swimming, I retorted, “Flattery never was your strong suit.”
“Why would it be? Everyone’s supposed to be kissing my ass, not the other way around, little brother.”
He had a good point. As Don, he was the man in charge of the entire Bellini Mafia, and you didn’t cross him—hell, you didn’t make eye contact with him—unless you had a death wish.
Gio unbuttoned his suit jacket before dropping onto the chair opposite my desk. He assessed me carefully. “Something I should be worried about?”
While I ran our real estate holdings—our legitimate business—my brother was in charge of all the illegal ones.
Our largest source of income was our underground casinos and sports betting, where we offered on-site loans to the degenerates who didn’t have the cash on hand to feed their gambling addictions.
Believe it or not, there were a lot of powerful people who got caught up throwing good money after bad in the belief that, at any moment, Lady Luck would turn in their favor.
And having them indebted to us gave us the upper hand when it came to controlling this city.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I’m just fucking exhausted between Bianca’s nightmares and Serafina refusing to sleep through the night.”
My brother arched an eyebrow. “What’s the point of a live-in nanny if you’re still getting up in the middle of the night?”
Rolling my eyes, I muttered, “She quit.”
Gio cringed. “How many does that make now? Six?”
“Eight.”
Eight nannies in six months, all because Bianca went from my perfect princess to a holy terror after the loss of her mother.
Every woman who walked through the door to take care of her and her baby sister was viewed as an unwanted replacement for Allegra, and Bianca went out of her way to run them off.
“Who’s with the girls now?”
I sighed. “Teresa.”
My brother snorted. “Better place the ad for a new housekeeper while you’re at it.”
Throwing my arms wide, I challenged, “What other choice do I have? Normally, I’d call Gemma, but that’s not an option anymore.”
Our only female cousin took Allegra’s death even harder than Bianca had.
Probably because she’d watched the women of this family get picked off one by one and, as the last one standing, figured she would be next.
So, she had begged Gio for the chance to disappear, to start a new life away from Chicago, away from her abusive prick of a father, our Uncle Dario.
For her protection, only our other cousin, Gemma’s brother Enzo, knew where she was located.
Blowing out a heavy breath, I confessed, “I’m barely keeping my head above water here.”
“Then you’re really not going to like what I came here to tell you.”
“Oh God,” I groaned.
“I got a lead on Rory.”
Gio had been searching for his missing wife for almost three years now.
This wasn’t the first time he’d gotten a “lead,” and every single one turned out to be a dead end.
If she was still alive, that woman had done a bang-up job of flying under the radar.
Hell, she’d gone so completely off the grid, there had been a few months where I suspected she might’ve been in witness protection.
But when the feds never showed up to beat down our doors, I let that idea go.
Raising an unimpressed eyebrow, I asked, “And what’s that got to do with me?”
He stood from his seat, placing both hands atop my desk. Determination sparkled in his dark eyes. “I’m going after her.”
My eyes bulged. “What? You actually found her?”
A predatory smirk curved on his lips, and he whipped out his cell before placing it down on the desk in front of me. Sure enough, there, in vivid color, was a picture of my red-haired spitfire of a sister-in-law.
“Holy shit,” I breathed. Lifting my gaze from the screen to my brother’s face, I asked, “Where?”
Gio rolled his eyes. “Middle-of-fucking-nowhere Arizona. Some dusty, one-streetlight town.”
Honestly, I was surprised she hadn’t fled the country with how long it had taken him to locate her.
I scrubbed a hand over my face. “So . . . what’s the plan?
You drag her back here, kicking and screaming?
And what are you going to do when she tells Daddy Dearest that she wasn’t kidnapped at all?
Because that girl’s never been good at biting her tongue.
She’ll rat out your lies about the Russians and their involvement in her disappearance in five seconds flat. ”
Sinister laughter fell from his lips. “Mark my words, she’s going to come back willingly.”
“Sure she is.” Sarcasm colored my words. “You’re deluded if you think she’s gonna fall into your arms after she’s spent the last three years hiding.”
“Can’t wait to watch you eat those words, little brother.”
“Still waiting for you to explain how this involves me.”
“Yeah, about that . . .” Gio grimaced. “I’m going dark.”
My eyebrows shot sky high. “Excuse me?”
“With no timeline for my return, I need to publicly pass off the mantle of Don to you.”
I choked on air. “The fuck? How long does it take to retrieve your long-lost wife, Gio? She’s one tiny woman.”
Ignoring my questions, he continued, “And we’re going to need to keep a blood sample on file for cross-referencing when I get back.”
“What the hell do we need a blood sample for?”
“To prove my identity, of course,” he said as if it should be obvious.
“Jesus,” I huffed. “What in the world are you planning?”
Gio’s face hardened, and he gritted out, “She owes me an heir, Matteo. I’m not coming back until she’s given me one.”
Clearly, he’d lost his damn mind, because whatever scheme he’d cooked up to impregnate his estranged wife would fall under the category of unhinged. It was my duty as his brother to try to talk some sense into him.
“You were married for five years before she ran. In all that time, she never once got pregnant. Did you ever stop to think that maybe she can’t?
Wouldn’t it be better to just start over?
Have Rory declared dead and find a new, young bride to give you an heir?
Sounds like a win-win for both parties. She gets to move on, and so do you. ”
The sharp crack of Gio’s palms coming down on the wood of my desk echoed throughout the office. With his jaw clenched so tight that a muscle in his cheek twitched, it was a wonder he managed to speak.
Voice low and lethal, he said. “I will not be made a fool of. Granting her mercy makes me look weak.”
Nothing I said would change his mind. He’d gone off the deep end.
Gio scoffed when I remained silent. “You wouldn’t understand. You got the pliable wife. She accepted her duty and never pushed back.”
The difference wasn’t in our wives’ temperaments because, believe me, Allegra was a hot-tempered Italian woman to the core.
No, it was in how I treated her. Instead of viewing her as a means to an end—a verified broodmare meant to give me as many sons as she was able—I saw her as an ally.
An arranged marriage could be isolating; you didn’t get the benefit of developing feelings before you were forced to live together.
So, I went out of my way to build a friendship with my wife.
We bonded over the fact that, despite having no control over the situation, we were stuck in it together.
It had made the four years of our marriage feel less like a prison sentence and more like a partnership.
“So, you’re leaving, and I’m in charge for God knows how long?” I summarized our conversation.
A rumble sounded from my brother’s chest. “Don’t act so put out. Haven’t you ever wondered what it might be like to be Don?”
Honestly? Not once.
I was more than happy being the second son. It carried less responsibility, and there was the added perk of not carrying a giant target on my back.
“I’m leaving Enzo here with you, if that’s any consolation.”
I grunted, that news only offering a small comfort. Our cousin was his second-in-command, knew the goings-on within the family and the businesses from front to back.
“Does he babysit?” I challenged.
Gio chuckled. “He’ll do whatever you tell him to. Though his talents are better used wielding a gun than a bottle.”
“Noted.”
“Well, if that’s settled.” My brother buttoned his suit jacket. “I’ve called all the capos in for a meeting tonight for the exchange of power. Be there at seven.”
“Can’t wait.” I gave him a mock salute.
Shaking his head, Gio looked skyward. “Cheer up, little brother. You’re about to experience what it’s like to sit on the throne.” He pointed a finger in my direction before he warned, “But don’t forget who it truly belongs to. I expect you to relinquish it once I’ve secured my heir.”
“Shit, you manage to pull this off with your balls still intact, I’ll get down on my knees and kiss your shoes for ever doubting you.”
A smirk touched his lips as he snapped. “I’m gonna hold you to that.”
And with that, he was gone, leaving a whole goddamn mafia in my fucking lap.