14. Summer #3
Matteo spun around lightning fast. “What?”
Heat flooded my cheeks as Enzo snickered, hitching a thumb in my direction. “I like her, She’s got a dirty mind. I can work with that.”
Shaking his head at me, Matteo said, “No, we’ve never shared women. This idiot”—a murderous glare was aimed in his cousin’s direction—“was referencing when our nanny used to give us baths together. As children.”
“Oh.” Embarrassment had my gaze dropping to my coffee mug.
“Where are my favorite little munchkins anyway?” Enzo asked.
Matteo turned back to the stove. “Sleeping.”
“Both of them?” Enzo couldn’t contain his shock.
“The early wake-up caught up to Bianca and messed with Serafina’s schedule, so yeah.”
“Ah, gotcha.”
Enzo’s phone chirped, and he frowned when he checked the Caller ID. “Why’s Bruno calling me from the front gate?” With the swipe of his finger across the screen, he placed his cell to his ear. “Yeah?”
Immediately, I could hear yelling. Whoever was on the other end sounded outright pissed.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Enzo let out a heavy sigh before turning to Matteo. “It’s Dario.”
“The fuck does he want?”
Enzo held the phone away from his ear with a grimace. “Apparently, he’s here for dinner.”
Matteo’s brows shot sky high. “I don’t remember inviting him.”
“Yeah, like that’s ever stopped him from showing up where he’s not wanted before. Want me to tell Bruno to turn him away?”
Shaking his head, Matteo replied, “It’s gonna be a headache either way.”
“Great, just when I was thinking we’d get one day of peace.” He stood, speaking to the security guard manning the gate as he walked out of the kitchen.
Once he was gone, my curiosity got the better of me. “Who’s Dario?”
Matteo groaned. “My uncle. Enzo’s father.”
“And we don’t like him because . . .” It hadn’t been more than half an hour ago that he was saying he was willing to kill for his family, so his obvious disdain for an immediate member of that family didn’t make any sense.
“You’ll see.”
Well, that was ominous.
Serafina’s tiny cries filtered through the baby monitor app on my phone, and I hopped off the stool.
A pained yelp flew past my lips before I could stop it, and Matteo cursed low under his breath. “Goddammit, Summer.”
He really didn’t like that I was in pain.
“I’m fine,” I croaked out, stepping gingerly toward the back stairs.
“Be a lot more convincing if you weren’t fucking limping,” he grumbled.
Not that I would ever admit it to him, but by the time I made it to Serafina’s room, I was almost in tears. Taking a quick detour into my suite, I popped a couple of painkillers and plastered on a bright smile as I walked into the nursery.
“Hello, little mouse,” I chirped, lifting the baby girl from her crib.
She snuggled into my chest, her cries instantly ceasing.
“Summer?” A sleepy voice called from the doorway.
Turning, I found Bianca rubbing her eyes.
“Did you have a nice nap?”
Nodding, she asked, “Where’s Cookie?”
“Downstairs. Wanna help me feed her after I change your sister?”
“Mm-hmm.”
I made quick work of getting a fresh diaper on Serafina, and then we were headed for the kitchen.
Halfway down the stairs, I heard a voice boom, “Not sure if I should be insulted that I’m not on the approved visitors’ list at my nephew’s home.”
Bianca wasted no time in clutching my leg and burying her face against it, halting my movements. Jeez, seemed no one liked this guy.
Matteo’s reply was strained. “Things are different now that I’m Don.”
An unimpressed grunt sounded. “Enzo seems to have no problems getting in.”
“Enzo’s my second. He’s the one in charge of my security team.”
“Your father would be disappointed.”
Matteo’s voice dropped an octave. “You and I both know he wouldn’t tolerate anyone speaking for him. So be grateful he’s not alive to hear you doing just that.”
It took some effort, but I finally coaxed Bianca to walk down the rest of the steps.
The older man, Matteo’s uncle, came into view, and his head turned in our direction. When his eyes did a slow perusal up my body, it gave me the ick so bad I immediately wanted to take a hot shower to scrub the sliminess of his gaze from my skin.
A sinister grin took up residence on his face. “You must be Summer. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
He had? From who?
If I hadn’t already sensed the tone, watching Matteo’s jaw clench so hard his cheek twitched gave away that he was fighting hard to keep a lid on his anger. Scratch anger; there was pure, unfiltered rage simmering in his eyes as he glared at his uncle.
Enzo’s eyes darted from his father to Matteo to me and the girls. “Uh, Dad, why don’t you sit down? I think dinner’s almost ready.”
Dario’s nose wrinkled when he surveyed the offering on the stove. “ This is dinner?”
Matteo was done pulling punches. “If you don’t like it, you can leave.”
“No, no.” He was quick to backtrack. “This will be fine.”
I got both girls situated in their chairs before fetching Bianca a glass of orange juice.
Enzo leaned in while I had the fridge open. “Pour a few extra glasses, and I’ll grab a bottle of champagne. We’re gonna need mimosas all around to make it through this dinner in one piece.”
Yikes.
Once we were all seated around the kitchen table, Dario asked Enzo, “Will your sister be joining us?”
Focused on filling his plate, his son replied, “Highly unlikely.”
“Wouldn’t happen to know where she is, would you?”
Enzo shook his head. “Not a clue.”
Dario clicked his tongue. “The women of this family sure have a nasty habit of disappearing, don’t they?”
He trained his eyes on Bianca and Serafina, and it took all my restraint not to throw my body in front of them to shield them from his view.
“Hopefully, these two won’t befall a similar fate.”
Why did that sound more like a threat than genuine concern?
Taking a generous swig of my mimosa, I pondered asking Matteo to teach me how to shoot. Because if someone so much as touched a hair on one of those girls’ heads, I would be out for blood.
This motherfucker had no clue he’d just awoken a sleeping bear.