Chapter 32
Matteo
“Enrique killed your parents.”
Lorenzo looks at me like I’ve lost my mind, so I explain, “Eddy combed through his laptop and found evidence indicating that after Enrique discovered Michael was your dad’s attorney, he found out everything there was to know about your parents, including their address.
“Eddy also came across a wire transfer to an offshore account. It took some digging, but he linked it back to a Chad Kennedy. He was one of the chefs at North Harbor Point Country Club, who had made one too many bad decisions and was in desperate need of some cash flow.
“Chad confirmed that Enrique had paid him to drug your parents the night they were killed, so when the house was set on fire, they wouldn’t wake up.”
Lorenzo’s jaw clenches. “And where is Chad now?”
“Dead,” I tell him.
I killed him last night, after he begged me to, the guilt getting to him. I considered keeping him alive so he could tell Lorenzo himself, but I didn’t want the blood on my best friend’s hands, so I handled it so he wouldn’t have to.
“All of this because my father had killed his?” Lorenzo surmises.
“His father and mother,” I tell him, making his eyes go wide.
“Joseph had been having an affair for years, which resulted in Enrique. We can’t confirm what went down, but Enrique told Dani that both his mom and dad were killed, so Eddy did some digging and found a death certificate in the name of Silvia Morgan.
Enrique must’ve legally changed his last name to Rothschild.
Her death was dated the same day as Joseph’s, leading us to believe she was with him when your dad shot him. ”
“Fuck,” Lorenzo sighs. “Wait … you said Morgan?”
“Yeah, Silvia Morgan.”
His brows furrow in contemplation. “I feel like I’ve heard that name somewhere.” He shakes his head. “Does Dani know?”
“Yeah. I told her last night.”
It damn near broke her to learn that the man she’d let into her life was the same guy who had killed her parents, but I spent hours trying to make her understand that none of this was her doing and it couldn’t have been prevented.
Enrique had been on a mission to avenge his parents’ deaths, and nobody could’ve stopped him.
She also made the decision to find a therapist to talk with, and while you probably wouldn’t see me spilling my guts to a shrink, in her case, I agreed it was a good idea.
“I always knew their deaths weren’t an accident,” Lorenzo says. “Thank you for confirming it.”
“While that explains Enrique’s motive, it doesn’t lead us any closer to whoever is coming after us now,” Dominick says.
“No,” I agree. “It doesn’t.”
Daniella
“Oh my God! Dani!” Bri shrieks. “This ring is even more beautiful in person. I wasn’t sure what to expect since it’s Matteo we’re dealing with …”
“Hey!” I laugh. “Be nice. That’s my fiancé you’re talking about.”
Peyton and Bri both laugh.
We’ve been back from our vacation for a few days now, and Peyton reached out, inviting Matteo and me over for dinner.
While dinner is being prepared by a chef they brought in for the occasion, the guys, including my brother, are in the office, talking shop, while the women are sitting out back, watching Damien play on his playset as the babies nap in their bassinet next to Peyton.
Even Matteo’s mom, Larisa, and her husband, Walter, are joining us. I might not have a big family, but being accepted into the Antonov family is almost as good.
“Dominick mentioned that you guys are planning to have the wedding in a couple of months?” Peyton mentions.
“Yes.” I sigh, already stressed from just thinking about it. “In six weeks, to be exact. Dominick will be Matteo’s best man, and Lorenzo is going to walk me down the aisle and stand beside me. It will be intimate. Just close friends and family since neither of us has many.”
“It’ll be amazing,” Bri says.
“I hope so. I’ve been trying to find a wedding planner on short notice, and I haven’t had any luck.”
“I can help,” Bri offers. “I don’t have anything else going on, and I love weddings. Maybe by focusing all my romantic energy into your wedding, I’ll manifest finding a man to marry.”
“What about Theodore?” I ask.
“We’re currently on a break,” she says, forcing a smile on her face.
“You’ll find someone,” I tell her.
“Maybe love just isn’t for me,” Bri says with a shrug. “I fell in love at twenty-one, it lasted for a year—the best year of my life—and then he died. Maybe everyone gets one chance to fall in love, and I had mine.”
“I don’t believe that,” Peyton says.
“Really?” Bri asks. “How many times have you been in love?”
Peyton pinches her lips together.
“See? Once,” she says. “It doesn’t matter. I have other things to focus on … like helping plan Matteo and Dani’s wedding.” She turns her attention to me. “What do you say?”
“I say, if you want to help, I won’t stop you.”
Bri knows fashion and has an amazing sense of style, and she’s one of the most determined women I know—unless it’s regarding her lack of dating—so I have no doubt that with her help, the wedding will be done on time and be beautiful.
“Oh, Bri, any chance you can watch the twins tomorrow?” Peyton asks. “I have a follow-up OB appointment, and Dominick is insisting he go with me, and we’ve yet to find a new daytime nanny.”
“Why is he insisting on going?” I ask. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes.” She rolls her eyes. “I told him I’m getting on birth control, and he wants to know about it … to make sure it can be undone as easily as possible when the time comes for us to have another baby.”
“My brother is such a caveman,” Brielle grumbles.
“How many kids are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking no more babies,” Peyton deadpans. “But Dominick hasn’t accepted that yet.”
Brielle snorts out a laugh. “See? Caveman.”
“Yes, but he’s my caveman.” Peyton grins.
“Can you give me your doctor’s info? I need to make an appointment for the same reason,” I tell her.
That, and after being with Enrique—despite us using protection—I want to make sure I’m clean. I didn’t think about it, and now that I am, it was irresponsible to be with Matteo without protection. What if Enrique gave me some kind of disease and I passed it on to Matteo?
“Sure,” Peyton says. “I’ll text you the info. It’s a practice with a few different doctors, but they’re all so nice.”
“Thanks.” I force a smile onto my face while the guilt I suddenly feel eats away in the pit of my stomach.
“Mrs. Antonova, your mother- and father-in-law are here,” an elderly woman says.
“Thank you,” Peyton tells her. “You can send them out here.”
“Mom!” Bri gets up and meets her mom in the doorway, giving her a hug. “You look so good … and tan.”
“Vacationing in Mexico will do that to you.” Larisa laughs.
She might be in her fifties, but the woman doesn’t look a day over forty. She’s dressed in her pantsuit with her long blonde hair and blue eyes, and I can imagine what Bri will look like in thirty years.
Larisa’s eyes meet mine, and I smile hesitantly, hoping she accepts me into their family. I know Matteo wasn’t close with his dad, to say the least, but he only speaks fondly about his mom. He spent his life trying to protect her, which means he loves her deeply.
“Daniella,” Larisa says, her voice melodic. “My goodness, you look just like your mother.” She walks over, and I stand to give her a hug. “I am so sorry for your loss,” she whispers. “Your mother was a beautiful soul and didn’t deserve what happened to her.”
Her sweet words are so unexpected—yet make sense because she was close with my mom—that hot tears prick my eyes.
“Thank you,” I choke out.
“She would be so proud of you. I heard you graduated college. She used to talk endlessly about how you would be the first Russo woman to take the business world by storm.”
The tears that were threatening to fall slide down my face as I imagine my mom saying that. She hated being a stay-at-home wife and was fully on board with me coming home and working for Russo Property Group.
“I’m sorry I’m only just now seeing you,” Larisa adds. “We left for our trip after the babies were born and only got in last night.”
“What the fuck is going on out here?” Matteo barks, coming to my side. “Why the hell is my fiancée crying?”
Larisa beams. “Fiancée?” she shrieks, grabbing my hand. “Oh my God. Matteo, you proposed and didn’t tell me?”
“I figured it would be better to tell you in person. Now, why the hell is she crying?”
“I’m crying,” I say, tilting his face toward me, “because your mom was saying sweet things about my mom and me and it made me emotional.”
Matteo’s shoulders sag in relief.
“I can’t believe it,” Larisa chokes out. “My eldest son is happily married with three babies, and now, Matteo is engaged.” Her eyes fill with tears. “I was so worried that our past had scarred you, but here you are … falling in love.”
She pulls Matteo into a hug and then gives me another one.
“And I have you wonderful women to thank for that.” She leans down and gives Peyton a hug.
I glance at Bri, who steps back, obviously feeling left out since she hasn’t found love, but her mom notices and wraps her arms around her. She whispers something into Brielle’s ear that only she can hear, and Brielle nods, her eyes filling with liquid emotion.
“You okay?” Matteo asks, turning my attention away from the mother-and-daughter moment.
“Yeah, just missing my mom.”
“I know I can’t replace her,” Larisa says, having overheard, “but I’m here.” She glances from Matteo to Bri. “I hate that I failed my children—”
“Mom, you didn’t fail us,” Bri says. “None of us stood a chance against Andrey, but we made it through.”
Larisa nods in agreement. “I’m so happy that despite everything”—she looks at me with sympathy in her eyes—“despite the loss of some good people, we’re still here. Happy and healthy.” She glances at her grandbabies sleeping in their bassinet. “We have a lot to be thankful for.”
“Babushka, you’re home!” Damien runs over and throws his tiny arms around Larisa’s legs. “Did you bring me anything?”