Chapter 2
Chapter Two
A urelio stares back at me with a huge, drool-filled grin. I sit him in front of me on my desk, my hand wrapping around his back, supporting him so he doesn’t fall.
“I will never leave you,” I promise my son.
When I look at him, think about this innocent boy, I can’t understand how any parent could ever just walk away from their kid. How a father could subject their child to abuse.
I mourned her. For years, I mourned the death of my mother. I hated the man because I was sure he killed her. I plotted revenge for her. I was going to kill him for her.
Guess the fucking joke is on me, because the bitch is still here. She just left. Which means my anger is directed at her now. I’ve already killed one parent. I’m sure sending the other to hell won’t do my soul any damage. It’s already damned anyway. There is no saving it after the sins I’ve committed, and I’m at peace with that. There aren’t any depths I won’t go to in order to protect my family.
“You know, if you told me a few years ago that we’d be reduced to diaper changes and midnight feedings, I never would have believed you,” Gabe says, walking into my office. He’s not alone. He has Luciano with him. My nephew.
“Speaking of midnight, there a reason you’re here?” I ask.
When Aurelio woke up, I grabbed him before he could disturb his mother. She’s dead tired, and I’m used to running on little to no sleep. The job I have isn’t exactly a nine-to-five. My hours have always been unconventional.
“Your Uncle G is an ass, Luc,” Gabe says to his son.
“Uncle G ass,” my nephew repeats, which has Gabe chuckling.
“You know, Daisy is going to have your ass when he repeats that in front of her.” I raise a brow, and the bastard smirks.
“Pfft. Daisy happens to love my ass. Just last night, she had her nails digging?—”
“What do you want, Gabe?” I cut him off.
“To talk. What are we going to do about her?”
“About who?” I pick up Aurelio and hold him against my chest. His hands reach for my face, grabbing at my cheeks.
“Our mother.”
“Our mother is dead, Gabrielle. Leave her that way.” I don’t want that woman in my life. I don’t want her anywhere near my family. I raised my brothers. I did her job for her, and I’ll be damned if I let her come back and fuck with their heads now.
“Aren’t you even a little bit curious?” Gabe asks me.
“Not even in the slightest.” I stand and walk over to the wet bar. Shifting my son’s weight to the side before I pour two glasses of Cinque. I hand one to Gabe. “We don’t need her, and when we did, she bailed.”
“Surely there was a reason? I can’t imagine Pops was a cupcake to be married to,” Gabe says.
“Would you leave him behind because you didn’t like who you were married to anymore?” I ask, nodding towards my nephew.
“No. But I’d also never leave my wife,” he says. “I am curious, though. Maybe there’s something we don’t know.”
“I don’t care if the fucking Pope told her to leave us with the monster. A decent mother would have fucking stayed or at the very least tried to take us with her.”
“Fucking!” Luciano repeats.
“Fuck, that one’s going to come back to bite me in the ass,” Gabe grunts.
“Leave her dead. We don’t need her. We have built our own family, a family we need to protect at all costs,” I tell him.
“You’re right.” He nods his head.
“I’m always right,” I remind him. The door opens and Eloise walks in, wearing a silky black nightgown. “Don’t look.” I point to my brother. “Ellie, go back to bed. You need to sleep.” I close the distance and kiss her forehead.
Ellie plucks our son out of my arms. “Is that your way of telling me I look like shit because I’m tired?” she asks.
“You look beautiful.”
“Uh-huh, sure.” Ellie shakes her head before turning to my brother. “What’s going on? Where’s Daisy, and why are you here in the middle of the night?”
“Daisy is right here, and we’re here because my husband insisted we all pack up and come over to see Gio,” my sister-in-law replies as she strolls into the room. Which is exactly when Luciano decides to repeat a word he really shouldn’t.
“Fucking!” my nephew babbles.
Gabe points at me. “It was Gio.”
“Where the fuck is the loyalty, bro?” I ask him.
“She’s scary.” He shrugs.
“She’s your wife,” I deadpan.
“Exactly, which means she can torture me in ways no one else can.” He smirks.
“Okay, this is… whatever… I’m taking him back to bed. Daisy, try not to kill them.” Ellie walks out of my office.
“See yourselves to the door. You two moved out for a reason. Try to remember it,” I tell Daisy and Gabe before following my wife upstairs.