35. Allegra
Chapter 35
Allegra
M amma, Ocean, Romeo, and I sit in the lounge, watching the little man play with his toys as we try to distract ourselves from what is currently happening in Las Vegas. My anxiety is in overdrive, heart beating out of control, as we await news from my brother or Dante.
If all goes as expected, today is the day we finally bring my man home.
After a couple of weeks of being back on the East Coast and speaking on the phone regularly, Dante decided he couldn’t keep up the charade of his fake marriage or be away from me.
Despite not regaining his memories, the more we spoke, the more Dante had small flashbacks of parts of our time together. It’s not ideal - I want more than anything for him to remember everything - but I’m realistic enough to know that it might never happen. It’s a working process, and hopefully when he comes home, the specialist doctor that Nico has recruited to work with Dante will help him further.
Honestly, I am grateful for the progress he is making, but it kills me to think he might never remember our whole story.
A hand, wrapping around mine, drags me from my erratic thoughts.
Glancing over, I find Mamma smiling softly at me. “Everything is going to work out, honey. Have faith.”
“What if something goes wrong?” I voice my concern.
“Your Fratello knows what he is doing, mia figlia, ” she soothes, brushing my hair from my face.
“Mamma is right, Allegra. You know how calculated Nico is. He will have meticulously planned every part of the mission and have contingencies in place.” Ocean smiles, stroking small circles on her swollen stomach.
To say I was shocked that my brother would leave his wife to oversee this operation to extract Dante is an understatement. I knew it was happening, I just assumed he would send his best men instead of going himself. He rarely leaves Ocean or Romeo alone now. And if he does, it's only when he has business meetings in the city. They usually only last for a couple of hours at most, so even then he isn’t away long. With my sister-in-law being pregnant, and Nico missing her grow with his son, it’s clear he doesn’t want to miss a moment of it. While Ocean would call it overbearing, I call it cute. One word I never thought I would associate with my brother, but here we are. He is still the big scary mafia boss he has always been, but I have definitely seen a change in him. A softer side since Ocean came into his life.
Exhaling, I force a smile. “I know. But things can always go wrong, no matter how much you prepare for them.”
“Be positive,” Mamma murmurs.
Flopping back on the couch, I close my eyes, trying to focus on anything else other than what is happening in Vegas. Little hands on my legs have my eyes snapping open. My nephew grips my thighs as he stands and babbles something incoherent, like he knows I need this comfort. How he picked up on it, I don’t know, but I think we as adults underestimate a child’s ability for empathy and understanding. Despite the tension in my body, I smile, bundling him into my arms and hugging him to my chest.
“Hey, little man,” I murmur, gripping his waist and pulling him back so I can look at him. His eyes light up, and he makes grabby hands at my face and hair. I chuckle. It’s a new thing of his and Christ, if he does manage to pinch you, it can hurt.
He babbles again, squealing in delight as I play airplanes with him. “Weeee,”
I move him backwards and forward in the air.
Mamma and Ocean laugh, watching me play with my nephew.
It’s only when Alessio steps into the room, that I stop. My body goes on high alert, heart pounding in my chest, so painfully I feel like I could keel over at any second.
Lowering Romeo to my lap, I ask, “Any news?”
Seconds feel like minutes, before he speaks. “No.”
My shoulders sag, I blow out a breath. I can’t deal with this. It’s too much.
Even knowing that I am supposed to be marrying a monster in another month, it doesn’t faze me. Well, not in the way you think it would. I’m more concerned with how Dante will deal with it if it happens.
But waiting to hear if my brother and the man I love are safe… I am on the precipice of a panic attack, feeling like I can't breathe. And deep down, I know I will only take a proper breath when I know they are safe.
“Will you let me know as soon as you hear anything?”
Alessio nods. “Of course.”
I wait for him to leave the room, but he stands in the doorway, his gaze fixed on my mamma. I cock my head, my eyes widening, seeing the love that shines in his.
I have picked up on little things over the last month or so, but I thought it was no more than attraction. I see it clearly now. Alessio is in love with my mamma.
I wince to myself. I want mamma to be happy and if that is with Alessio then so be it. But surely, he knows better? Nico will have his ass.
But… I don’t know. He might be over a decade younger than Mamma, but I also see the way her usual sad eyes light up whenever Alessio is in her vicinity.
After all that she has been through with my papà, she deserves happiness.
Papà may have loved her in his own way, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t fuck around on her most nights of the week. Nico doesn’t think I am aware of the dancers, sex workers, and other women he screwed around with, but I am.
Not only did he screw up my life with the arrangement with the Romanos, but he treated Mamma as if she were dispensable. The saddest part is, Mamma was so in love with him, she chose to ignore his indiscretions.
A phone ringing startles me from my trip down memory lane.
I swallow, my gaze landing on the cell phone in Alessio’s hand as he swipes the screen and brings it to his ear.
My heart pounds. Body trembles.
And I pray to every God above that it’s the news I am hoping for.