Chapter 46
FABIANA
More than a dozen guests milled around our living room on Christmas Eve. The original celebration had been planned at Rafe and Cleo’s, but a burst pipe in their house had forced a last-minute change of venue.
Somehow, the staff had worked miracles in less than twenty-four hours.
A ten-foot tree sparkled in the corner beside the window, garlands of pine stretched across the shelves, and Christmas stockings hung from the mantel.
There wasn’t a single sign that tonight had been thrown together in a bit of panic, and Cosimo’s home felt warmer and more welcoming than it ever had.
Cleo’s sisters, Gemma and Valentina, were both here with their husbands, and Gemma had also brought her and Ras’s baby.
Massimo had been passed from lap to lap from the moment he’d arrived and was making his way around the room with the serene indifference of someone who hadn’t yet learned to be suspicious of strangers.
I heard Cosimo’s voice before I saw him. That low, commanding tenor of his still made a shiver run down my spine. He emerged from a hallway dressed in a blue sweater that brought out those eyes of his I loved so much.
When he spotted me across the room, his lips curved into a subtle smile. He touched my brother on the arm and said something in his ear before the two men walked away.
Relief loosened the small knot that had been sitting in my chest.
So everything had gone well.
Cosimo had said to me that if the conversation with Alessio, Romolo, and Dominic went the way he hoped, he would bring Rafe up to speed tonight as well.
Cosimo wanted his explicit support. If Rafe endorsed the deal between Cosimo and Dominic, the capos would have even less reason to vote for Vita.
Whatever favors she’d managed to buy for herself wouldn’t be enough to get her what she wanted.
At least that’s what I hoped. According to Cosimo, there were still a lot of things to iron out with the deal itself, but for now, I was hopeful.
“So that’s the half brother?” Mia asked, looking at Dominic curiously.
She and I sat on one of the sofas drinking mulled wine out of some of the mugs I’d made.
I’d filled her in on Italy in the last twenty minutes while Rom and Les had been getting the news from Cosimo.
It hadn’t been quite the honeymoon she’d been expecting me to report back on, but she’d taken it all in stride.
“Yep. Want to meet him?” I lifted a hand. “Dominic.”
He turned at once, flashing me one of his effortless smiles, and crossed the room with a glass of champagne in hand. It seemed I rarely saw him without one of those after five o’clock. According to him, you could always find something to celebrate if you really put your mind to it.
“I don’t believe we’ve been introduced.” He took Mia’s hand and brought it to his lips. “Dominic Santoro.”
“Mia Morales,” she said a little stiffly, still clearly trying to make sense of the fact that Cosimo had returned from Italy with a new sibling.
“Ah. The daughter of the man we were hoping to have elected.” Dominic released her hand. “You thoroughly ruined all of our plans.”
Mia lifted her chin. “I’m not even a little sorry.”
The corner of his mouth curved. “Good. I’ve always found a woman without regrets far more interesting than one full of them.”
Romolo appeared beside us and rested a possessive hand on Mia’s shoulder. “I see you’ve already met our newly discovered brother.”
Dominic’s attention dropped briefly to Romolo’s hand before returning to his face. “The two of you are together. How very Romeo and Juliet.” Amusement tugged at his mouth. “You’ll have to tell me the full story one day.”
Romolo gave him a cool look. He clearly hadn’t warmed to Dominic yet, although I suspected that had less to do with who he was and more to do with the way he’d just kissed Mia’s hand.
“If we manage to reach an agreement,” Rom said, “we can have dinner at the Golden Circle, and I’ll tell you all about it.” He held a hand out to Mia. “Come on. Let’s get another drink.”
“What’s the Golden Circle?” Dominic asked as they walked away.
“A private club,” Alessio said, moving closer to where we sat. “A little too stuffy for me.”
Dominic cocked a brow. “And what about you? Is anyone joining you this evening?”
Alessio looked down at his glass. “Nope,” he said a little sadly.
Alessio and I hadn’t spoken much—his reputation for brutality was extreme even in our circles—but looking at him now, I found it hard to imagine him being the guy everyone said he was. I wondered if, like his older brother, he hid a multitude of layers few ever got to see.
Dominic raised his champagne toward him. “Then we can stick together. I’m also currently single.”
Alessio clinked his glass against Dominic’s. “Good. We needed another single man in the house. I was starting to feel like the odd one out in this sea of couples.” They drank in solidarity.
I smiled to myself. Given enough time—and provided none of them killed each other first—I had a feeling the four brothers would get along just fine.
The doorbell rang.
“Are we expecting anyone else?” Alessio asked.
“I don’t think so.” I frowned toward the hallway. “Oh, wait—”
One of the maids appeared in the doorway, nearly obscured by the enormous number of gift bags she was trying to carry through the entrance. Behind her came Nina in an oversized wool scarf wrapped around her neck, her cheeks pink from the cold, and two more bags hanging from her hands.
I completely forgot she’d said she wanted to drop by.
“You haven’t sat down for dinner yet,” she announced to the room.
“Oh good. I thought I was going to arrive in the middle of the first course.” She dropped the bags near the tree and hurried over to press a kiss to my cheek.
“I only came to deliver these before I have to rush to my parents’.
I was supposed to be here an hour ago, but traffic was insane. ”
“Nina.” I stared at the mountain of bags. “You said you had a few small presents.”
“Well, I couldn’t only bring you something. I had to get gifts for everyone, and my God, it is so fun shopping for babies.” She started unwinding her scarf and then swept her gaze around the room.
It landed on Dominic.
She stopped.
“Who are you?” she asked. “I didn’t get you a gift.” She shot me an accusing look. “Fabi, you didn’t send me the full guest list?”
I winced. “Sorry. There was a last-minute addition.”
Dominic was watching Nina with an intensity I hadn’t seen from him all evening. The easy amusement was still there, but there was something sharper beneath it.
“Don’t feel bad,” he said to her. “I didn’t bring gifts for anyone. Although my presence should count.”
Nina tore her gaze from him and arched a brow at me.
“Come sit down,” I said, gently steering her toward the sofa. “A lot happened in Italy.”
She lowered herself directly beside Dominic. For the briefest second, he seemed to stiffen.
Interesting.
“What’s your name, surprise visitor?” he asked.
“I’m not a visitor,” Nina said. “I’m family.”
“Family?”
“Cosimo, Rom, and Alessio are my cousins. My mom is Vita Ferraro’s sister.” She paused. “But don’t hold that against me. And who are you, exactly?”
“Dominic Santoro.”
“Cosimo’s half brother,” I added with a smile. “Let me fill you in.”
“Wow,” she said after I’d briefed her. “A lot did happen in Italy.” She glanced at the time. “I have a lot of questions, but I’ll have to save them for later. I’ve really got to go. Talk to you next week?”
“Sure.” I walked her out, and when I came back, Rafe and Cosimo had reappeared in the living room. I made a beeline to my husband, my curiosity eating at me.
“How did it all go with your brothers?” I asked.
He wrapped an arm around my waist. “Smooth. We didn’t even raise our voices.”
“And with Rafe?”
“He took it in stride. His support didn’t waver for a moment.”
I nodded. “Good. We’re family. And family backs each other.”
“I have to admit this marriage tied us together in a way that no straightforward incentive ever could have.”
The marriage.
I rolled my lips. We still hadn’t discussed explicitly what would happen at the end of the six months we’d previously agreed to. Had this become a real marriage for Cosimo? Or was he still leaving an exit door open for himself?
Things had been good between us since Italy. More than good. But loving me now didn’t necessarily mean he was ready to choose me for the rest of his life.
And was I ready to choose him?
My heart answered before the rest of me could.
Yes.
But it was the kind of commitment we had to make together with our eyes wide open. And we hadn’t talked about it yet. Not outright.
Cosimo tugged me against him, his palm warm and solid on my hip. The room hummed around us, filled with our friends and family, and it was easy to relax into the moment.
It felt warm. And cozy. And right.
It hit me then, straight in the chest. I belonged here. Not some version of myself that I presented, hoping it would be the right one, but the real me.
There was nothing to prove, nothing to explain to the people around me. And for the first time in longer than I could remember, I felt at home.
I looked up at Cosimo only to catch him already looking down at me, his gaze flickering with something so possessive it sent a rush of heat through me.
He leaned down, his lips brushing against my ear. “Have I ever told you how much I love the way you fit against me?”
I bit on my bottom lip. “You haven’t. And honestly, I have no idea what you mean.”
He moved behind me, fitting his body to mine until his warmth surrounded me and every hard line of him pressed against my back. “Then I suppose I’ll have to show you later tonight.”
A smile tugged at my mouth as I sank into him.
It should have been perfect.
It almost was.
Except the marriage that finally felt so right still had an expiration date.
I didn’t want to press him for answers right now. He had the vote coming up and was still negotiating with Dominic. Things seemed to be going well, but there was still the risk that Vita would try something. The woman was capable of anything.
So I told myself to enjoy this.
Our whole relationship had developed during a period of upheaval and turmoil. Once Cosimo was sworn in and the dust finally settled, we would have time to talk about what came next.
Time to find out whether the future I was quietly beginning to imagine was one he wanted too.