24. Leonardo
Leonardo
Oh my fates, he was so cute. I’d felt him kicking and moving for so long, and now he was finally here in my arms. I’d done that.
I’d spent the last three months growing him, and now I’d pushed the baby out.
I’d given birth. I was a daddy now. I stared down at our son and lost a part of my heart. He was so beautiful.
“Leo, your omega line is starting to close, but I’m going to use a bit of magic to help it along. It’s torn on your left side here, and I don’t want you to have any sort of scarring or anything of that nature. It will heal completely, and you won’t have any issues in future pregnancies.”
I tore my eyes from the baby and glanced at Rio.
“Yeah. I felt it tear when I got out of bed and rushed to the closet when I heard the gunshots. My water broke on the way off the bed over there.” I looked over at Sandro.
“I’m sorry, Sandro. We’re probably going to have to get a new mattress.
And I’ll clean the floor as soon as I can feel my legs.
” I’d been fine. There had been a few very light contractions, and I was going to mention them to Sandro, but he’d started acting off, and now I understood why.
He’d somehow known that something wasn’t right in the house.
“Why would you need to clean the floor?”
“Because my water broke, and I know it hit the tiles over there. I slipped and almost fell when I was trying to get out of bed,” I told him. That was also when I felt the sudden sharp, stabbing pain in my left side. Most likely, that was the tear that Rio had mentioned.
“Don’t worry about the bed or the floor,” Rio said, joining the conversation.
“I’ve just used magic to clean both, and now for you,” he said.
Rio flicked his hand, and a green ball came floating toward me.
I was suddenly in clean lounge pants and a T-shirt, something that I was incredibly thankful for.
“Thank you, Rio. I was going to get around to cleaning everything.”
“You are most welcome,” he said. “Now, I wouldn’t normally leave so quickly after someone gives birth, but I do need to check in with Master Vincent,” Rio said. “Do you wish for me to update him on Leo’s status?”
Sandro nodded. “Yes, please. I will need to talk to him as well regarding the man I killed in the hallway.”
“Yes, I saw him,” Rio said. “Do you wish for me to put the sofa back where it belongs? The threat is truly over at this point.”
“If you would,” Sandro said. “I would appreciate it.”
“Will do. Sit down and enjoy some time with your newest addition.”
I giggled as Sandro turned and then immediately looked back at Rio. Back was the super-comfortable-looking chair. Sandro pulled it closer before he sat in it and leaned forward. “I’m so proud of you,” he whispered.
“I didn’t do anything amazing,” I replied. “In fact, I messed so much up.”
“How so? You did everything you could to protect yourself and our son. You did incredible, Leo. Don’t think anything but that.
You hid. You made sure you were quiet when I know you needed to shout through your painful contractions.
I’m so sorry you had to go through all of that at the worst possible time.
I don’t think there was any coincidence regarding that; it was simply terrible timing. ”
“Do you think there’s anything to what Rio said?” I asked. “About them waiting until he was out of the villa for a perfect time for them to attack?”
That was certainly a possibility. But how would they know that Rio, of all people, could stop all of them with the wave of his hand?
“Is Mazzi still in Florence with the others?”
“As far as I know, yes. He, too, could have changed things as soon as the power went out. Something certainly isn’t adding up.” Sandro shook his head. “We’ll figure it out at some point, but I want to focus on you and our little guy here.”
I smiled at my mate. “He’s so cute. Can you believe he’s ours?”
“I can. He’s not nearly as beautiful as you are, but I might be biased.”
I felt my entire body warm at Sandro’s compliment.
He was so incredibly sweet to me all the time.
I’d had reservations all those months ago, and that was understandable with how Sandro had tried to warn me away.
But I hadn’t ever been happier in my entire life, and I knew it was because that incredible man was in it.
“Are we going to name him?” I asked.
“We probably should at some point. I know we talked about several names, but I really like the name Santino that you suggested.”
I smiled at Sandro. “Still? You don’t think that having a Sandro and a Santino in the family isn’t too close?”
“If you feel that way, you can always call me Alessandro. There is no confusing my given name with Santino. And there are nicknames for it. Most commonly they are called Santi or Tino.”
I sighed. “I don’t know. I like the name, but do we have to use a nickname?”
“No, we don’t.” Sandro got up enough to lean in and kiss me. With him so close, I reached up with one hand and touched his face.
“I don’t ever want to lose you, Sandro. I know that if that were the case, I wouldn’t last long either, but the thought of not having you in my life, I can’t stomach that.”
“I know. I feel the same. I wouldn’t want to go on without you.”
I closed my eyes tightly. “I know we never know when the end is going to come, but now, when I’m so emotional after just having given birth and everything that was going on during that, I’m going to cry if we continue talking like this.
” I opened my eyes and wanted to kick myself.
I was looking at the world through watery eyes. That wasn’t what I wanted.
“Then we’ll discuss baby Santino. Unless you’d truly like something else? Personally, I like Leonardo, but I know you might not want to use your given name for his name.”
I shook my head. “No. I’d use Sandro before mine, but maybe we should just go with something completely unrelated to anything or anyone.”
“We can certainly do that.”
There was a knock on the outer door, and Sandro glanced toward the bedroom door. If looks could kill, his would be ending someone else at the moment.
“It’s probably Rio again. Or maybe it’s Marcello?” I wasn’t his favorite person. At least, that’s how I felt. But right at the moment, I wouldn’t mind Marcello showing up to let us know that everything had settled out and was taken care of.
“I’ll be right back,” Sandro said. “I won’t be out of sight though.”
I absolutely did not like this even a little. Rio had said everyone was dead that should be, but were they? What if there were more that suddenly appeared? How many men did my grandfather have? Sandro walked over and stood in the doorway between the bedroom and the living area.
“Yes?” he called out. True to his word, I could still very much see him, and now he’d put himself between whoever was on the other side of the outer door and me and little Santino.
I heard someone respond to him, and Sandro’s posture relaxed. He nodded and then turned around and started back toward me and smiled. “Master Vincent is here to see you and the baby. Rio is with him.”
That was unexpected. Well, Master Vincent was. Rio, not so much. Rio came in first, making a quick path toward me and the baby. “How are you feeling? Any pain? I see your little guy is fast asleep.”
I shook my head as I glanced down at Santino.
He was the cutest, and I had to assume that he’d fallen fast asleep shortly after Rio had given him to me because of my heartbeat.
“No. I’m still feeling pretty numb from the waist down.
I think your blocker thing that makes everything feel floating is working really well. ”
“I can back that off and start to remove it. I feel terrible that you had to experience any pain at all during your labor. May I check on your omega line?”
“Of course,” I said. I glanced over at Sandro and Master Vincent, who were talking over by the door. “Hey, Rio?” I whispered, and he smiled up at me.
“Yes?”
“I know Sandro tried to get all of the blood off him earlier, and then he delivered the baby and hasn’t taken the time to clean himself up yet.”
“It’s a bit dark in here, so you probably didn’t notice, but I’ve already taken care of helping him clean up as well. Clean lounge pants included.”
“Thank you,” I whispered back.
“Of course.” Rio’s had started glowing green, and when he slowly moved it over Santino and then my lower stomach, he smiled. “You’re doing well. Your body is healing quickly, and you should be able to be up and moving within the hour.”
I yawned just then. “I don’t know that I really want to be up in an hour, but I understand that going to bed isn’t exactly happening anytime soon with everything that’s going on.
” I absolutely could fall asleep without issue.
But that was wrong, and I knew that the possibility of us having to leave the villa was real.
“I don’t see why you couldn’t be completely settled and asleep in just a bit. The mess out in the villa is clean, and you won’t even know anything happened by looks come morning.” Rio winked at me just before he stood and took a step back. I realized why when Master Vincent and Sandro approached.
“Hello, Master Vincent. I’d get up, but my legs aren’t working at the moment.”
“There is no need, Leo.” Master Vincent looked around, and when he noticed the chair, he sat. He craned his neck to get a look, and I moved Santino so he could see the newest member of our coven. “I’m sorry you had to give birth during all of the chaos that was happening.”
I shrugged. “You didn’t cause it,” I said. “In fact, I think I did since they seemed to be my grandfather’s men.”
“Yes, they were, but you didn’t cause anything. Alfio Mosca did. It truly had nothing to do with you but his need for control. How are you feeling? Other than I’m certain proud.” Master Vincent finally sat back in the chair.
“I’m good,” I said. “Did you wish to hold him?” I asked.
Master Vincent’s eyebrows rose. “I won’t say no. I don’t normally get offered minutes-old newborns though.”