46. Adriano
Adriano
E ight Months Later
I thought I knew love.
I had my family first. I cared about my father and my sister. Then Lucy came into my life and showed me a whole new level of deep obsession.
But now all that pales.
The baby’s crying. She’s small and screaming so loud, but my god, I love her so much. I stare at her little scrunched-up face, her upturned, squashed nose, and her dark blue eyes, and I’m in love. So in love it feels like my heart’s somewhere else. My heart’s inside this baby now.
“You can try to comfort her, you know,” Bianca says from my elbow.
“I know.” But I don’t do anything. I’m too busy staring down at the crying baby.
“Seriously, do you need help?”
“Not at all.”
Bianca frowns and squints at my face. “You okay in there?”
“Never better.” Finally, I cradle my daughter and begin to bounce her up and down.
“You need some sleep,” my sister mumbles as she heads back to the chair beside Lucy’s bed.
The room is filled with family and friends. Kennedy, Luca, Vittorio, even Donatella is here. My daughter is six hours old, and already I’m broken into a thousand little pieces, and she’s the only map that could put me back together again.
Lucy’s smiling and laughing at something, my beautiful wife. I didn’t think it was possible, but she’s somehow even more perfect now for giving me such a present.
A really loud present.
But a gift that expands my life bigger than I ever dreamed possible.
Look at me, a mobster gushing over an infant.
Never in a million years would I have expected it.
“Come here, Daddy,” Lucy says, wiggling her hands at me. “I want my baby.”
“Yes, amore mio ,” I say, but don’t move right away. I stare at my lovely girl.
At my perfect Alessia.
“Bro?” Luca asks. “You’re just standing there.”
“I am?” I frown around me. “What?”
“Oh, let him hold the baby,” Kennedy says, laughing. “Look at the guy. He’s enamored.”
“And sleep deprived.” Bianca gives me a look as she extracts Alessia from my arms. She carries the baby over to Lucy and gently hands her over. “Here you go. I think she’s hungry.”
“Everyone out,” I snap as Lucy moves to start breastfeeding. Bianca punches me in the arm, but I’ll be damned if Luca or fucking Vittorio catch a glimpse of my wife’s perfect goddamn nipple. “Get out, now .”
My Capos hug my wife goodbye, both of them extremely amused by my reaction. When it’s only me and the women left, I finally relax.
“You’re going to have to chill with that,” Lucy says as Alessia latches and does her thing.
“Yes, she’s right.” Donatella pats my arm on the way out. “You love the girl. We all know that. But a boob is just a boob.”
“My wife’s boob is much more than that,” I growl, glaring at her.
Donatella laughs and follows after the boys.
Kennedy and Bianca are next. I hug them both and promise to behave. “We’ll visit later,” Bianca promises. “Go easy on her.”
“I’m always easy.”
“Yep, sleep-deprived,” Kennedy comments.
The pair of them leave. I scowl, not sure how to feel about them becoming friends. That could be very bad.
I finally sit down beside Lucy. I hold her hand and watch as my daughter nurses.
It’s the most magical thing in the whole world.
I honestly marvel at how close they are, and a part of me is jealous.
I know I’ll never experience that level of trust, but I’ll strive for it every single day of my life.
It hits me then, the sudden realization. It’s almost overwhelming how much I feel it.
“I want to be here for this baby,” I say very quietly.
Lucy looks up in surprise. “I know that. You will be.”
“No, I mean, forever.”
“Adriano, of course you will. You’re her father. No matter what.”
I let out a long breath. I lean over and kiss my incredible wife. I breathe in their smell, earthy and rich, and I shuffle into the bed beside them. It creaks under my weight. I don’t give a damn.
“I mean, I won’t end up like my father. I won’t die like many Dons before me. I’m going to be here well into my old age to watch Alessia grow up and find her own way.”
Lucy’s glowing as she strokes her daughter’s thin dark hair. “I know that.”
“I’m serious.”
“Adriano, I know . You’re the only person in this whole world that doesn’t realize it yet.”
“Realize what?”
“You’re one of the most obsessive and stubborn people I’ve ever met. You’ll do whatever it takes to be there for us, forever. There’s zero doubt in me. You’re going to be a good father.”
That’s what I needed to hear. A piece of me unclenches, and I know she’s right.
I lean against my wife, wrapping my arms around her, and smile as my daughter slows and starts to blink, her little eyes getting heavy with sleep.