Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 151410 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 757(@200wpm)___ 606(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151410 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 757(@200wpm)___ 606(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
I gave a terse nod. It was how I’d imagined it. I swung my legs off the chair and got up.
“You did good,” I said. I wanted to leave, felt the need to be alone with the strange sensations this manifestation of Aurora on my body created.
I grabbed my shirt and put it on, then on my way out, I tossed a wad of cash onto the reception desk, way too much for his work, and then again, not. I didn’t wait for him to count it.
My heart pounded in my chest, and I felt restless, hunted. I had expected a reaction to the tattoo, which was one of the reasons I hadn’t picked Nino for the tattoo. He would have seen something in my eyes or face, something I didn’t want to share with the people who knew me. I could only imagine what Alessio and Massimo would say if they saw the tattoo. Know-it-all Massimo would put two and two together. He definitely knew what the tattoo showed. Aurora borealis.
Aurora.
The fucking light in my life.
“I have a fucking bad feeling,” I muttered.
Nino narrowed his eyes in thought. “You think he knows about the party incident?”
“Fuck if I know. He sounded pissed.”
“Maybe we should tell him that we’ve known about the incident for a while,” Savio suggested with a shrug. “Better than keeping up the lie and having it explode in our faces later.” He let out a chuckle. “Who would have thought that Nevio would be the one to cause a sex scandal. It should have been me.”
“You could still cause one, but Gemma would rip you a new one, and I’d help her,” I said. I’d never thought Savio could be faithful at all, but Gemma seemed to be what he needed.
“The only sex scandal I’m up for is being caught having sex in public with Gemma.”
“How about we return to the matter at hand?” Nino asked.
I gave a terse nod. “Tell your sons to get their asses over here. Maybe they know more. Or have heard from Nevio. Serafina is starting to worry, and I’m getting pissed.”
“You weren’t before?” Savio asked with a cocked eyebrow.
I didn’t remember the last time I wasn’t pissed at Nevio. He had an uncanny talent to cause trouble. I really hoped it would grow out of him soon. He needed to be more responsible if he wanted to become Capo one day.
Massimo and Alessio entered the room after Nino a few minutes later, both with unreadable expressions. I wasn’t kidding myself into believing that their loyalty to me trumped their loyalty to Nevio. These three were usually attached by the hip.
“What’s going on?” Massimo asked, glancing from Nino to me.
“Nevio is in trouble, and so by proxy, you two are probably as well,” Savio said.
Alessio and Massimo exchanged a look, one I couldn’t decipher.
“We suspect that Fabiano found out about the party incident,” Nino said, eyeing his son closely. “Or is there something else that might upset Fabiano?”
“I’m pretty sure nothing could upset Fabiano more than Nevio taking Aurora’s innocence. Isn’t that enough?” Alessio asked with a sarcastic laugh.
Nevio always found ways to make an already bad situation worse. He lived for mayhem.
“So you two are unaware of further developments that might cause us trouble?”
Another look passed between them. Sometimes they reminded me of twins. Nevio and Greta, too, had shared looks that no one but them could read.
“I’m about to lose my shit. If Fabiano tells me something you two should have warned me about, then there will be hell to pay.”
“Your loyalty to Nevio is admirable, but first and foremost, your loyalty should be with Remo.”
The door ripped open, and Giulio stomped in. “Fabiano is here with Aurora and Leona, and a baby that looks like Nevio when he was little.” His voice was eager as if he could smell that trouble was afloat. He too lived for it. My genes had really gone all in with my sons.
Then his words registered, and my heart started pounding in my chest. “A baby?”
Giulio nodded with a grin. “Like a little Nevio.”
“Fuck it,” I growled. I definitely hadn’t fathered a kid, so that left one conclusion. My son had impregnated someone. “Don’t tell me Nevio impregnated Aurora!”
“If their first sexual interaction had been at the party, she couldn't have had his child,” Nino said, as if I couldn’t do math.
“Who knows if they didn’t have sex before!” I stalked toward Massimo and Alessio looking from one to the other.
“It’s not Aurora’s child,” Massimo said, looking calm and composed.
I had half a mind to grip his throat, but he was Nino’s son, so I controlled my first impulse. “How long have you known?”
Quick female steps came closer, and Serafina appeared in the doorway, her eyes wide with shock and her face flushed.
I ran a hand through my hair. I really wished I could have kept this from her, but one look at her told me she’d just seen little Nevio. “I think we should all talk to Fabiano now.”