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PROLOGUE
MATTEO
“Oh, good, you’re all here. Listen, the apartment is ready, so we’re going to start moving today.” I pitch my voice louder as I walk down the hallway of our rented apartment. It’s been fine for a temporary space, but I fucking hate how far away Cherry’s room is from mine. There are only two bedrooms on this side of the apartment and three on the other end. Before I could claim seniority, Leo challenged us to a game of rock paper scissors, and Cherry’s eyes lit up in excitement.
One of these days I might have to learn to say no to her. I scoff and roll my eyes at myself before the thought even fully forms. I don’t think I’ll ever say no to her.
“Uh, brother, how many bedrooms does this new place have?” Rafe yells from inside her bathroom, but I’m distracted by the sight in front of me.
I lean my shoulder against the doorframe and let myself drink in the sight of her. It’s moments like this where I feel gratitude unlike anything I’ve ever felt before.
My girl is tangled in her soft-mint-colored sheets, her perfect body on display for all of us. We’re all moths to her flame, and the brighter she burns, the closer we swarm her. The usual pinch of jealousy doesn’t prick as quickly—or as harshly. A fact, I’m sure, doesn’t go unnoticed by her.
I roll my eyes at my brother, but there’s no real heat in my annoyance. “I already told you, this place isn’t big enough for a movie theatre.”
“Hey, how come no one told me we’re hanging out in Maddie’s room?” Leo comes up behind me and stops at the end of the bed, his gaze glued to our red-haired goddess.
“Does the new place have six bedrooms? Because I think we’re going to need it.”
It takes a few moments of the collective silence for me to clue in. Cherry had hypnotized me with all that smooth skin on display, each dip and flare of her perfect body enticing me to shed the restrictive fabric of my clothes and join her.
Movement from the corner of my eye captures my attention. Rafe waggles something in the air, pinched between his thumb and index finger.
“Oh shit,” I murmur on an exhale. Is that what I think it is? I can’t hear anything over the thumping of my heart, it kick-starts the adrenaline that floods my system.
The four of us look from one to the other, sharing so much more than a glance. It feels like we’re swearing-in at the round table, all of us feeling the weight of what exactly that piece of plastic represents. As one, we turn our gazes to her.
It’s all I can do to stand there and watch as she runs a hand over her lower abdomen, a small smile gracing her lips. “Surprise.”
My heart stops at her confirmation. I stare at the love of my life with something akin to awe sliding over me, seeping into the cracks in my black heart. I feel the pressure behind my eyes as they widen.
Her eyes, a soft blue the color of a cloudless sky on a sunny day, glisten as she looks at each of us and sinks her teeth into her bottom lip. “I know it’s a surprise, and I understand if you don’t want—”
“Stop. Not another word, Maddie.” Dante cuts off her sentence and my view as he lowers himself onto the bed. He leans on his elbows as he slides his hands into her hair by her temples. She reaches up to hold onto his wrists, and I get a front-row seat to their connection.
It’s not that I didn’t know they had one. I mean, fuck, he was willing to die for her—by her hand, no less—just to spare her. And I knew he was infatuated with her, but I’ve never witnessed them quite like this.
He eases his forehead against hers, whispering something too low for me to hear over the pounding in my ears.
A baby.
A baby in the middle of a war.
Panic seizes my heart, like yards of barbed wire wrapping around the patchwork organ and squeezing it tighter and tighter.
“Alright, old man, give our girl some room, yeah?” Leo taps Dante’s shoulder.
Dante pulls back, bringing Cherry with him. The sheet slides down to pool on her lap. He slides his lips across her forehead and steps back. I get a flash of her teary-eyed smile before my younger brother’s back shields her from view once more.
That’s fine. I’m in the middle of a goddamn panic attack, so it’s better if she doesn’t see me like this. Sweat prickles my brow as my chest heaves with the need to take in more air.
Leo kneels on the floor in between her legs.
“A baby,” Leo whispers. I hear the awe in his voice, and I imagine his face lit up with wonder like it used to when he was a little boy on Christmas morning.
She runs her fingers through his hair. “Mm-hmm.”
“Goddamn. We’re having a baby.” His last word ends on a laugh, and that sparks a laugh from Maddie too. He leans his forehead against her chest as his arms wrap around her.
