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Niko glares at me.
I want to laugh. He’s so serious. “You’re going to stroke out when she gets engaged, aren’t you?”
“Probably. If I’m lucky, I’ll find her a suitable man.”
Donovan lets out a laugh. “Man, if you’re choosing, I doubt he exists.”
“Let's go outside.” Niko downs his final drink. “The ladies might miss us.”
“Probably not Aria,” Donovan says under his breath.
We return to the back yard, and my gaze goes immediately to Kate. She sees me, and I wink at her. I want to whisk her away from here, take her home, and make love. Or maybe just watch an old movie or play board games. I’m open to anything as long as Kate is with me.
“You’re not such an asshole anymore,” Lucy says, coming to stand by me.
“Coming from you, that’s a compliment.”
“But if you hurt my friend, I?—”
“No need to threaten me, Lucy. If I hurt her, I’ll deserve whatever punishment you serve up.”
“As long as we’re clear.”
“Crystal. Now if you’ll excuse me.” I head over to Kate and sit next to her.
“All good in the boys’ club?” she asks.
“It’s all good with me. Not so sure for Aria.”
“Don’t mention it around Niko. It will make his head explode,” Elena says. “I don’t know what the deal is. Luca seems perfectly fine.”
“It’s not Luca, per se,” Kate says. “She’s Niko’s little sister. I suspect she’s lucky he hasn’t sent her to a convent.”
“He can try,” Aria says from behind us.
I take Kate’s hand. “It’s an interesting little family we have here, isn’t it?”
She tilts her head. “This is a family, isn’t it?”
It’s not the family I had as a boy, but it has the same elements. Love. Respect. Caring. To think I nearly squandered it away. Luckily, with help from my Mafia brother Niko, I saw the idiocy of my fears and thinking.
Now, I’m determined to live each day relishing this family, and in particular, the woman who brought light and love back into my life.
35
KATE
Ilove that Elena and Lucy have thrown this shower for me, but if Liam suggested we go home, I’d be out the door before he could say his first goodbye. Perhaps it’s new love. Maybe it’s hormones. But I can’t get enough of my man. Not just sexually, although my libido has been revving at 100 miles per hour lately. Liam is a fascinating man. Yes, he can be lethal. Sometimes he’s a brute. But his ability for kindness and generosity is immense.
He holds my hand, and while my friends might argue, I’m certain I’m the happiest woman alive. Definitely more than Aria. Poor woman. She’s filled with heartache and rage. I wish Niko could see her as the smart, full of life woman that she is.
“What do you plan to name the baby?” Elena is sitting in a chaise chair on the opposite side of me from Liam.
I press my free hand on my belly. “Sophia Eva.”
“Oh, so pretty.”
“It’s Liam’s mother’s name and my mother’s name.”
