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“Be yourself,” Giovanni said. His head turned, and he brushed his lips against her forehead, bringing a soft tilt to her lips.
Giovanni’s hand disappeared under the table, likely linking with hers over the small swell of her stomach.
Antonio let the contentment of watching them together flow over him.
Later, when Nera began collecting the dishes, Antonio tried to take over. He wasn’t surprised when she wouldn’t let him. She’d refused their suggestion of hiring someone to work at the estate again. She remembered all too well how their former chef had tried to kill her.
Antonio wished he’d been the one to kill the man. Instead he’d been taken by surprise. It was pathetic. Giovanni still trusted him to protect his wife despite that and despite knowing exactly who Antonio was.
Often he found himself helping her with the dishes alone, and he suspected Giovanni left them alone on purpose. His half brother would have picked up on the fact that time with Nera settled him.
The Di Salvo soldier he’d killed that day had deserved what had happened. No one was allowed to hurt Nera in any way.
The fact that she was pregnant hadn’t made only Giovanni more protective. Antonio couldn’t imagine having kids himself, but Nera would be the type of nurturing mother none of the Di Salvos had had the chance to enjoy.
“Careful,” Nera murmured as she handed him the next dish to dry. “Your real self is showing through.”
Antonio realized he’d been scowling and forced a smile. “Just thinking about the hit today.” It wasn’t a complete lie. He needed to talk to some of his informants, find out exactly what had happened. The remaining Albanians lacked the power to act alone. “You’re right to be suspicious of Lucchese.”
Nera hummed her ascent as she stared into the soapy suds. “It’s a shame, the father figures you’ve all grown up with.”
“You solved that problem for Giovanni.” Antonio couldn’t maintain his mask at the reminder. He’d done very little for his half brother over the years compared to the woman beside him. It was yet another example of the type of person he was.
“I don’t regret it,” Nera said, “but today has me worrying more about this alliance.” She pulled the plug to drain the sink, and her hand shifted but didn’t touch her stomach, drips dampening the material. “But then again, I’ve been worrying more lately.”
“You’ll be a great mother, Nera.” He finished drying the last dish, then enveloped her hand in the towel to dry it as well. “Giovanni is feeling overprotective, but he’s excited too.” His brother’s attention had been wandering a lot more lately, and his normal pensive expression was softer at the edges.
She grinned. “He’s petrified, you mean. Especially after finding out it’s a girl.”
Antonio stared at her before turning to the counter, folding the towel. “You found out?”
“Today. Giovanni didn’t tell you?” She sighed. “I’m sorry. I know he wanted to.”
Antonio didn’t mind. The timing hadn’t been right, not with him in the basement all day. “A girl,” he murmured. God was laughing down at him. He was bringing yet another woman into Antonio’s life to challenge his views.
Nera had been the first woman that he’d come to trust.
And he really did believe his assessment of Vespa. He might not have trusted her, but he truly thought she said what she meant.
It was confusing and impressive and, for some reason, lit a fire inside him that hadn’t been quenched.
He wasn’t certain if it made things better or worse to consider that it wasn’t all women but only his mother who had been a piece of shit.
“Were you hoping for a boy?” Nera asked.
Antonio lied. “I’m happy with either a niece or a nephew.”
He walked with Nera to the room she shared with Giovanni, making sure he was there before departing. Nera was a precious person to have in his life. Antonio refused to take any chances with her safety. Never again.
He hadn’t slept much the night before, and the day’s activities had added a sense of hazy exhaustion. He lay in his bed, expecting to sleep, but it wouldn’t come.
Already calling himself a fool, he reached for his phone and typed out a text.
‘Heard about today. Everything okay?’
The three dots let his head lay back on the pillow as he waited. They disappeared. Then they came back. He waited a damn half an hour before the phone vibrated, but Vespa hadn’t even given him a letter this time.
The damn thumbs-up emoji mocked him.
