Page 128 of Brutal Vows

We both chuckle and then I tackle the stairs at a snail’s pace.

Steph squeezes my shoulder once on the landing. “I didn’t realize it was this bad. You need to stay downstairs. There is a guest bedroom⁠—”

“Yep. Stairs aren’t fun,” I say through my teeth, gritting my jaw at the exertion. “Where are Milana and Zoe?” I ask as we reach the bottom of the stairs, uneasy now that I haven’t seen them for a couple of hours.

“They’re making lunch. You have no idea how good it is to see Carla talking to someone. It’s shifted the whole atmosphere in the house.”

“I bet. She needed time and space and the right person.” My Milana. Of course she’s the right person. She’s perfect.

When we walk into the kitchen, Milana has Zoe over her shoulder, burping her, an empty baby’s bottle on the kitchen island, while Carla puts together antipasti at the kitchen island.

“Luca!” Carla says, and smiles at me.

I walk over to give her a side hug in greeting. Milana’s eyes light up, and she comes over to me in a few swift steps, patting Zoe’s back as she goes.

“And? All good with the doctor?”

“I’ll be hundred percent soon. Nothing unmanageable.” I loop my arm around her waist and kiss Zoe’s plump little cheek before brushing my lips along Milana’s hairline, breathing in my wife and the peace that comes with seeing her this happy.

“Good,” she murmurs, leaning close, worry still in her eyes.

“I’m really fine, princess, but we’ve decided to come clean to the rest of the brothers about Zoe. And to Ivan too.”

She nods. “I know. As long as it stays in the family.”

“It will,” Carla says, looking each of us dead in the eye. “We’re in this together.”

“Yes.” Milana nuzzles Zoe’s head. “Let me speak to Ivan first. I owe him that. And then it will be less of a bomb to drop in a meeting with Matteo and Dominic. Breaking this oath thing they’ve got going—which none of us had any say in—won’t be so dramatic once Ivan understands why I had to go to Russia. And once he gets how—” She breaks off, swallows, emotion shifting on her face. She looks up at me with tear-drenched eyes. “And once he gets how brave you were, how brave Masha was—for me and for Zoe…I need to tell him everything first.”

I gather her in my arms in a hug, careful not to squish Zoe. “I’ll be there, by your side if you want.”

“Yes. Thank you. Always by my side.” She turns and kisses me, softly, warming me from the inside out.

“Right,” Stephano says, then clears his throat. “Everybody understood the brief then. I’ll set up the call in Don Trapani’s office. How much time do you need, Milana?”

“Half an hour?”

“You’ve got it.”

An hour later, Steph and I are in Don Trapani’s office. We know our brothers’ routines and they’re all early risers. This is a great conversation to have over their morning coffees. They can then lose their shit for the rest of the day while plotting Chertnikov’s demise.

Like Ivan did. Initially his reaction was incandescent, but then he softened to pure agony as the whole of Milana’s situation hit him.

I bet he’ll be dissecting every layer of what happened, including how his reactions and stance inadvertently forced her to keep secrets from him. Either way, I got the feeling Ivan and Milana just grew closer during that call, which was the outcome I’d hoped for.

Let’s see what the Scaleras reaction will be.

As we dial in, Steph lets Benedict enter the meeting first.

“You’re spilling the beans?” he asks, without preamble.

“Yep.”

“Fucking great. I’ll barricade myself in the bunker until they stop fuming.”

“Yeah, might take a couple of days.”

“Maybe.”