Page 80 of Brutal Vows

“It’s been six weeks. The baby is in foster care, and apparently, I’m the only next of kin. I’m on the birth certificate as the dad.”

“Fuck me. Did you give this woman your real name?”

This woman. Fuck, I hate how he talks sometimes. “No, of course not.”

“Tell me you didn’t give her Steph’s name.”

I huff out a curse. Asshole. “When I’m in a dark room fucking, it’s the only place I’m not Stephano, but I gave her a name when shit got real. A name they found on the birth certificate and conveniently on her phone. I wasn’t going to let this woman bear the repercussions of our actions alone.” I swallow down my rising anger. “Don’t worry, Matteo, I’m still incognito if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Jesus. Fuck. No!” he grunts. “I just want to understand the bigger picture here.” He bites down on his jaw with a little shake of his head. “Sounds like you saw her more than a few times. Did you have feelings for her? I mean, this is the only way any of this makes sense.”

I look down, knowing the noose of lies is pulling tighter and tighter. I have to nip further questions in the bud. “It was four intense weeks, more than a year ago. I broke it off because—” I stall, glaring at him as I wave at the room, encompassing our Mafia existence. “Because of everything.”

“Yep.” He sighs. “Fuck it.”

“It isn’t fair on outsiders.”

“Yeah. Okay. I know. It’s fucked up. But do you really buy into her having no family?”

“Yes. I did my homework. It’s true.” Jesus, I can’t let him start digging now.

“It sounds to me like you hooked up with someone in witness protection pretending to be from New Brunswick. Maine is swamped with them, which begs the question: is this going to bite us in the ass down the line?”

I suppress a groan. My brother is filing away all these details and we’re going to have to be careful. “Not if I can help it, Matty. Not if I can help it.”

“Is it a boy or a girl?” he asks, and finally, we’re on smoother ground.

“A girl. Her name is Zoe.” The lie runs off my lips like water. I didn’t even talk this through with Milana.

“Fuck. More girls. Jesus. Whatever happens, don’t ever let her get hurt. It hurts so much more when they get hurt.”

In his eyes, there’s the flicker of the shadow hanging over his life. Alex’s death. And now Gabi. Her getting shot is shredding him from the inside out.

“Of course not.” I swallow, needing to leave. “I still have to break the news to Milana, so I’m going to get going.”

“Oh, fuck,” he says with a smirk. “Jeez, for a minute I forgot she was in the picture. You haven’t told her?”

“No, this thing is taking a shit ton of paperwork and I was waiting for some documents to come through. Milana and I, we’re…we’re still feeling our way around each other.” I felt her up, all right, and she loved it.

“Has she tried to kill you yet?” he asks, his tone teasing.

“Nope, but saddling her with another woman’s baby might push her to that point.”

“Uh-huh, I bet she isn’t going to be too thrilled. Hopefully, you’ll be spared that rite of passage.”

“We’ll see,” I say, trying to keep things light because the next thing on the agenda is something I’m telling Matteo, not asking. “Listen, I’m taking Milana to Italy before all the paperwork is in place and I have to pick up Zoe. Within the next week or so. She needs to meet Stephano and Gigi.”

Matteo stands again, his stance already telling me it’s a no. “Let them come here. With everything that’s happened⁠—”

“It would seem we’ll be safer in Italy in Don Trapani’s compound than here.”

Matteo glares at me, seeming to size me up. My jaw ticks. He can’t contest this and he knows it.

“I miss Steph,” I say, knowing this will turn him. Alex and Matteo were so close, I bet he still feels the void every day.

“Fine, Lake Como is fine,” he says, dropping his gaze. “I don’t really care where you take her, as long as you stay safe and it isn’t to fucking Russia.”

“Trust me, I have zero ambitions to go to Russia.”