Page 68 of Marcus

The baby boy—who recently turned one, according to Cara when the woman filled her in on all her sons’ wives and their large brood of children—smiled back at his father with a toothless grin that was filled with chewed up watermelon.

“Gross,” Alessio muttered.

“Gwoss,” the baby repeated.

“Anyway.” The man’s attention came back to Cara and Cella who were currently working to chop up more fruit for the kids while they waited for the pizza to be delivered to the mansion. “I was kidding, Cara, you know that. And Cella,” he added, giving her a smile, “it really is great to see you around again. If Marcus knows what’s good for him, we’ll see you more often, yes?”

“Okay, you go help with the rest of the kids now,” Cara ordered with a laugh.

Alessio did as he was told, chuckling the whole time.

Cella shook her head. “Is he always like that?”

Cara made a noise under her breath. “Depends on the day with Les, really. He’s like Corrado, which is maybe why they’re such a good fit together, when he has his days. Moods, as Gian likes to say. They come and go.”

Huh.

Interesting.

Cella stared out across the grass where Ginevra stood up on her tiptoes to press a kiss to the underside of Corrado’s cheek. She always figured … someone else’s bedroom and life were theirs to do with as they wanted so long as everyone was adults and consenting to what would happen. That didn’t mean she wasn’t curious about a lot of things.

She didn’t want to be ignorant about it, however.

“And how does … is she their wife … or, I guess they both couldn’t marry her, right? Is she married to one of them?”

“Ginevra?” Cara asked.

“Yeah.”

“Oh, no, uh, Corrado and Les married last year, actually, for legal reasons regarding the children. Mostly because they were concerned if something happened to one of them when only one man’s name could be on the birth certificate then it kind of allowed them a loophole for custody reasons. I mean, those are circumstances no one wants to think about but …”

“Necessary in their situation, right?”

Cara nodded. “Exactly. Anyway, the boys married but it wasn’t an affair, they didn’t want a celebration, and it was Ginevra that suggested it. It happened at the courthouse in New York, Christopher flew in to be a witness for Corrado, and I believe Les asked one of his adoptive fathers to witness for his side.”

“They don’t wear rings or anything, I noticed.”

“Little tattoos. Venn diagrams on each of their index fingers. All three, not just the boys.”

Oh.

Well, she hadn’t noticed that, either.

Cara glanced her way, asking, “What was the question about Ginevra that you were going to ask me?”

“Just … how does she fit in there, I suppose.”

“Perfectly,” Cara replied without even thinking about it, “she fits with them perfectly. A good balance to the boys, and I don’t think they would be the same today had she not come along.”

“Hmm.”

Cara grinned a bit. “A little unconventional, I know.”

“If it works, and they like it, I love it.”

“That’s a good way to look at it.”

Cella laughed under her breath. “I think a lot of things in this world would be better if people adopted that perspective, but that’s just me.”