Page 52 of Satin Empire

“Hey, man. Is that your Switch over there?”

Niccolo shimmies out from behind me a few inches. “Uh, yeah.”

“You got the Zelda-themed one. That’s pretty sick. What games are you playing?”

Niccolo takes a step forward. “Mostly, uh, Mario Wonder right now, but I’m playing it for the second time. Before I beat it as Yoshi first and he’s super easy so now I’m doing a Mario run.”

“That’s pretty awesome. How far into it are you?”

“Well, I got like three Wonder Seeds, and—” Niccolo is fully out from behind me now and jabbering Carlo’s ear off. I watch, a little bewildered, as Niccolo drags my husband over to the console, and the big gangster leans over my little brother’s shoulder, acting like it’s the most interesting thing in the world.

“That was interesting,” Mom comments, eyebrows raised as she sidles up next to me. “He sweet-talked your little brother.”

“Wasn’t hard,” I mutter but there’s a strange feeling in my guts, a churning excitement, almost an arousal. I knew Carlo was good with kids—I’ve seen him with his niece and nephews—but I hadn’t really extended that out to Niccolo when I should have.

I like the way they interact. Carlo takes Niccolo seriously and listens as my brother talks, even though he’s going on and on about a game I’m positive Carlo doesn’t know anything about. Meanwhile, I have a glass of wine with Mom and we catch up, chatting about light topics, until Carlo manages to extract himself from my little brother and rejoins us.

“Seems like you’re a big gamer,” Mom comments.

Carlo laughs and accepts a glass of wine. “Not at all. I just learned a while back that it’s best to let kids talk about whatever they’re into.”

“Do you have children from a previous relationship?” Mom asks, and even though I know it’s an innocent question, Carlo stiffens slightly.

“His brothers all have kids,” I say to defuse the situation.

“That’s good.” Mom sits down, crossing her legs. “Have you thought about children?”

“Mom,” I hiss at her, but Carlo only nods his head.

“All the time,” he says, staring right at me, and I swear my freaking ovaries clench and spurt out about a dozen eggs, all of which are screaming impregnate me, mafia daddyyyyy.

“We haven’t discussed it,” I say, hoping to shut down this conversation because I definitely don’t like where it’s headed, but Mom’s undaunted, and Noah takes the opportunity to rejoin the conversation.

“I’m sure your family would love it if you two got pregnant right away,” Mom says, tilting her chin up.

Noah stifles a laugh next to me and I elbow him in the ribs. “We’re fine, Mom. Stop with the kid stuff.”

“I’m ready to start having kids whenever Alana’s ready,” Carlo says and if I could melt down into a puddle of formless goo, I think I’d do it, just to avoid the stares I get from everyone.

“Well, that’s a little intense,” Noah quips. “Should I start planning the shower?”

“No!” I say and it comes out harsher than I expected. “I mean, no, that’s a conversation we’ll have another time. Can we please stop talking about getting me pregnant now?”

“You’re so touchy all the time, Jelly girl,” Mom says, rolling her eyes as if I’m the one being unreasonable. “Your husband and I are simply having a normal conversation about a very simple aspect of married life.”

“She’s right,” Carlo says. “Getting you pregnant would be very simple.”

I put my face in my hands. Mom laughs, covering her mouth, and Noah’s snorting so hard I think his brain might burst out of his nose. Carlo’s grinning around at everyone, delighted that they find him charming, and from there the conversation turns away from my reproductive abilities and onto safer ground. Noah drills Carlo about his family, about his goals for the future, about the shape of our relationship, and Mom tosses in a few piercing questions along the way.

Carlo handles it well. He doesn’t get flustered and even manages to make everyone laugh a few more times. When things get uncomfortable, he smooths it over, and when Noah asks a few too many personal questions, he shuts it down without being rude. I have to admit, I’m extremely impressed, and I love it when Niccolo comes over to pull Carlo away. I glance at the two of them sitting on the couch, Niccolo bouncing up and down with excitement, as Carlo fumbles along in the game.

“I’m gonna be honest here,” Noah says, leaning against the counter. “I totally thought I’d scare him away.”

“We planned this,” Mom says, sounding very delighted with her scheming.

“Now I know why you’re really here.” I glare at my cousin. “You show up just to grill my new husband.”

“Someone’s got to make sure you’re safe with that guy.” He glances over and his amused expression fades away. “I like him, but I’m still worried about you.”

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