Page 3 of Surprise Baby for the Mafia Boss

The events of last night hit me like a ton of bricks, the joy of a successful business deal replaced by the heavy reality of Nonna's passing.

I take a deep breath as the realization sinks in that I'm returning home not to celebrate a successful deal, but to bid farewell to the woman who had been my rock.

The private jet is ready, and the flight is quiet. I sit alone with my thoughts, memories of Nonna flooding my mind.

She wasn't just a matriarch; she was my confidante, my advisor, the one person who never questioned my capabilities. Now, with her gone, I feel a void that no business success can fill.

As the plane descends, I catch a glimpse of the familiar landscape below. The family mansion, where we had gathered so many times for happier occasions, now stands as a silent witness to the reality awaiting me.

Chapter Two

Emelia

I see the jet plane coming in to land, and I imagine him sitting there. He may not be showing it, but I know his heart is broken.

His grandmother was everything to him, and he was everything to her. I just know her death is going to leave a massive hole in his life.

But Luca Baldini was never the type of guy to show his emotions. He was always trying too hard to be seen as tough and capable, to gain respect from his older brother, Enzo.

That’s one of the reasons I thought it would be best to come and fetch him, so that he knows there’s someone to help him through this. His siblings will be going through the same thing, but I’ve been around this family long enough to know that competition often supersedes compassion.

As the plane comes to a stop and I see Luca step out, I make my way over to him. He looks like he didn't get any sleep last night. But that doesn't change the fact that he looks like a goddamn vision. He might as well be in a painting with the way the sun is casting light on him.

I know that Enzo was on the phone with him late. I stayed over at the main house to help with preparations and was sitting in the kitchen when I heard the conversation. It didn’t sound like it went as bad as it could have, but we all know Luca and how important his grandmother was to him.

Luca has always been the wild card of the family, never showing his hand and often making rash decisions that led to Enzo reprimanding him, which would usually just make the situation worse.

This massive shift in the family is something that has everyone on edge. They're all left wondering if this will slow Luca down or cause him to do something completely stupid.

I’m not worried, though.

I know that with a little bit of guidance, he can reach every goal he’s put in place for himself and exceed what his family expects from him.

“Luca!” I call out his name, he looks up and squints to make out my face in the sun that is shining directly behind me.

I walk up to him and throw my arms around his neck, standing right up on my tiptoes. “I’m so sorry.” My voice cracks and tears fall down my face.

I don’t have the same problem with my emotions that he does, and at the moment I’m carrying my own sadness.

Virginia, or Ginny as she kept telling me to call her, became an important woman in my life, especially over the last few months. We shared tender moments, private moments. I feel her loss, it's different from his loss, but it's a heartbreak all the same.

Luca puts his arm around my back, pulling me in, he's only the slightest bit awkward with me. He’s comforted me before, when my pet rabbit was killed by my neighbor, when my mother and I got into a huge fight on my eighteenth birthday, and even once after a break-up.

He might seem cold and emotionless, but his strong muscled arms know how to hold a crying girl. I try to compose myself, but it takes a few more sobs into his chest. His scent is intoxicating — deep and earthy — I steal a deep breath and look up.

He looks confused at seeing me, and stares behind me as if expecting someone else to appear. I saw him just a few months ago, before he left, so it’s not like he doesn’t recognize me. But it's obvious, he did not expect his sister's best friend to fetch him, since it’s not something that I’ve ever done before.

These are different circumstances, though, and I wasn’t going to lose my chance to be there for him when he needs it the most.

“Emelia, where is my brother?” His voice is hoarse, and I can imagine him crying when he thought no one else could hear or see.

I plan to show him that he can cry in front of me, that I won’t think him weak for it. I pull out a tissue from my bag, dapping at my eyes, sniffing and barely holding in the sobs.

“I offered to come and meet you. They’re all at the main house, gathering the family and making phone calls.” His family actually has no idea that I’m here, and if Grazia, Luca’s younger sister, had any idea I decided to pick Luca up, she’d probably be pissed.

Grazia and I have been friends since we started school together, and I've had my eye on her brother ever since our first playdate at her house.

He’s just a couple of years older than me, and he never once chased us little girls away from him. Instead, he protected us from the mean kids, and taught us how to do all of the things the bigger kids could do.

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