Page 104 of Assassin's Obsession

I want them living here where they will be safer and Candi will be happier for having them with her.

"Mr. Caruso did! If we're living here, will I call you Angelo?" she asks me excitedly.

"I would like it if you called me Angelo now. Orfratello."

"Isfratelloyour middle name?"

"It's Italian for brother."

Cookie's eyes go wide. "You're my brother?"

"I will be when I marry your sister." When that happens is up to Candi.

That it will happen is a given. Soulmates do not live separate lives.

Mira gasps sharply, but Candi just laughs. "Angelo lives in his own little world, but you can call himfratelloif you want to."

Which is as good as an agreement that one day we'll be married. I'll ask her of course. Every woman deserves a proposal story she can share with her children and grandchildren. Nonna said that too.

Her first husband was an arranged marriage but my Caruso grandfather still proposed. Nonno proposed three times before nonna said yes to her second marriage.

Candi getsone. With me. And she's the only woman I will ever marry.

"We'll discuss Angelo's delusions later," Mira says, using the same dry tone her daughter does sometimes. "You need to get washed up before dinner."

"I'll show you your rooms. They have en suite bathrooms," I inform them.

"And if I know Angelo, they have everything you could need to freshen up too," Candi says wryly before turning a concerned look on her mom. "If you want to lie down, I'll bring you a tray for dinner."

Mira straightens her spine. "That won't be necessary. I'll eat with the rest of you. And we don't need a guest room to wash our hands and faces for dinner."

"They're not guest rooms. They have been designed specifically for each of you," I assure my future mother-in-law.

She does not look comforted. "I don't think––"

"Oooh, I want to see!" Cookie bounces on the balls of her feet. "What color is it?"

"I'd like to see too." Candi grins at her sister. "I bet there's pink and orange in your room."

Cookie looks at me with wide eyes. "Those are my favorite colors. Did Candi tell you?"

"Yes." Technically, her comments to her sister that I listened to informed me of Cookie's favorite colors. "And I told the designer."

I'd also told her that Cookie's birth mother was from Nigeria and showed her a picture of the head wrap Cookie treasured and kept in its own box under the bed. The designer had sourced similar fabric for beanbags and the cloth covered headboard on Cookies bed.

The little girl's room is a riot of color that I could not live in, but emulates her side of the bedroom she and Candi share.

"Like you told the designer that Candi's favorite color is teal?" Cookie asks as I lead everyone toward the elevator.

"Yes."

"Is your favorite color gray?" Cookie wants to know.

I press the button to open the elevator doors hidden in the foyer wall. "I don't have a favorite color."

"It's the color of Angelo's eyes." Candi smiles up at me, sharing the knowledge of why I asked the designer to use those colors together.

"Woah, you have an elevator?" Cookie automatically steps back to the corner of the elevator making room for her mom's scooter. "Is that a rich people thing?"

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