Page 132 of Enforcer

The table is set,and Slate and I are mulling over some plans for the docks when Brynne comes into the room without her apron, which signals that the food is ready and it’s time to eat.

We both stand, the rest of the men coming with us as we descend on the dining room.

This started as a tradition amongst the four of us and quickly grew to all of Brynne’s top men and ours, converging on Sundays for time with family and food with friends.

The food is spread out the length of the table, and the only person sitting at the table is Alyssa. She’s got Nico perched in her arms and looks down at him as she feeds him his bottle.

He’s grown so much since birth, but he is still the smallest thing I’ve ever seen.

I can’t hide my smile as I watch them together, and I only come to when Slate slaps me on the shoulder with a knowing look.

I break out of the trance and sit next to her, tossing my arm around the back of her chair. She snuggles closer to me in hers, eyes never lifting off the only dark-haired man besides me vying for her attention all the time.

“He’s already changing his looks so much,” she says with sadness peppering her tone.

“Oh, knock it off; you missed a week with him, not a year,” I joke, kissing her temple as she turns her face and captures my lips.

“This looks amazing, Brynne,” Antonio says, swiping a chicken cutlet off the table before anyone says a prayer.

Lorenzo slaps him on the back of the head, and Antonio apologizes and sits straight.

Brynne giggles. “Well, it wasn’t all me this week, boys. Alyssa cooked her fair share.”

I squeeze her knee and lean in to kiss her cheek, catching the moment her breathing hitches at my hand on her leg.

“Behave, you little menace; I swear I’ll spend my life trying to satisfy that greedy cunt of yours.”

She gasps, looking down at Nico in her arms. “Dante!”

I flick my eyes at the little brute as his lids flicker open for a split second. “Trust me, Slate’s his father, he’s heard worse. Plus, he’s a Ricci man; you must train them young.”

I wink at the baby and swear a little muscle around his mouth twitches in answer.

As he finishes his bottle, Alyssa moves him to her shoulder and burps him as Lorenzo says a prayer, and then chaos ensues around the table.

I look around, watching all the progress we’ve made between the two families over the last year and change, soaking in the feeling in the room and how this feels right.

My eyes catch on Slate as he sits back in his chair, doing the same.

He smiles at me, and I answer it with my own.

We’re two men who, not so long ago, had nothing but solitude. We thought we wanted that. The mind has a way of justifying that which we can’t change. We were alone, so we convinced ourselves that it was better that way.

All the while, this is the life we have longed for.

The one we will protect at all fucking costs.

EPILOGUE

ALYSSA

A year later

We stand around, all smiling, as the photographer tells us where to stand before taking a rapid succession of photos. Nico was christened today in the very church Brynne and Slate married in.

“Alright,” she says. “Maybe now some photos with Nico’s godparents?”

I smile brightly and tug Dante to the front of the group, opening my arms to Nico. He reaches for me, smiling as his pacifier falls out and hits the floor.

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