Page 30 of Reign of Commotion

“He may have nothing to do with any of this.”

“Unlikely, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”

“He seemed sad in that picture,” I say.

“What?”Julian looks at me.

“His head was way down, and his shoulders were kind of slumped.”I shrug.“I could be wrong, but he looked like he was upset.”

“He’ll be more upset if he can’t answer our questions,” Julian mumbles.We pull up to Alessio’s home.“No more talk about running, understood?”

I nod.“Okay.”

He reaches for my hand and brings it to his lips, turning the palm upward and kissing it.“We’re in this together.”

THIRTEEN

Quiet

JULIAN

With Josie keeping Milana occupied with Nico and showing her around the house and to our room, Alessio and I retreat to his den and go over the rest of the pictures that Josie and Valentina had snapped from the wedding.There are a couple more with the same background, but they’re even less clear and have a more obstructed view of the man.

There’s something familiar about the guy, but I can’t pinpoint where I’ve seen him before.

“There’s something about him,” I say.

Alessio is looking on the screen at the photo that’s been enhanced and sent to him by one of our tech guys, but it’s grainy at best.“I know what you mean.”

“Milana says he looks sad,” I comment.

“We won’t know until we identify him and bring him in to ask him,” Alessio retorts.

There’s a knock on the door; it’s Josie.“I wasn’t planning on a full dinner, but did you want me to make you both something?”

“Just a couple of sandwiches would be fine,” Alessio replies for both of us.

“How is Milana?”I ask.

“She’s playing with Nico in the playroom, but she seems tired.I think she might head to bed early.I put you at the other end of the hall, the very last room.It has its own private bathroom and gives you a little more privacy,” she says with a grin.

“Thank you.I appreciate all that you’ve done,” I tell her sincerely.

“My pleasure.Milana really is a sweetie.Nico thinks she’s awesome, and you know what a great judge of character he is,” she teases.She clicks the door shut when she leaves.

Alessio pushes back his chair and says, “You’ve grown to care for this woman.”

I guess I have.I like spending time with Milana.She’s not pretentious, definitely not high maintenance, and easy to talk to.We seem to have the same tastes in movies, both of us preferring comedies.Although, she confessed to liking a sappy, girly movie from time to time.But I think what I like the most is her strength of character, and her genius ability to care about others.

Milana never flinched when all the traditions were being imposed on her.She knew this was a rite of passage that could not be avoided if she were to gain acceptance intoIl Destino,and she forged past it with grace.She’s been nothing but respectful with my parents and has bonded with Fausto.I’ve seen her making an effort to watch football with him and asking questions to learn more about the game.

It could be said that Milana’s doing all this for her own survival.If she doesn’t blend well, then life will be difficult for her.But I think there’s more to it.She’s never had a proper family, never had a home to call her own.Even as a child, she was more of a nuisance to her father than anything else until it was convenient for him to use her for his own ends.Milana wants to belong.

“I do care about her.I believe she’s genuine in what she says and does.I also think she’s warm and gentle and wants to please us,” I respond.

“I think you feel more than you admit.”He grins, but I remain silent.He’s right, I do feel more than I should.To fall in love is perilous for the one who has our love.The enemy goes after what we care for most to hurt us.Alessio lifts a brow, but decides to move back to the topic at hand.

“Do you think we can get someone to clean up the image and it could give us a better indication of who this might be?”I ask.Alessio hates asking for help from another family.Even with the alliances with Marco, Reno, and Raffaele, he likes to keep things in our own inner circle.It’s the smart thing to do, but not always possible.It’s not that we haven’t stepped in when we were needed.On many occasions, our men have put their lives on the line to help out.

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