Page 6 of The Godfather’s Christmas Twins

"I thought I could handle it."

"Handle it?" He looks at me like I’m an idiot. "Someone's threatening you, watching you, and you think you can handle it alone?"

The tears I've been holding back spill over. Nic's expression softens, and suddenly, I'm a little girl again, running to my big brother after a nightmare.

He pulls me into a fierce hug. "No one threatens my family. No one."

"I'm sorry. I just… I thought it was a prank or some jerk. You have so much going on dealing with the fallout after Dad’s death and Bella and the kids?—"

He pulls back, gripping my shoulders. "I never have so much going on that I can’t protect my family." He guides me to a chair. “Want some water or something?”

I don’t, but I feel like I need the distraction or something to do with my hands. “Yeah, sure.”

He grabs a bottle of water from a mini-fridge he keeps in his office. “Do you have any idea who it might be?”

I shake my head as I take the water and open it, but don’t sip. “No.”

“What secrets is he talking about?” The question sounds rhetorical, like he’s trying to determine my father’s secrets. But the note said I keep secrets as well. The only one I have is about the kids.

“I don’t know.” I hate lying to Nic. I question whether I should. But I can’t see how anyone would know about the twin’s true parentage. I’ve never told anyone. “Could it be someone loyal to Dad?”

Nic sucks in a breath. “Maybe. Most are dead.”

“Some work for you. Could they be pretending to be loyal to you?”

He nods. “It’s possible. I have a pretty good sense of everyone, but someone playing a long game of revenge could be involved. Loyalty bought with fear isn’t easy to maintain.”

“What about Benny?”

He arches a brow. “What secret would Benny know of Dad’s? Or yours?”

I swallow down my guilt. “I don’t know. But what would any of Dad’s men know of my secrets?”

“What secrets do you have?”

My brain stutters for a moment. “None that anyone would care about enough to harass me over.”

He studies me, and I worry he’s going to push me. "First thing, I'm putting security on you and the kids. Round the clock."

My first instinct is to balk at this. I don’t like always having people watching me. But if the kids and I are in danger, I suppose having security isn’t a bad thing.

"I'll have Marco trace these messages." Nic picks up my phone again. "And I'm calling in some favors. Traffic cameras, surveillance footage from that café. If someone's been following you, we'll find them."

"And when you do?"

His smile doesn't reach his eyes. "Then they learn why crossing the new Don is worse than crossing the old one."

I grew up with this sort of mentality, but I’ve been in the real world enough to know that’s not how things normally work. Normally, there would be police and prosecution. In my brother’s world, he’s the law, judge, jury, and executioner.

"No one threatens my family, Gia. No one touches those kids." He sets my phone down and picks up his, poking the buttons. "Get me Marco. Now." He hangs up and blows out a breath. "Stay with us tonight. You and the kids will be safe there. We'll figure out next steps once we know what we're dealing with."

“I don’t want to bring this to Bella and the kids?—”

“No one can get access to my family in my house.”

I start to nod when my phone rings. Automatically, I pick up the phone and glance at the caller ID.

“Who is it?” Nic asks.

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