Page 49 of Twisted Knight

I nodded. “That’s a wonderful name.” Naming their little girl after Luca’s late sister and mother was the best ode to them.

I turned back toward Luca and looked down at Marco. “I fear this one may have your nose though.” I looked up with a smirk.

Luca rolled his eyes before extending his arms toward me.

“What are you doing?” I asked, raising my hand in a stop motion. Did my voice carry the panic I felt?

He laughed and shook his head. “Don’t you want to hold him?”

I looked down at the tiny baby in his arms. “No, of course not. I will break him.”

“You won’t. Babies are more resistant than you think.”

“Are those your words or your wife’s?”

Luca threw a quick look toward Cassie. “What do you think?”

“Hers.”

“Obviously!” He extended his arms a bit further. “I was even scared to touch them yesterday. It took a lot of pep talk, I admit, but once I had Marco and Arabella in my arms… I didn’t want to let them go.” He took a deep breath. “Just fold your arm like that.”

I mimicked his position and stopped breathing as he set the baby in my arms, his neck secured in the crook of my elbow.

“Just keep his neck like that; it’ll be fine.”

When Luca let go, I exhaled a little whoosh of air, looking down at the dozing infant in my arms. He was there, right in my arms. Fuck, did I love these children already.

“I’m going to be the best godfather and uncle you’ll ever get, kid.” I looked up and met Cassie’s eyes.

She was looking at me with a small smile, her hand on her heart and her eyes full of love and tenderness.

I winked at her before quickly looking at India who was rocking Arabella. She gave me a small smile that seemed to say ‘you got this,’ and I felt my heart swell even more with her faith in me.

I turned back to Luca. “How does it feel? To be a father.”

He looked away thoughtfully for a minute before turning toward me. “I am not sure I can really express how it feels. I thought I was ready. I didn’t expect to feel the way I felt when I saw them. They got Marco out first and when I heard his first cry, my heart…” He rubbed at his chest. “It was instant love, a love so deep I almost fell on my knees. It was everything all at once, and if I thought I loved my wife before—” He shook his head. “It seems like a distant memory with the way I feel for her now, how I look at her every time she is nursing one of our babies.” He looked up at the ceiling, his Adam's apple bobbing under the weight of his emotion. “I’d die without them. I’ll gladly fall in the pit of hell with a fucking smile on my face if I lost them.”

I looked down at Marco again before glancing toward Cassie who was chatting excitedly with India and Jude, somehow oblivious at the intense sharing of emotions and fear happening on this side of the room.

I met my best friend's eyes and saw the fear he was trying to hide.

“Nothing will happen to them. I’m here too. I’ll protect your family with my life.”

Luca rested his hand on the side of my neck. “Our family, fratello.”

“Yea, our family.”

Luca sighed, motioning us to the end of the room which had chairs. “Let's go sit for a while and talk.”

I nodded, walking slowly so as not to wake up the baby in my arms and sat as carefully as possible, letting out a sigh of relief once my ass touched the seat.

“You seem okay.” Luca started studying me critically. “I thought you’d be irritated after yesterday's dead end and going to Baker's Place.” He grimaced. “All that for nothing.”

I let out a short laugh. “I know. I took a shower with bleach when I came back just to make sure. Am I frustrated?” I shrugged. “Maybe a little. I’m more concerned than frustrated, and Matteo was frustrated enough for the both of us.” I still hardly believed that I’d witnessed Matteo Genovese completely lose his cool.

Luca nodded, resting his hand on the armrest, tapping his forefinger rhythmically. “He called me last night.”

I frowned. Couldn’t Genovese just cut him a fucking break? He just became a father. How cold could that man be? “Whatever he asked you to do, tell me. I’ll take care of it.”

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