Page 86 of Matteo

Nora shrugged while I moved to open the fridge, feeling thirsty. Pulling out a bottle of water, I opened it and started to drink.

“I still don’t know. But she has him and she has the codex. But don’t worry…if anyone can find your baby daddy, it's his brothers.”

Water spewed out of my mouth and my eyes grew wide. “Mmmm….what!”

She rolled her eyes and waved me away, turning on my Netflix. “Girl bye…I don’t know what you did to that man, buthe’s wanted you in the worst way. Next thing we know you’re on the run with him…p.s. yall made it three days…”

“I’m sorry Little Miss Corsican Secret Keeper…”

Nora whipped around. “Wait…so you know know about them?”

I arched a brow. “Yes, I know know about them…way to not let me know the Boy Scout had a dual entity inside of him.”

My sister grinned. “Well in my defense after the whole saving you incident, you kind of stopped taking my calls. Oooo, have you seen Wednesday, yet?”

Rain was pointing to Wednesday Addams in all her gothic glory and I shook my head before coming to sit down. “Nope. And I’m getting hungry.”

“Okay, let’s order a pizza…”

That did it.

The thought of cheese had me twisting in the wind and I rushed to the bathroom and vomited once more. This time, while I was dry-heaving over my toilet and contemplating my life, I realized that I should have called my sister sooner.

For the first time in three months, the world felt as if it had started to slow down.

Calmly, I wiped my mouth and stared at my reflection. I looked worse for wear. My lips were still chapped and my eyes looked glassy from crying but my Brazillian install looked to perfect.

With a hesitant breath, I lifted my hand and let it linger in the air before gently resting it on my round belly. "We're going to find your father really soon," I murmured, my voice filled with hope. "I think he’ll like the idea of you..." As I spoke, a gentle tune slipped from my lips—a lullaby from the depths of my memory, its origins lost to time. I turned and made my way back to the couch, where I snuggled under a cozy, thick blanket with Rain, the soft fabric enveloping us both in warmth.

For right now, I wasn’t alone.

And maybe Matty would find me in my dreams tonight after months of nothing.

Maybe,I thought trying to keep away any worry that was lingering.

Chapter 25

Mason

Three months had passed like it was nothing, like a fleeting breeze but still, my brother’s text message message remained at the forefront of my mind. No matter what task my boss Sebastian Deluca had me doing, that text lived rent-free in my brain.

Hurry to the hotel, Rain needs help. I have to go, but Mom is alive.

Nora and I had just started the Flash, cuddled up on the couch in her apartment, because she’d been wanting to rewatch. I hadn’t watched it and my knowledge of Barry Allen stopped at knowing he was a comic book character.

The second I read that text, it was as if lightning had invaded every cell of my body. Years of buried grief had wanted to erupt to the surface but I’d pushed it down.

Carmine and I had arrived at the hotel and found Rain in a puddle of confusion and our brother nowhere in sight.

The realization that our mother was alive had sent me and all of my brothers into a tailspin.

Where had she been all that time?

Why had she left us?

Why had she faked her death?

And why had she only taken Matteo now, after all these years?

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