Page 133 of Luca
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Kyran hissed. “You’re defending a man who killed our mother!”
My heart squeezed. I knew they’d take it hard. They’d always been closer to Mother than I was.
“Please, try to understand,” I rasped. “She wasn’t as perfect as you think. She was cheating on Da with Benito King.”
My brothers’ jaws tightened and their expressions darkened. Silence was ominous.
“Jesus Christ,” Aiden muttered, breaking the silence. “Tell your husband that his killing members of our family ends with our mother. I find out he’s laid a finger on you, I’m coming for him. Agreement or no about Callahans in Italy.”
Yep, that was my family. Ride or die. No matter what. I should have known they’d keep us safe.
I wrapped my arms around all three of my brothers. “I missed you all so much. I have to take Luca back to Sicily, but I promise I’ll keep in touch.” I took a step back and wiped my nose with the back of my hand. It wasn’t graceful at all. “She knows you all. We talked about family and uncles every day.”
The three of them kissed me on the forehead. “Go take care of your husband,” Aiden urged. “We have the rest of our lives to catch up.”
I watched their backs as they disappeared into the night, then turned to face the three men still here. Sasha, Luciano, and Cassio remained with me.
“You three will have to squeeze in the backseat.” With a grumble, they opened the backdoor and readied to shove their big frames in, when I remembered. “Cassio, you sit next to Penelope. She’ll know your face if she wakes. She won’t know theirs.”
He paused, then nodded.
As they crammed into the back, I rushed around the car and closed the door and got behind the steering wheel. Penelope was still fast asleep in her seat. I reached behind the seat for the blanket I tucked in there and covered Luca. He was still only wearing boxers and the temperatures weren’t as warm anymore.
I hit the gas and sent the car flying down the road. I quickly connected to Bluetooth and called Nonno. The last thing we needed was for him to assume we failed and attack Marchetti, causing more trouble. More debts to be paid.
My pulse spiked when he picked up after the second ring.
“Where are you?” Nonno asked at once.
I glanced at Luca who was slumped against the passenger door, breathing shallowly, then my eyes flickered to the rearview mirror to find Cassio watching me.
“We’re coming home,” I rasped out. “We’re on our way.”
“Marchetti let him go?” Nonno asked incredulously. I guess the guy wasn’t known for mercy.
“Yes.”
“What did you promise him?”
I swallowed hard. “I told him I’d uphold the arrangement between our kids.”
Silence stretched. I wondered why Cassio wasn’t saying anything. His eyes were locked on Penelope, studying her with a soft expression. The other two had their lids shut. Maybe those days in the basement drained them all. Glancing in the rearview mirror, Cassio’s gaze flickered to me, but he remained silent.
“Where are you? I’ll send a helicopter.”
“We’re just leaving Rome.”
“Margaret.” Nonno’s voice was soft. “I owe you. We owe you. We wronged you, but we can make it right.”
Somehow all that seemed irrelevant now. Years alone with Penelope gave me a different perspective on what mattered and what didn’t. Luca made an arrangement to save me. I couldn’t fault him for it. Cassio set me up, but he was never the one for me. This man next to me was. My life belonged to him from the moment he saved that little five-year-old girl.
“None of that matters,” I told him. “I just want Luca to get through this. Then we’ll go from there.”
Hopefully my marriage was salvageable.
“He never stopped looking for you,” Nonno said quietly. “If I knew Marchetti was keeping you hidden all along, I’d have asked him for mercy sooner.”
Tears stung in my eyes. Nonno was a proud man and he’d have asked Marchetti for a favor just to bring us home.
