Page 36 of Bellini Born
But once I gave in to that temptation, it became impossible to resist. Over and over, I found myself checking to see what they were doing. I witnessed them doing everything from eating lunch to making paper crowns to having a dance party to using magnetic letters to spell simple words.
There was no other way to say it: I was obsessed with watching Summer interact with my girls. She was so good with them. Not once had she lost her patience—which was easy to do when dealing with a headstrong four-year-old—and her smile was still firmly in place even while Bianca chatted her ear off.
“Since your mind’s clearly elsewhere, maybe the rest of you should be there too.”
My gaze lifted to find Enzo sauntering into my office, a knowing smile on his face.
Clicking a button on the side of my cell made the screen go black. “Too much to do here.”
“Nothing you can’t handle from the home office after the girls are in bed,” he countered. “If you head out now, you might even make it in time for dinner.”
I shook my head. “We have that shipment coming in tonight.” Guns from our supplier overseas were expected to arrive at a private airstrip at midnight.
Enzo huffed out a laugh. “Believe it or not, Iamcapable of heading up the team to receive it.”
My head fell back against my desk chair. “You shouldn’t have to, though.”
“It’s my job to supportyou. And I’ll be the first to admit it wasn’t fair that you got thrown into the deep end with Gio leaving. If he were here, you’d be at home tonight. So, go. Enjoy domestic bliss with your hot new nanny.” He chuckled. “Awfully convenient that you put her in the bedroom that can be accessed via a hidden door from yours.”
“Thanks for making her suspicious as fuck about that, by the way.”
The bastard smirked. “What? All I said was that it was interesting. Which it is. Sweet little Summer has no idea that her employer can sneak in anytime he wants.”
My jaw locked tight. “Stop making me out to be some kind of creep.”
“Aren’t you?” he challenged, one eyebrow raised. “I mean, there’s a reason you all but forced her to move in.”
“I didn’t force her to do anything. She was adamant that she couldn’t accept my repayment of her loans, so I offered her an alternative.”
“Come on, Matteo. Don’t act like you don’t have ulterior motives. I see the way you look at her.”
Groaning, I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Am I really that transparent?”
Enzo shrugged. “Hard to say if anyone else picks up on it, but from where I was standing earlier today, it’s a wonder I didn’t get scorched from the amount of heat that was in your eyes.”
I blew out a breath so heavy my lips buzzed. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she cast a spell on not only me, but the girls. Bianca’s back to being my sweet angel, and when I peeked in on them having lunch, Serafina gobbled up her rice cereal.”
A low whistle sounded. “Damn, thatisimpressive. Usually, whoever is feeding her ends up wearing more of that mush thangets inside her mouth.” He eyed me carefully from across the desk. “So, what’s the plan?”
“To be honest, I’m flying by the seat of my pants. Yesterday, the opportunity fell right into my lap for her to move in. And now that she’s there . . .”
“You’re never going to let her go.” Enzo finished my sentence.
Dragging a hand through my hair, I closed my eyes, admitting, “This past year has been hard.”
“I know, man.”
“And the girls have suffered the most. You, me, and Gio, we were all fine without mothers in our lives, but I saw how it impacted Gemma. I never wanted that for Bianca and Serafina.”
When our fathers got married, it was for only one purpose: reproduction. Once their wives provided sons, they’d been sent away, never to be heard from again.
I was the youngest of the four cousins with no recollection of the woman who had given birth to me, and I found it hard to mourn the loss of a person in my life I had never known. But Gemma was the oldest, and though she didn’t remember her own mother, she remembered mine.
Viviana was her name. According to Gemma, she’d loved Gio, had loved me. And she hadn’t wanted to leave us but hadn’t exactly been given a choice.
I understood why. My father, Dominic, and his identical twin brother, Dario, had wanted to raise their boys to be tough, strong enough to carry on the family legacy. They feared the softer touch of a woman had the potential to instill weakness in us—something that had no place in our dark world.
When I married Allegra, I was determined not to repeat the past. She became my partner, valued beyond her capability to produce heirs. Yet a cruel twist of fate stole her from my daughters anyway.
