Page 52 of Cassio (Belles & Mobsters 3)

Four Weeks Later

Luca and I pulled up in front of Nico’s large manor in Maryland where my sister and nieces now lived permanently. Bianca tried her best to convince Nico they should all live in her Gibson Island house, but he refused. I completely agreed. That place was a security nightmare and after she was kidnapped late last year, he was even more diligent on the security. He tightened the security on every single property and around his family.

“How is my favorite sister?” I strode into the kitchen. It was usually where Bianca spent most of her time. It was amazing how easily she missed visitors when she was engrossed in her cooking and baking. It was good Nico had this entire place surrounded by guards.

I looked her over. She looked happy, practically glowing. She and Nico had been married for barely six months. It felt good to see them happy together. Slowly, the families that we all always craved became reality. Nico had gotten my sister who he had wanted for years. Luciano and Grace worked out their years of troubles and were now expecting another child.

Bianca came up to me, wiping her hands on a dishtowel, and placing a kiss onto my cheek.

“Hello Cassio,” she greeted me. Her gesture reminded me of my Sicilian aunts. “And Luca. My two favorite brothers.”

She kissed Luca next. After everything that has happened, Bianca let Luca and I be part of her and the twins' lives. It meant more than she’d ever comprehend. We became closer and somehow life became better. I hoped with Áine it would get even better.

“You know, we are your only brothers,” Luca retorted dryly.

“Do you know I’m your only sister?” She shook her head, smiling.

“Touché,” I said. Regardless, she was our favorite family relative. The twins and Bianca became important to all of us.

She stepped back, observing both of us. “Is everything okay?”

“Why do you ask that every time you see us?” Luca rolled his eyes. He picked up that habit from our sister. She was a worrier. I knew she couldn’t help it; not after the shitstorm she went through since being thrown into our world.

“Oh, I don’t know,” she murmured. “Maybe because wherever you go, trouble follows. What is going on?”

Bianca might not have any relations to my mother’s side, but she behaved like them through and through. Always worrying about the people she loved; always feeding them; always ensuring they were taken care of during the holidays.

During her honeymoon to Italy, Nico and she stopped to visit my family in Sicily. Luca and I had the pleasure of babysitting our nieces, and it was one of the best weeks of our lives. It worked out for the best. Nico and Bianca needed time alone after her kidnapping; Luca and I needed time to get our nieces used to us. Our family in Sicily was enamored with my sister while my brother and I were wrapped around our nieces’ middle fingers. Bianca had been adopted and the fact she killed that bastard of our father earned her extra points. Not that she was going for them considering what her mother went through.

“Where are the twins?” I asked her instead.

I wasn’t about to tell her that I’d asked Nico to retrieve every detailed piece of information on Áine. I checked my soon-to-be-wife’s travel schedule over the last few years and her business trips were frequent and not only for HC Architecture. She spent a lot of time in unlikely destinations, and I wanted to know why.

I had learned a few extra things about Áine since Las Vegas. She was a workaholic, smart as a whip, and wasn’t afraid of anything. Except elevators, as she liked to remind me. We’d been texting frequently over the last four weeks. Some days more than the others. And then she tended to go radio silent. The first time she did it, I was ready to fly out to Europe and tear Croatia apart, stone by fucking stone. I thought something happened to her.

She was overseeing a project in Croatia, and then on her second day there, she turned off her phone and put me through hell. She had to do a quick day trip. At least it was the excuse she gave me. Except, it didn’t add up. I owned HC Architecture and there was no record of needed trips during the project in Croatia. My gut was warning me Áine was hiding something,

“In school.” She glanced at the clock, absentmindedly rubbing her belly. I suspected I knew what it meant but waited for her and Nico to finally say it. “Nico is picking them up, so they’ll be home soon.”

She tilted her head at both Luca and I. “Why don’t you sit down? I’ll get you something to eat.”

I rest my case, I thought wryly.Always tries to feed us. But it meant she cared about us, so I’d take her infinite feedings. My lips curved into a smile. Bianca had a way of making us all feel at home. Always.

“No complaints here,” Luca muttered, flopping down. “I love your cooking.”

She chuckled, bringing both of us a lemonade and water.

“What the hell is this?” Luca muttered, eyeing the lemonade like it was poison. I had to bite the inside of my cheek. Nico told me Bianca became obsessed with Nonno’s lemonade recipe and kept trying to replicate it. Needless to say, everyone was sick and tired of lemonade.

Our sister completely missed Luca’s horrific tone and smiled. “It’s lemonade. I think I’m pretty close to your grandfather’s recipe. Try it.”

Luca groaned. “Isn’t there alcohol in it?”

“Haha,” she retorted dryly. “Just drink it or I’ll starve you.”

She turned to fix our plates. Truthfully, I wasn’t much into eating, but I knew Bianca would fidget until I ate something. Ever since she moved into Nico’s place, it always smelled like cookies on this side of the house. She took it upon herself to bake cookies for all of Nico’s men.

Luca and I sat down at the little table in the kitchen. No sense in having Bianca run back and forth to the dining room. Besides, once Nico was here, I needed him and if my sister was in the kitchen, less likely she would hear our conversation.

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