Page 45 of Gin & Trouble

The longer he delayed, the faster my pulse raced. “If you want to talk about it…”

“It’s fucking Leo.” Dante scrubbed both hands through his hair. “He’s a goddamned idiot.”

“Why do you say that?”

Two things about what he’d said surprised me. I didn’t know Leo well, but I would never describe him as an idiot. Moody, serious, brooding, yes. Idiot? No. Second, I’d never heard Dante drop the f-bomb. Whatever had happened had thrown him for a loop.

Brow furrowed, he removed a chocolate croissant from the bag and placed it on the plate. “Eat. This might take a while.”

I slid onto a barstool and sipped my coffee.

“Leo calls this morning, bright and early, practically demanding I get him a tree and a goldfish.” Dante motioned to the pastry.

“That’s…random.” I took a bite to appease him, but had to hold back a moan when the buttery goodness hit my taste buds.

“Yes and no.” He sat beside me. “Leo has afriend, Dahlia. They hadn’t spoken in months, but she was at the birthday party yesterday. She’s having the same problem as you, only it’s not an ex, just some random weirdo.”

I nodded, though I had no idea where he was going with the story. “She has a stalker?”

“Yeah. Basically, the guy broke into her house, and she’s staying with Leo until things settle.”

I didn’t think that made him an idiot, more like a hero, or at least a standup kind of man. Either way, Leo wasn’t the first Marchionni to swoop in and protect a woman. Besides what Dante had done for me, Marco had rescued Nico. If the rumors were true, Enzo and Gabe had risked their lives for the women they loved.

“Are all of the men in your family programmed to rescue damsels in distress?”

Dante seemed to consider the question, frowned, and nodded. “Yeah, I guess we are.”

The way he talked about his family, how he went out at the crack of dawn to help his brother, the way he’d invited me into his home—Dante was exactly the kind of man I wanted to spend my life with. Only, there were no happily ever afters for an Abruzzo and a Marchionni—no matter how much we wanted it.

The croissant turned to a brick in my belly. “I’m confused.”

“Leo helping her isn’t the problem.” He stood and paced the floor between the island and the counter. “The thing is, she has a son. My family knows about the kid, but none of us had met him, until today.”

The more he talked, the more I felt like I was missing something. “You met him?”

Dante stopped moving and turned to me. “Yep. He’s two and a half and freaking adorable. His name is Gunnar, and there’s no doubt he’s Leo’s.”

Whoa. I did not see that coming.

I thought I’d misunderstood, but the look of utter frustration on his face told me otherwise. “Leo knows he’s the father?”

“I assume so.”

I tried to put myself in Dante’s place. How would I feel if one of my sisters had a secret child? Betrayed? Hurt? Sure, but his reaction seemed…off, as if he were taking it personal. But why? “I’m sure he had his reasons for keeping quiet.”

“I’m sure he did, but things have changed and he’s still hiding his son from our family.” He pressed his lips together and glanced away.

I recognized the pain in his eyes. I wore the same angry, devastated, lost expression every time I thought about my dad.That’s it. That’s what’s bugging him. “You’re upset because your father may not get the chance to meet Gunnar.”

Dante whipped his head in my direction. He smiled for a half a heartbeat before it melted away. “It’s crazy how well you know me.”

I could have said the same thing to him. He knew me better than anyone else on the planet, my sisters included. Except my name, why I was working for his family, why I’d stolen his brother’s blood, who I was running from, why I was running, my sister’s alleged involvement with his oldest brother’s death… I could have gone on and on.

I cleared my throat and my racing thoughts. “Like I said, I’m sure Leo had his reasons for keeping his son a secret.”

Sitting beside me, Dante took my hands in his, met my gaze, and said the absolute last thing I expected. “Probably the same reasons I didn’t tell you my real name. He wanted to keep Gunnar and Dahlia safe from the mafia.”

14

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