Page 61 of Secret Babies for the Italian Mafia Boss

I open the back door and help Olivia out first, then take Camilla’s hand as she climbs out.

“Wow, Luca. This is beautiful.” She stares at the estate with miles of the forest behind us. Every bit of land I own is fenced with a ten-foot iron gate. If anyone gets past that, well, my men will have a fun hunt on their hands.

Predators do not only walk on four legs.

My men take shifts, combing every part of the forest to make sure no one gets any clever ideas.

“You’re safe here,” I reassure her. “Much safer than the apartment. No one can get through these gates.”

“I know. I already feel better being here.”

“I’m glad.” I wrap my arm around her waist and feel something between us shift, something vital.

She’s letting me in.

She’s giving me the control to care for her, and there is something so beautiful and serene about it that it takes my breath away.

The kids screaming ruins the moment.

“Alvize! Alvize! You want to build us a playground?” Oliver asks.

“Oh, and an ice cream booth. We neededed ice cream on the playground, Oli,” Olivia says to her twin.

“Sure, whatever you want,” Alvize agrees, and Camilla tsks at his decision to say yes.

“What?” he asks as the twins run up the stairs to the giant wooden door.

“Now you have to do it. You can’t agree to something to get them to stop talking. They are going to ask again.”

“Nah, they will forget.”

Camilla shakes her head. “Good luck with that, Alvize.”

“This door is so heavy!” Olivia tugs on the door but can’t get it open.

“It’s locked, silly girl.” I press my thumb against the fingerprint scanner, and the locks slide and clank, the door opening automatically as if we are about to walk into a vault.

That’s exactly what this castle is, a vault.

“Woah,” the kids ‘ooh’ and ‘aww’ as they take in their new home. They won’t ever be going back to that apartment again. “It’s so big.” They tilt their heads all the way back to look at high ceilings. There are cherry pine beams stretching from either side of the wall. The floors are original hardwood slabs from the 1800s, and there is a wood-burning fireplace in the middle of the living room.

Okay, so maybe not everything is modern on the inside. I love a classic wood-burning fireplace, and a wood-burning fireplace is cozy.

“Do you want a tour?” I ask, and while the kids scream, Camilla doesn’t seem to want to.

“I think it’s time for bed for two little cuties,” she tells them.

“Mommy,” the groan, then proceed to pout.

“We can take a tour in the morning. Okay? You need to get to bed.”

“I agree. Come on. I’ll show you your rooms.”

“We have our own rooms?” Oliver shouts, and his voice echoes throughout the house. “We’ve never had our own rooms.”

“Wait, will we be far away from each other?” Olivia’s eyes water, but the tears don’t fall.

“No, what’s really amazing is the rooms you have next to one another have an adjoining door which means you can keep it shut, so you have your own space, or you can leave it open, and it is like having one big room.”

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