Page 7 of Savage Hearts

Antonio moved away from me and pulled Madison into his arms. I couldn’t contain my laugh when Massimo growled beside him.

“Oh, stop it, you big jerk. That’s your brother, not to mention Madison is completely in love with you. Hell, she’d have to be to have put up with you and the family drama for so long.”

“Mine.” Massimo pulled Madison away from Antonio and into his embrace. “You’ve got your own woman… and man at home. Go rub on them and stop touching mine.”

“You ass.” Madison slapped his chest.

His lips covered hers, making everyone groan.

“Jesus… can you two save that for when we aren’t all standing here watching?” Carmela made a gagging noise, causing me to burst into laughter.

Massimo broke the kiss and arched his brow. “Oh… so you expect me to watch Alex maul you, but I can’t do that with my woman?”

“Wait.” Vincenzo turned toward my twin, his eyes narrowing. “You and Alex?” He scanned the bar, his gaze landing on the man in question standing by the entrance. “I’m going to kill him.”

“Whoa there, psycho.” Massimo gripped his jacket, halting him in place. “Alex is a good man. This isn’t a bad thing, Vin. He’ll keep Carmela out of trouble.”

Vincenzo paused, the fight leaving his body as he sighed. “You’re okay with it?”

“Yeah. Of course, if he hurts her, you have my permission to show him how well you handle a knife.”

“What?” Carmela’s eyes widened. “No, you can’t do that. Jesus Christ, what’s wrong with this family?”

I couldn’t stop laughing. My family was the textbook definition of dysfunctional. We never did things like normal people—ever. I placed my palm over my belly button and smiled. Being pregnant wasn’t ideal, but looking at the people surrounding me, I knew I would be okay.

“Massimo, I need a favor.” My brother turned to look at me. “If you hear from Beckett, I don’t want him to know.”

“You don’t want him to know he’s going to be a father?”

“I don’t want him to come back because I’m having his baby. I’d always question if he was here because he actually loves me, or if it was a sense of duty. Despite what you think you know about him, Beckett Hart prides himself on his sense of duty. It’s partly why he’s not here, right? Because he thinks he’s keeping me safe? Imagine what he’ll do if he learns I’m carrying his baby.”

“He’ll come back because he thinks he has to.” Madison spoke the words I knew were true in my heart.

“Ding, ding, ding.” I pressed my lips together briefly. “And I don’t want that. So, promise me, Massimo. I’m your sister, so your loyalty is to me… nothim.”

Massimo’s gaze held mine for a beat before he dipped his chin.

“Fine, but eventually, you need to let him know, Celestina. A man deserves to know he has an heir and owes you—whether you want to believe that.”

“Fine… I’ll cross that bridge if I’m ever faced with him again, but for now, I don’t want him alerted.”

“Alright, enough doom and gloom.” I clapped my hands. “I’m hungry. Who wants to take me to lunch?”

“I’ll take her, then bring her home.” Antonio stepped forward. “Maybe we can go shopping after I get you fed.”

“Alright, keep her safe, brother.” Massimo patted him on the back. “Fino a stasera.”

Antonio nodded in return, “Fino a stasera. Come on, mama, let’s go get you some grub.”

I hugged everyone goodbye and followed Antonio toward the exit. Alex smiled as I approached.

“Congratulations, Celestina.”

I pushed my body against his and gripped his balls in my hand.

“If you hurt my sister, I’ll strip your balls off your body and feed them to you.”

Alex’s eyes widened. “Um, you think you could let go of my nuts, Celestina?”

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