Page 88 of The Woman with the Target on her Back (Grassi Family)

Across from the living space was the bedroom, the door open, so I spied the bottom of the bed.

I couldn’t see past the half wall that cut off the living space and the kitchen/dining area, but I could hear the rumble of August’s voice as he called Aurelio and his cousin.

I probably should have asked more questions about said cousin. I’d been a little too overwhelmed to think straight.

But with a bracingly strong cup of coffee in my hands, my brain was starting to work right again.

The sound of footsteps moved down the hall a few minutes later, making me tense, but August just rubbed my thigh.

“It’s Aurelio,” he said.

“Right,” I agreed as he got up to open the door.

It wasn’t just Aurelio who walked in, though. Behind him was an equally as tall and handsome man, albeit a bit younger. The familial resemblance was clear. The same bone structure, hair, eyes.

This had to be one of Aurelio’s brothers.

If my memory of their family tree served me right, this had to be Milo. The “baby.”

“Angel,” Aurelio said, voice tight as his gaze moved over me.

“I’m okay,” I assured him, even if all the pains around my body seemed to be intensifying by the moment. “Hey, Milo,” I greeted the other man standing a few feet back in an all-black suit.

“As the handsomest Grassi, I’m not surprised my reputation precedes me,” Milo said with a charmingly devilish smile.

“I’m sorry if my presence is pulling you away from something important.”

“Hey, this gets me out of helping my sister haul mulch tomorrow,” he said.

“Smush?” I asked.

“Elisa,” he corrected.

She was the girl Grassi that I knew the least about.

“Don’t worry, Lucky will do it,” Milo said. “Is something burning?” he asked, taking a deep breath.

It was right then that all of us smelled it too.

“Shit,” August said, starting to stand, but Aurelio was already striding toward the kitchen. “My ma made me a lasagne. I was heating it up when you came in.”

Despite the insanity of this night, my stomach still grumbled at its emptiness as I raised the coffee cup to my lips, taking a long drink, hoping it would suppress my appetite for a while.

“That’s gotta be Lettie,” Milo said when a buzzer sounded in the room, making me jump so hard that I spilled coffee onto my hands.

Walking over, he buzzed her up, then opened the door to the hall, holding it open as a gorgeous dark-haired woman moved in with a big duffle bag.

“Thanks for coming, Lettie,” August said, standing.

“You know me,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m always on call. Hey,” she said, giving me a warm smile.

“This is Traveler,” August said. “Trav, this is Lettie. She’s a doctor. More or less,” he added, making my brows raise.

“I dropped out like a semester short of graduation,” Lettie explained. “Will you come with me to the bedroom, so I can look you over?” she asked.

“Sure,” I agreed, handing my coffee to August with a small smile as I followed Lettie.

“Does your side hurt?” she asked, picking up on my strange gait.

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