Page 43 of Of Murder and Matrimony

Niccolò set a mug in front of me and took a seat across the table, resting his left arm on the surface while he wrapped his hand around his coffee cup. His eyes held a new depth of pain and wariness that hadn’t been there before the shooting. He avoided looking me in the eye.

“Care to tell me what’s going on?” I asked, sipping the hot coffee. I stared down at the gold band on my left ring finger.

“The FBI is sniffing around again,” Niccolò answered, pulling out the chair next to him as Mia approached with a loaf of braided bread on a wooden board. It steamed as she cut it into thick slices and slathered them with butter, passing them to each of us.

I bit into the soft bread and chewed before asking, “Who?”

“I didn’t recognize the agent this time.” Niccolò kissed his wife on the cheek and finished half his slice of bread in one bite.

Mia tore a bit from hers and nibbled. “They’ve talked to me twice.”

“What?” I snapped, my eyes darting to my brother. “And you didn’t think to mention it before now?”

“It was all in the past week,” Mia rushed on. “We didn’t want to bother you, given your marriage. You need time to… acclimate to married life.”

I chuckled at her blush. “I assure you, there are more pressing things than spending time with Olesya right now. Like the feds stalking my brother and his wife.”

She pressed her lips into a line and looked away. I didn’t bother telling her my marriage was nothing like hers. While Niccolò forced her into nuptials, she’d quickly fallen for him, and he loved her obsessively. Olesya and I had an undeniable attraction, but the bad blood between our families and our past created a wall that seemed insurmountable.

Niccolò interrupted my thoughts. “What do you want us to do?”

“Keep living your life.” I shrugged. My brother wasn’t involved in the family business any longer, so the feds wouldn’t get any info by following him. The bureau hadn’t been happy to learn one of their own was blown up in a hit. It might be better if they focused on him and Mia for a while instead of the rest of us. “I’ll have somebody look into it. Cosimo’s network might know something.”

As I pulled my phone out, a call came through.

“Speak of the devil,” I muttered, swiping across the screen. “Cos. Did you wake up early or have a long night?”

“It’s been a fucking disaster.” He sighed. “Drive-by outside one of the warehouses. Six men down. One dead. The only kid who saw anything is in surgery. Might be helpful to have you here when he wakes up.”

My stomach clenched at the news, my vision darkening at the corners. “I’ll head over when I’m done at Niccolò’s.”

Cosimo ended the call, and I returned my phone to my pocket. “I’ll talk to him about the feds when I see him. I need to get to the hospital.”

Niccolò paled at the word, his gaze turning far away before he shook his head and slowly stood. “Yeah. Let me know what happens.”

“Will do.” I turned to my sister-in-law and offered her a smile. “Thanks for the bread. It was delicious, as always. Maybe you can teach my wife how to cook like that.”

“Anytime.” Her voice was tight, but she busied herself removing the bread from the table and wiping all the surfaces in the kitchen.

I drew Niccolò into a brief hug, patting him gently on the cheek as I pulled away. “Hold steady. It’ll take time.”

“Mia’s pregnant,” he murmured, glancing at his wife, who had her back turned as she wrapped the leftover bread in plastic. “She doesn’t want people to know, but… I need you to know.”

“I understand.” My brother didn’t want anything happening to his wife or unborn child. They’d already suffered that loss once when her late uncle laced hot chocolate and mints with abortifacients. Niccolò killed him for it. “How far along?”

“Just got the positive test yesterday.” Pride laced his words, and a shadow of a smile lifted his face. He led me from the kitchen to the front door.

“Congratulations,” I whispered when I stepped outside. “We’ll keep them safe.”

Niccolò swallowed hard. “Thank you.”

He shut the door behind me, and the sun warmed my back, birds chirping a summer soundtrack that didn’t match the storm brewing in my mind. Another family member to protect. Another responsibility that fell on my shoulders. I had to embrace it because failure was not an option.

I arrived at the hospital just as the young soldier came out of surgery. It turned out the kid hadn’t seen much as the shooters dressed in black tactical gear. They had shouted in a language that sounded like Russian, though. Of course. I wasn’t surprised, but it made my blood sing for revenge.

Cosimo assigned a man to the kid’s room and left to track down somebody in the Bratva with information on the attack. If anybody could draw out the truth, it was my brother. Few people resisted his methods of interrogation.

I didn’t stick around the hospital. The sterile white walls and smell of antiseptic reminded me of the hours I’d paced the waiting room waiting for word about my brother. It was unrealistic to believe I’d never set foot inside a medical facility again, but that didn’t make me despise it any less. I left the capo in charge of the warehouse to speak to the family of the man we lost because I didn’t think I could face a brokenhearted mother.

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