Page 62 of DeLucas After Dark

“Big bro is second-guessing his decision,” Ales says, nodding his head at me.

Nico raises an eyebrow and pulls his cigarette back to his lips. With a slight nod, he says, “I can see that.”

“I can’t. He never second-guesses himself. You never second-guess yourself,” Ales says, pointing at me.

“Don’t want to fuck this up.”

“Then why’d you decide to do it?” Ales asks.

“She said she wanted something small and intimate. She even said she’d consider eloping yesterday if that meant she didn’t have to plan another wedding. Only problem is she knows I want my family there.”

“You can’t predict how women will act even when you think you’ve got all the clues and the algorithms figured out,” Nico says.

“This coming from the guy who has never had a relationship, let alone brought a woman home,” Ales chuckles, jerking his thumb at our baby brother.

“Why the fuck would I do something like that?” Nico asks.

He’s considered to be grumpy like me, just not fucking crazy. I would say that Nico’s the smartest out of all of us because he plays by his own rules and keeps everyone the fuck out of his business. Not just in how he handles his personal life, but the kid is just smart as shit. He was an all-A student throughout school, earning a Civil Engineering degree.

“Mamma is gonna want grandkids from you soon,” Ales says.

“You’re doing a great job of keeping her supplied with them between you and Mass. D’ya know he has another little fucker on the way?” Nico asks.

Laughing, I reply, “The last two months.”

“The fuck? He never said anything to me until last week,” Ales says.

“I just found out yesterday morning,” Nico says.

I look at them and shake my head. My twin, Massimo and I have always been close, but these two feel left out whenever I know something about him that they don’t.

“So, what are you second-guessing?” Nico asks when I don’t respond to his confusion.

“Saturday,” Ales answers for me, pushing his gloved hands up and down inside his coat pockets.

“Instead of freezing your cogliones, let’s go inside,” Nico says.

“Can’t. He doesn’t want Piper to overhear our conversation,” Ales says, speaking up for me again.

“House so damn big she won’t find you until next year.”

Shaking my head, I say, “And yet, our actual home is bigger.”

“Just saying. You claimed you were buying her a little mountain retreat, but this is more like a resort,” Nico exclaims.

My ears tingle like they always do whenever Piper’s around.

“The woman could find me if she was blind, couldn’t smell, was legless and had her hands cuffed behind her back.”

“You shouldn’t say such things about your mother,” I hear behind me.

Turning around, I smirk when I see Piper. Pulling her from behind me, I reluctantly relinquish her to Ales and then Nico for a hug.

“Piper!” They both exclaim.

“When are you gonna make an honest man out of our brother?” Nico asks.

“Soon,” she promises, turning back to me and wrapping her arms around my waist.

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