“It wasn’t your fault, Dad,” Dimitros said, his emotions flickering in his eyes before he schooled them. My heart ached for him and the loss he’d experienced. Amara might have notbeen in his life, but she was still his mother. The only one he knew.
“Maybe it wasn’t, but I should have done a better job protecting you,” Lykos continued, his eyes full of love for his children. It pained me that he had done so much for them and he thought it wasn’t enough. “I promise to do better in the future, and talk to you about it too. So I have a question for you two.”
Dimitros nodded, understanding marring his features. “No question needed. Violet is good for you, Dad. Good for us.”
My lips trembled as I smiled at Dimitros with gratitude and Lykos pulled him into a hug.
“Thank you, son.” He turned to look at Aria. “What do you think about that, Aria?”
Aria’s eyes were bouncing between the three of us, and I feared she’d get dizzy if she continued that. A minute stretched it seemed forever while I waited with bated breath for my daughter to answer.
“I want Violet to stay,” she finally said.
“I want to stay too,” I said, my voice barely audible with emotions I was trying to keep in check. I was dying to tell her she was mine, and how much I loved her, but it was all happening too fast and too soon. I didn’t want to scare her away from me.
“Then that’s settled,” Dimitros said. “Right, Dad?”
Lykos nodded.
“Does that mean you’re dating, Papa?” Aria asked with theatrical flair. “Getting married? Having babies? I need to know everything. I need all the scoop.”
Lykos’s gaze was locked on mine, shimmering like two stars in the dark skies. “One question at a time, Aria.”
“Are you?—”
I raised my hand, palm up, and cut her off. “How about we just go day by day for now, huh?”
Aria’s brows pinched. “I don’t get it.”
“That means no more questions,” Dimitros chimed in.
She sighed, then rolled her eyes. “Okay, fine. But if you’re asking me, you should get married right away. Why waste time?” She waved her hand around. “When it’s my turn to get married, I’m doing it right away. And do you know who I’m going to marry?”
Dimitros and Lykos both let out an exasperated breath.
“That’s not a hard guess,” Dimitros grumbled.
My eyes darted between the three of them, waiting for someone to fill me in. When nobody did, I finally asked impatiently, “Who?”
“Aria decided before she was even potty-trained that she’d marry Amadeo Marchetti,” Dimitros explained.
I let out a strangled breath. “Who?”
“Amadeo Marchetti,” Dimitros repeated patiently. “He’s Enrico Marchetti’s youngest son.”
I blinked, my mind flipping through the names I’d heard over the years in my profession until the name clicked into place. Enrico Marchetti was an Italian mobster. I’d never treated Enrico, but I’d treated some other members of the Omertà. And while they never divulged anyone’s name or activity, I was able to piece together some information over the years because I treated Enrico Marchetti’s wife while she was still alive.
“Jesus Christ,” I breathed. “The Marchettis. The Omertà crime family?”
“One and only,” Dimitros muttered while Lykos seemed completely unbothered with the fact that his only daughter was falling in love with a goddamned mobster-in-the-making. And not even a Greek mobster!
“He’s the one for me,” Aria repeated dreamily. “Papa will arrange a marriage for me.”
“But you’re just a kid,” I said incredulously. I’d just found her; I couldn’t possibly have her falling in love with a boy already. It was too soon. Wasn’t it?
I looked at Lykos, who was shrugging his shoulders. “Aria is very stubborn when she wants something. Unfortunately, in that regard, she’s very much like her papa.”
Aria threw her head back and laughed. “You’re right. You and I are the same.”
