“I didn’t tell you because…” I stopped. Because what? I wasn’t entirely sure any reason I gave would sound good enough.
My mother’s expression softened. “I understand, Pietro. I really do. This isn’t easy, and it won’t be easy for her either.” She took another sip of wine before continuing. “The thing is, you’ve already brought her into our world.”
I opened my mouth at once, but she lifted a hand to stop me.
“I know you didn’t mean to. But you are your father’s heir, whether you like hearing it or not, and people notice you. They know you. When you take the same girl to family-owned restaurants more than once, people talk. Eventually that talk makes its way back to your father. And to Matteo.”
I winced. My father was one thing. Matteo Genovese, sociopathic capo di tutti capi, was another entirely.
My mother waved that away with surprising ease. “Don’t worry about Matteo right now. Your father has vouched for you, and Hoka…” She smiled faintly. “Well. Let’s just say Hoka has vouched for you too.”
I looked at her. “So you all knew and discussed it behind my back?”
I heard the irritation in my own voice and disliked how young it made me sound, but not enough to take it back.
“We wouldn’t have to if you were honest and talked to us.” She didn’t mean it as a reprimand. That was the worst part.
It landed like one anyway, sharp enough to drag me straight back to thirteen, raw with pride and convinced every hard truth was a judgment.
“It got out of hand,” I admitted. “At first I was only curious. Then she made me feel…different.”
My mother laughed. “A familiar story.”
I looked at her. “It is?”
She let out a small sigh, though there was affection in it. “You really need to talk to your father and your uncle. I think you’ll find more kinship there than you expect.” She paused, then added dryly, “Although please ignore them if either of them suggests kidnapping. That seems to have been the preferred solution for far too many men in this family, and I feel obligated to remind you it is more than frowned upon.”
I scoffed quietly. “I’m well aware. Abduction is Matteo’s answer to everything.”
The faint amusement left my face almost as quickly as it had come. “And I know I need to talk to them. But this isn’t about me. Not right now, at least. It’s about her, and I feel…” I exhaled. “Conflicted.”
My mother’s expression gentled. “About bringing her into this life.”
It wasn’t a question.
I nodded.
“That’s good,” she said quietly. “It means you understand what you’re asking.”
"I know what I should do. I should let her be. But I can't, and I can't take more from her without being honest first." I exhaled. "Once she knows, she'll be on Matteo's radar. There's no coming back from that."
"That's true," she said. Then, more gently: "But she must be something special to have you this attached. You've never been the type."
"She's spectacular."
Mom leaned on her elbow and rested her chin in her hand. “I can’t wait to meet her. I wish there were a formula, a perfect way to say if you should or not, but there isn’t. The only thinking to rely on is faith. Your dad and I, well the choice was taken from us.”
It was an understatement. When she worked for him and witnessed him taking out a traitor, it was either kill her or take her away.
“Ask your uncle. He told Violet the truth. It was his choice.”
I sighed. “He’ll come back with some infuriating piece of wisdom that I’ll hate and that will, inevitably, be right.”
“He will,” she said. “But at the end of the day, Pietro, wisdom only takes you so far.”
She turned her wine glass slowly between her palms, looking down at it for a moment before lifting her eyes back to mine. “Can I tell you something true? Not as your mother. Just as someone who has been where she’s about to be.”
I said nothing, which she took as permission.
