Page 163 of Unravel Me

I thank him sincerely, and after a moment, we all walk into the dining room. I notice that Tony brings over a high chair, as if it had been prepared especially for my son, painted green with a floral pattern.

Gianni, Emilio, and I sit at the table, and there’s a rather strange atmosphere between us.

Gianni doesn’t say anything, just staring at me. They’re all wearing black, and I know how difficult these days are for them. Silvio was the center of this house, and the empty space he left behind is hard to fill.

I know what I have to say—what needs to be said.

"I’m so sorry about Silvio… He was such a good man, and he saved my life," I add more quietly. "He’ll always be my hero." My voice breaks because the patriarch of their family is no longer here; he gave his life for me.

"I didn’t mean to bring… tragedy here." I trail off, unable to say anything more because of the emotions swelling in my voice.

Then Emilio reaches out and squeezes my hand.

"Jared, my dad knew what he was doing. He was protecting not only you, but also the future of these forests… And that was incredibly important to him."

For a moment I simply stare into his eyes. I remember Renato’s words, which had seemed very strange at the time, but suddenly they come back to me.

"What exactly do you mean?"

"Well, but you know." He gives me a small smile. "The next guardian," Emilio adds quietly, glancing at my stomach before smiling somewhat sheepishly.

I let out a sharp breath.

This is the thought that, until now, somehow refused to surface in my mind, even though it should have. It’s obvious, after all. I didn’t spend my heat with some supernatural being who had nothing to do with humans.

It was Mauro, and that means…

"Am I pregnant?" I whisper, more to myself than to them. I need to let that sink in.

Emilio smiles gently. "My dad and Renato said so, and I believe them, but you’ll probably find out for yourself in a few days if the scent of vanilla appears around you." He gets up and walks over to the fireplace, where several objects carved from wood are displayed.

Gianni stares at us. For some reason, I feel awkward in front of him because I know he can’t have children.

"I really didn’t think I could get pregnant at the time. To me, Mauro looked like a glowing spirit in the forest. He didn’t seem human. I even suspected I could be dreaming it all, or hallucinating."

They stare at me in silence, and I trail off. Yeah, that sounds pretty ridiculous.

"Sorry, TMI."

Then Emilio shrugs and sits down beside me, handing Tommy a small carved beaver that he took from one of the shelves, along with a figurine of a buck with antlers.

My son looks at Emilio curiously, then a little shyly, but takes the beaver in his hand. For now, he leaves the buck alone.

Just then, Tony comes in carrying a plate with ricotta cheese drizzled with a few drops of honey and a tiny slice of bread with marmalade.

To me, that seems like a lot of sugar, but I’m aware that their family is of Italian descent, and many typical Sicilian dishes aren’t exactly light when it comes to calories.

Tony sits down, and I can see that he’s curious about Tommy.

He watches him for a moment and murmurs, "He’s like a painted portrait of you," and then winks.

"And that’s a good thing. I don’t want him to get anything from his father," I add grimly.

Neither Emilio nor Tony comments.

Gianni reaches out for the wooden buck with antlers and slowly starts to sneak the figurine closer to the beaver Tommy is holding. Tommy checks him out, and Gianni sends him a little smile. Tommy timidly reaches for the buck too, and now plays with two wooden toys.

Soon, Gianni starts offering him grapes from the tray on the table and small dried figs as obstacles for the animal figurines.