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Over the past two years, Alex and I formed a different bond than what we shared with the others. Having Sofia changed both of our lives for the better. Marcello had called dibs on the first child, but none of us followed the rules. I was glad I didn’t listen because if I had, this beautiful girl wouldn’t be staring up at me like I hung the moon.
I kissed Sofia’s black hair, which smelled like baby shampoo. It was a scent I now associated with happiness. Whenever I caught a whiff, it instantly put me in a better mood.
I still had to work on my urges.
They would always be there.
Some things don’t just go away.
I had a family and a little girl who counted on me. So I couldn’t be that person anymore.
For her.
Luca tapped me on the shoulder and whispered, “Keep them occupied for an hour. We’ll be in the temple with the Knights.”
I nodded.
“She can’t know,” Luca warned.
“I’m well aware.”
I hated when he spoke to me like an idiot. Luca treated me like I was a child or another one of his responsibilities. He thought he was the most intelligent person in every room and knew better.
Most of the time, he did.
“I took her blood pressure on the plane,” he muttered, his blue eyes narrowed. “It’s high. But I lied and said it was fine.”
“I’ll take care of her. Give me a few minutes to get her outside.”
Alex was too busy talking to her brother to overhear us. She was happy for now, and I didn’t want to upset her.
The less she knew, the better.
Alex was our queen, and we never lied to her. But we had two little boys to think about as well. Our kids and our wife were our number one priority. So if we had to omit the truth to keep them safe, we would do it.
We all knew Marcello was walking into a bad situation. The Lucaya Group was like a Hydra. For every head you cut off, two grew back in its place. They had cells worldwide and a lot more power than the secret societies. Even the CIA didn’t have enough intel about the group.
The only information we’d gotten came from Viktor Romanov, the man we once thought was our enemy. The ex-KGB agent was now an ally and the father of Bastian’s cousin, Grace. He gave us everything we needed to take down Fitzy before his death and filled in the gaps about our parents’ accident. And then, he led us to Pierre Moreau, the leader of The Lucaya Group.
But he was invincible.
Untouchable.
We only had a name, not a location. Moreau was originally from Paris, but no one knew where he lived. High-profile men tended to stay off the grid, moving between safe houses and living under aliases.
I pushed Alex’s curls off her shoulder. “Let’s go swimming with Sofia.”
She batted her long black eyelashes at me. “Yeah, that sounds good.”
At the beginning of the summer, I bought a baby float for Sofia. A natural in the water, she liked to sit under the sun canopy and kick her little feet.
“I have to go back to Wellington Manor.” Aiden hugged Alex with his eyes on me. “Pops is expecting me home for dinner.”
Alex hugged her brother. “Come see us this week. We need to catch up and paint. I need inspiration for my next show. I’m five paintings short and have pregnancy brain.”
“Yeah, I’d love that.” Aiden smiled. “How about Thursday? It’s the only day Pops doesn’t have me doing shit for him.”
Now that Carl Wellington was the Grand Master of The Founders Society, he was the boss. He admitted the Salvatores into the society as his first order of business as our new leader. Bastian and I didn’t need a marriage or a child to secure our places. Our families’ legacies had already done that for us.
