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“Cato will be a Knight, too. But not the leader.”
Cato was five years old and a long way from us thinking about him becoming a Knight. Lately, Alex had been so worried about the boys. She knew the girls would have the freedom to do whatever they wanted. But our boys would be Knights, and one twin would be the new Grand Master.
She frowned. “I don’t want my boys hardened by this world.”
“They won’t be anything like us,” I assured her.
“Leo and Angelo are already like Luca.”
“He’s preparing them.”
“But they’re little boys,” she groaned. “They don’t need to be chess masters before they hit puberty. I’d rather see them playing with their friends and doing normal boy things.”
“We didn’t do any of those things. Our dad never let us play with other kids. It was always the four of us against the world. Luca is just doing what he knows.”
“Yeah, but Sofia and Eve have friends. They go on playdates with the girls from school.”
Eve was Marcello’s little girl, named after his mother, Evangeline. Except our girl was just Eve. She was born a year after the twins and was almost seven years old. And she was learning how to paint on canvases, like her mother and father.
Years ago, I never thought I would be the person Alex confided in. I wasn’t mentally in the right place to give advice. But over the years, I had been her sounding board. I listened and let her talk. I told her the truth when she needed to hear it.
Marcello told her whatever he thought she wanted to hear. He was such a fucking softie. Bash spoke the truth but sugar-coated everything. Luca was blunt, which led to a lot of fights. He would grovel and beg for forgiveness afterward. But he was still the same asshole.
She told me everything—all of her desires, fears, everything that was on her mind.
“I love you.” I slipped my fingers through her hair and kissed her lips. “And because I love you, I won’t lie to you. The twins will be exactly like Luca, and it will serve them well. Salvatore men are not weak. We don’t cower. People in our world need to fear the Salvatore name.”
She laid her head on my chest. “I feel like I’m losing time with the boys. They’re growing up so fast. Even Sofia is like a little woman already.”
I laughed. “Not quite. Our little girl still clings to her daddy and wants to hear princess stories. Sofia is still your baby.”
She rubbed her hand over her stomach. “I’m ovulating. I hope you put another baby in me.”
“We’ll try until you get pregnant again.” I sucked her bottom lip into my mouth. “I love making babies with you.”
She tugged at the ends of my short hair and smiled. “Of all my husbands, you surprised me the most.”
“Happy to exceed expectations.”
ChapterTwenty-Two
BASTIAN
Three years later…
“Cato Severus Salvatore,” I shouted at my son, who tore apart the backyard like a lunatic. “Get over here.” I patted my thigh, giving him my best angry face. “Let’s go. Now!”
Cato was such a devious little bastard. And here I thought Damian’s kid would be the devil spawn of the family. But, nope, my little terror was the worst of the Salvatore clan.
I wasn’t mad, just not in the mood to deal with his games today. He was like a golden retriever puppy, always getting into everything. Whenever Luca was around, Cato stood ramrod straight, eyes wide. Luca was mean, more demanding than all of us, but he was a good dad.
Maybe I was too soft with Cato.
He was mine, and I loved that kid more than life. I let him get away with murder because he was so damn cute. And so bright, which was why he was always in trouble. He thought he knew better than everyone else.
Cato strolled to me with the mallet dragging behind him, frowning. He had my brown hair that was always messy and falling onto his forehead, styled like Daddy Marcello.
He’d taken to Marcello as if he were his father and wanted to dress like him. It annoyed me because I wanted him to be like me, but all five kids were ours. So the paternity didn’t matter.
