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“We had an accident,” I said, giving him a shaky smile.
“Uh-huh.” He eyed Rosa, and all she did was shrug, grabbing her wine glass off the table. “Aunt Rosa?”
She glanced at him with bloodshot eyes, her chin definitely raised.
“Does Frankie need to sit in here to make sure you don’t kill Sasha?”
A crunching sound drew all of our attention to the other side of the kitchen, where Frankie leaned against the counter, eating an apple. “What?”
Marco muttered something, went into the pantry, came out with a broom and a dustpan, and then got to work sweeping up the broken glass.
Rosa and I silently watched as he took care of the mess, cursing as he picked up the now-empty bottle. When I caught her eye, her entire face crumbled, and she sagged against the table. Without hesitation, I was at her side and guiding her into a chair. Squatting in front of her, I gave her a napkin and held her free hand.
“I’m so sorry, Sasha.” She squeezed my fingers, licking a tear from her lips. “All we’ve done is put you through hell. This is why Adriana is running away.”
Behind me, a cabinet slammed closed.
“Growing pains. I want you to know that I would do anything for Luca, for this family. I never wanted to take anything from you.”
She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Her shoulders sagged as her eyes opened. “I love you. Thank you for being you.”
“Thank you for not shooting me.” I bit back a smile.
She chuckled, wiping her eyes. “For the first time in my life, I couldn’t pull the trigger.”
“If that’s not love, I don’t know what is,” Frankie said as he flopped down in a chair holding a full bottle of wine and two more wine glasses. “More wine?”
Rosa playfully glared at her nephew but scooted her glass toward him.
Frankie poured four glasses of wine, Marco finished mopping the floor, and I sat in the chair next to Rosa.
“So, you guys are good? No more threats of homicide?” Frankie hazarded, handing us each a glass of wine.
Rosa’s hand covered mine, and she gave me a watery smile. “We’re good.”
“And are we going public with the no baby thing?” Frankie gave my belly a pointed look. “Pretty soon, people are going to wonder where’s the kid.”
“I think we should keep the story going until Luca’s free. Gives us a family PR spin if Halloween doesn’t go as planned.” Marco rubbed his forehead, accepting a glass from Frankie.
“It better go as planned.” I glared at him for even putting those bad vibes into the atmosphere.
Frankie and Marco shared a serious look but didn’t say anything.
Sitting up straighter, I set my glass on the table. “I mean it. Cy dies on Halloween even if I have to do it myself.”
“It won’t come to that,” Marco assured me. “You worry about making the opening the distraction of the century, and we’ll handle the rest.”
“Fine.” I bumped his knee and leaned back. “You okay?”
“About?” He raised an eyebrow.
I jerked my chin toward the door, and he scowled.
“I’m fine. She’s made her choice.” The silent part being—and yet again, it wasn’t me.
“We’re going to be okay,” Rosa said, her voice resolute. “Luca’s coming home, and we’ll all be okay.”
“Hear, hear!” Frankie raised his wine and waited patiently for us to clink glasses. After the least enthusiastic cheers I’d ever experienced, we fell into a companionable silence.
