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“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked.
Enzo smiled. “I guess part of me hoped Ricardo would step up and you wouldn’t need to take on the responsibility. I never wanted either of you to follow in my footsteps. This life is dangerous, Rocco, dangerous and sometimes very lonely.” He looked at me for a long moment. “But I’m getting the idea that it won’t be so lonely for you?”
I swallowed back my tearful emotions and looked over at him. “That’s right. I have a family.”
“She kept the boy from you?”
“From everyone,” I defended her. “She didn’t want him in the life.”
Enzo nodded sagely. “I can understand that. I wish I would’ve been able to keep you from it, Rocco.” He paused. “So you’ll take my place, when I go?”
I cleared my throat since it still felt like there was a rock stuck in it. “I’d be honored to take your place, Enzo, but I hope you’re around for a long while yet.”
He smiled a little bitterly. “At least someone does. Ricardo’s next plan was to kill me, you know,” he said.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized, not knowing what else to say.
Enzo sighed and sat back in his seat, sipping more of his bourbon. “Would you like a drink?”
“Very much,” I said, and Enzo poured me one. I shot it back in one go and he laughed a little.
“It’s been quite a day, hasn’t it?”
“You have no idea,” I drawled. “I’d like to spend more time with you, but—”
“But you have your family to go back to,” he said with a sad smile. “I get it, Rocco.”
“Why don’t we all come over for dinner sometime?” I asked, hoping I could talk Allegra into it when things calmed down.
“That sounds wonderful,” Enzo said, his smile turning genuine, and he stood up to hug me tightly before I walked out. I wiped tears from my eyes. I’d never had a family, and now I had a surrogate father and a son. If only I also had Allegra.
25
ALLEGRA
“Do you have questions about what happened?” I asked Matteo quietly, after we’d both bathed and had something to eat.
Matteo looked up at me, blinking slowly. He seemed disconnected in a way that worried me. “The bad man…” he started. “Did Papa get him?”
“Papa got him,” I said softly, pushing his hair back from his face. “Do you have any other questions?”
“Can I sleep in here with you tonight?” he asked, his voice shaking.
I grabbed him, hugging him tightly. “Of course you can,” I told him. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
He crawled into bed as it was nearing his bedtime anyway, going to sleep so quickly I was amazed. I looked down at him, my heart aching.
Rocco knocked on the doorjamb a few moments later, when I was just admiring our son. “He out?” he asked quietly.
“Like a light,” I said, looking over at him and frowning. “It worries me a little.”
“Kids are resilient,” he said.
I just kept frowning. “I never wanted him to live this kind of life, Rocco. I never wanted him to see the things we’ve seen.”
Rocco sat down on the edge of the bed, putting a hand on my ankle. “I know,stellina. None of this was part of our plan. But I promise to do a better job at protecting you.”
I sighed, leaning back against the headboard, still looking at Matteo’s sleeping form. “I just wish he didn’t have to go through this at all. I’ve tried too hard to keep him secret, to keep him safe.”
