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Francesca blushes as Leo smiles proudly. “As a matter of fact … I just found out I’m pregnant.”
Mom gasps, pulling Francesca into a hug. “How long?”
“Just two months. It’s still really early.”
Congratulations are passed around the table right as Antonio enters the house with Nina, his wife, at his side. And with them is Nina’s younger sister, Anna.
“What did we miss?” Antonio asks, giving Mom a peck on the cheek.
“Francesca is pregnant!”
“That’s amazing,” he replies, giving Francesca a hug. My older brother looks the most like me, so much so that people thought we were twins when we were younger. His wife, Nina, is stunningly beautiful, it almost hurts. She has a cool beauty to her from her light blonde hair to her blue eyes, but I know how warm she is as a person. We’ve gotten to know each other well over the past few months.
Antonio takes his seat at the head of the table, which always makes me disappointed, I know he’s technically the head of the household now, even though he doesn’t live here. But I miss my favorite sibling sitting beside me. We’d always laugh and share jokes with each other. Now, he barely looks at me as he sits down. Becoming the boss has already changed him as I feared it would.
Nina takes her place by Antonio’s side while Anna slinks in beside me. At thirteen years old, she has an awkwardness about her. I remember being a teenager, and I’d never want to go back to that again.
Following Antonio and Nina is a man I’ve met only on spares occasions. Killian Brennan. The Irishman who helped Antonio take down Franco. With charmingly good looks, he’s more like the boy next door. If the boy next door had a biker edge to him with tattoos and wavy black hair.
Mom stands up with narrowed eyes when she sees him. “Oh no. I won’t have any Irish in my household. Get out.”
“Ma,” Antonio warns. “Killian is my second-in-command. Show him respect.”
“I can leave,” Killian says. “But Antonio is always talking about family dinners, and I thought it’d be nice to join.”
“Seeing as you’re not a part of this family,” Mom replies, “you need to leave.”
“Killian, stay,” Antonio says as Killian starts walking out of the room.
“Hey, I don’t want to cause any drama with your mom. I’ll catch you later.” He throws a wink in Mia’s direction, which males Mia frowns and look incredibly confused.
After Mom sits back down, Antonio shoots her a look. “Seriously, Ma?”
“Seriously. This is my house, and I won’t let anyone into it that I don’t want here.” I know that’s incredibly important to herafter Franco invaded our house without her permission. And he didn’t leave for eleven years until Antonio killed him.
Antonio looks like he’s going to object when Gemma raises her wine glass. “Let’s get drunk!” Everyone laughs, and it diffuses the tension. Even Theo cracks a smile at her comment. He’s standing by the wall across from me, making it even harder for me to ignore him.
Now that everyone has arrived, we spend the dinner conversing and eating and just having fun. We’re big on family, being typical Italians. Mom always makes a huge meal, and there’s never any leftovers, given how many people are eating and taking seconds.
“When can I expect children from you two?” Mom asks, looking at Antonio and Nina.
Nina blushes while Antonio shakes his head. Normally, my brother would make a teasing remark, but his words are more biting than any of us are expecting. “Ma, I just took over. I have the business to think about. Besides, Nina and I have only been married a few months. You can’t expect us to have children any time soon.”
Mom flinches. “I …”
Nina places her hand on Antonio’s arm. “Easy, Antonio.”
He sucks in a breath and releases it slowly. “Sorry. I’m just stressed. Taking over where Franco left off hasn’t been easy. My men expect a lot out of me, and I’m still in the process of proving myself to them.”
“You shouldn’t have to prove yourself to anyone,” Mom says, taking a sip of her wine. “You’re Antonio Moretti. Son of Riccardo Moretti. They should automatically respect you.”
Antonio rubs a hand over his tired face. “Unfortunately, that’s not how that works. I still have to earn it. I couldn’t do any of this without Nina’s support.”
Nina rubs his arm, sharing a soft smile with him. “I’m glad to offer Antonio support. I wouldn’t want it any other way.” I know they went through a rough patch after discovering Nina’s father was a spy, working for Franco. He tried blackmailing Nina into killing Antonio, but she wouldn’t have it. Nina told me her and Antonio’s marriage was almost broken until they came back together, and they’ve been stronger ever since.
I wonder if my future husband will ever fight for me as much as Nina has fought for Antonio. Somehow, I doubt it.
My eyes flick to Theo, and I almost jump. I catch him looking at me before he averts his eyes. Why is Theo looking at me? He’s only ever treated me like I was his professional duty or a nuisance.
