Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 93425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
“Mama, you still wanted to take Matteo to the mall for some new shoes?”
I didn’t realize Enzo had seen me walk into the room, but his eyes lock on me when I look up. The same heated gaze he had earlier is present, and it makes me feel exposed.
Alice nods her head enthusiastically as she answers. I don’t hear exactly what she says. I’m too busy focusing on not embarrassing myself in front of Enzo’s family.
“Maybe this afternoon. You can go pick out some shoes, maybe a few new outfits,” Enzo suggests. Bianca giggles while Mia makes gagging noises. Enzo’s intention of sending away our young son is not lost on them.
Alice’s eyes gleam with something wicked when she answers. “Of course, I’ll take Matteo. I don’t need the excuse of shoe shopping. Consider this a standing offer. Matteo can come to me whenever you need him to, especially if it means I get another grandchild.”
Sofia, Andy’s mother, gasps. “That’s not fair! Trying to get a second grandchild before I’ve gotten my first!” She shoots a pointed look in Bianca’s direction. Bianca rolls her eyes at her mother-in-law, but a small smile plays on her lips.
Enzo thinks he wants to fill the household with babies, but I’m not sure yet. During pregnancy and childbirth, I was fortunate with Matteo. The morning sickness had been an inconvenience, labor was relatively uneventful, and all-in-all it wasn’t an experience that had scared me off. Somewhere along the line, between the late nights as a single mom and never having an interest in finding a life partner, I had resigned myself to having only one child. Now I have adjusted to that life and that expectation, the thought of another child is daunting.
Everything is different now. Once upon a time, I had wanted a big family, and maybe when I get more comfortable, I will want a big family again. For now, it’s been too long of being just the two of us. I’m adjusting to everyone else. Another child would be overwhelming, and I don’t want Matteo to feel replaced.
The conversation turns away from our nuptials and to Bianca and Andy’s. I learned Sal is responsible for arranging or approving marriages. Most marriages among mafia families are for business dealings, but Sal is more concerned with the happiness of his family members. Alice claims he puts a lot of thought into who would be a good match for Andy, but apparently, Bianca tried to murder Andy once or twice early in their marriage.
“Andy needed someone who could kick his ass. Anyone else and he would have been bored within a week,” Alice teases her. Sofia nods her head in agreement.
I think I laugh at all the correct places and make the right facial expressions while listening to the back-and-forth banter between the family members. Everyone else ignores how Enzo doesn’t engage at all. They also ignore the times my eyes catch him and I become a flustered mess, unable to participate in a basic conversation.
“Well,” Enzo says, standing up from the table suddenly. He draws eyes towards him, but he doesn’t acknowledge any of them. Matteo has long lost interest in participating in the adult conversation, and he has set himself up on his Nonna’s lap with action figures she had bought from him. “We’ll do this again soon. Mama, I don’t expect we’ll be seeing you back until dinnertime?”
Alice lets out a sharp bark of laughter. “Dinner time? Well, aren’t you confident in your stamina?”
“Confidence comes from a proven track record.”
Despite my limited experience with family, the Lombardi family is extraordinary in their own right. They're closer together than most. There’s little they aren’t willing to share.
A family that murders together must stick together.
“What are you doing?” I hiss as he pulls me away from the group and down the hall.
“I think that much is obvious.”
“Obvious to me and every single one of your family members who just saw you drag me out of a room. Do you think you could have been any more obvious?”
Enzo doesn’t stop as he pulls me towards his bedroom.
Our bedroom.
It’s still taking some getting used to, thinking of us as a unit. It isn’t as though we’ve gone through the usual stages of dating. We didn’t grow together as a pair, blending until the edges of him disappear into the edges of me. Instead, we were shoved into a box and are being forced to learn how to keep the jagged ridges we had formed as two individuals from tearing into one another.
“I could have spanked you in front of my entire family, but something tells me you still want to be able to look my mother in the eye,” Enzo says as he shoves the door closed behind us. He slips his hands beneath my shirt and pulls it over my head in one motion. With the shirt discarded, he brings his face within breathing distance of mine and rakes his nails down my back. I hiss and gasp at the sharp sensation that bows my body more into his.