Nino lowered himself beside Kiara and took Nevio from her. I tensed when Kiara reached for my daughter, expecting a crying fit, but Greta’s face scrunched up only briefly then smoothed when Kiara sang softly. I took another step back. Kiara beamed at Nino as he put Nevio down on his lap and pointed at the picture book. Nino oozed calmness, which was perfect for my kids.
Nevio ignored the picture book that Nino held up and stared at the colorful tattoos on Nino’s arm, touching them with his small hands as if he thought they’d come alive under his fingertips. My heart swelled once more, and I turned quickly before I got too emotional.
I took a deep breath before I slipped into Remo’s bedroom. He was sitting back against the headboard, elevated by pillows. His upper body was naked, except for the many bandages covering his skin—the cuts my family had inflicted to avenge me.
He looked up from his iPad, and I took a hesitant step closer as I let the door shut.
His face pulled into a strange smile. “I’d never have thought that you would be the one to save me.”
I moved closer, half terrified, half excited, and stopped beside him. Remo’s dark eyes burned with emotions that set my heart aflame, but I shoved the sensations back. “I saved the father of my children so they would be safe.”
“My brothers would have protected them even if your family had killed me.”
I put a hand down beside him on the headboard, hovering over him. “Nobody will protect them like you will. You’ll go through fire for them.”
I didn’t ask. I knew it.
He raised his hand stiffly, most of his arm bandaged, and cupped the back of my head. I let him pull me down. “For them. For you,” he murmured, fiercely, harshly, angrily. His lips brushed mine, and my entire being melted. I fell as I had the first time he kissed. Shuddering, I drew back and straightened. This was too soon. I needed to figure things out between us.
He watched me with a bitter smile. For some reason, the sight tore at me. I leaned down and briefly brushed his lips with mine to show him that my withdrawal didn’t mean “never” only “later.”
I quickly stepped back and turned.
“Will you show them to me?” he asked quietly.
I looked over my shoulder. “Of course.”
I held Greta and Nevio tightly against my body as I nudged the door open. Then I stepped in. I was inexplicably nervous. My family had never looked at my children the way I regarded them, like they were something precious, a gift I wanted to cherish every single day. Remo’s eyes zeroed in on our babies as I moved closer, and he didn’t look away again, appearing almost stunned. I sat down beside him and carefully put Nevio down on his back next to Remo. Greta still clung to me tightly.
Remo’s expression held wonder, and when he raised his eyes to mine, they were softer than I’d ever seen them. He stretched out his bandaged arm and stroked his fingertip over Nevio’s chest reverently. Nevio being Nevio snatched up Remo’s finger and brought it to his mouth to chew on it with a toothless grin. Remo’s lips twitched. Then he raised his gaze to Greta, who’d turned her head to watch him curiously.
“She’s shy around most people,” I said. She’d always been like that, even when she was a tiny newborn.
I took his hand so she saw me doing it then brought it toward her. When she didn’t protest, I released Remo’s hand, and he caressed her back with his fingertips. He was so gentle and careful with her, I could feel a mix of happiness and wistfulness rise up in my throat. Greta watched him silently. Did she know he was her dad?
Tears ran down my cheeks. Remo stroking Greta’s back and having his finger chewed off by Nevio was the most beautiful sight I could imagine. “I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy,” I admitted, not caring that I was being emotional in front of Remo. This was no longer a battle of wills, a twisted game of chess. These stakes were too high.
Remo locked his gaze with mine. “I know I’ve never been happier.”
CHAPTER 29
SERAFINA
As far as patients went, Remo was a nightmare. He was a nightmare in many other regards as well, but giving his body time to heal wasn’t on his agenda.
Nino wasn’t happy about it. “You need to rest, Remo. It’s been only three days and you’re already running around.”
“I’ve had worse. Now stop the fucking fussing. I’m not a child.”
“Maybe not. But I’m obviously the only one of the two of us capable of sane decisions.”
“Neither of you is sane. Now help me with this fucking crib,” Savio muttered.
I leaned in the doorway of the future nursery. Nino and Kiara had gone shopping this morning, and now the four Falcone brothers were trying to put together the furniture. Though Nino and Savio were doing all the work because Adamo’s arm was in a cast and most of Remo’s body was bandaged, not to mention the many broken bones in his body.
Adamo sat on a plush baby blue armchair, which sat close to the window. Sometimes when he thought no one was looking, his eyes twisted with something dark, something haunted. Some wounds would take a long time to heal. Remo leaned against the windowsill, wearing only low cut sweatpants, barking orders.
A smile tugged at my lips.
“The instructions are quite clear, Remo,” Nino drawled. “I don’t need your orders on top of that.”
Savio scoffed. “As if that’ll stop him.”
It was still difficult to grasp what had happened these last three days. I’d left my family, Samuel, to live in Las Vegas with the man who kidnapped me and his family who helped him do it. But with every passing hour, I realized it had been the right decision for my children and maybe even for me. The moment Remo saw his babies, a knot in my chest loosened, a knot that had strangled me since he released me, only to be pulled tighter when Greta and Nevio were born. They belonged here.
I had tried to keep my distance from Remo so far, only visited him twice so our twins could get used to his presence, and I knew he wasn’t happy with it.
Remo spotted me in the doorway, his eyes becoming more eager and intent. My pulse picked up, and I turned around to return to Nevio and Greta who were waiting downstairs with Kiara.
Remo cornered me in the hallway. For someone with his injuries, he was annoyingly fast. “Are you running from me, Angel?” He backed me into the wall, his palms on either side of me.
“I’ve learned that doesn’t work. You always catch me,” I said, leaning back because with him so close I was having trouble focusing.
“I often imagined how it would be to see you again,” he said in a low voice. “But this wasn’t one of the scenarios I came up with.”
I regarded him. “When you sent me off like a thing easy to dispose of, it didn’t seem like you wanted to see me again.”
He shook his head, anger flashing on his face. “I gave you a choice, one you didn’t have before ... and you chose to stay with the Outfit.”
I huffed. “That’s ridiculous. You traded me like a piece of cattle. Why would I return to you? I’m not in the habit of thrusting myself upon someone who obviously couldn’t wait to get rid of me.”
Remo leaned even closer. “Did you really believe that I didn’t want you? Or did you tell yourself that because you didn’t want to leave your family?”
I frowned. “You could have ...”
“What?” he growled. “I could have what? Kidnapped you again? Asked Dante to send you back?”
He had a point and it annoyed me.
“When were you planning on telling me about our babies? Would you have told me at all if Adamo hadn’t gotten himself captured?”
“You sent me away, back to my fiancé. I didn’t think you’d care what happened with me, much less wanted kids,” I muttered, but something in his eyes made me continue. “I wanted to tell you. The moment I saw them, I knew I needed to tell you, but I didn’t know how. I was ... a coward.”
His hand came up, cupping my cheek, his dark eyes impossibly possessive. “I was sure you’d return to me.” His lips brushed mine. “You aren’t a coward. You saved me. You went against your family to protect our children. You gave up everything for them ... and for me.”
I deepened the kiss, couldn’t keep the distance I so desperately wanted to keep. Remo’s lips, his tongue, the feel of his rough palm against my cheek awakened a deep longing, a desperate need I’d kept buried since he’d set me free.
My core tightened as his familiar manly scent flooded my nose, and memories of how Remo’s hands, his mouth, his cock had felt came to the surface ...
I drew back, coming to my senses, and slipped out from under Remo’s arm. He gave me a knowing smile before I hurried away. But I had seen the proof of his body’s reaction to me in the bulge of his sweatpants.
Only one week until Christmas. The mansion was decorated beautifully with red baubles, golden tinsel, and sprigs of mistletoe. Luckily Greta and Nevio weren’t mobile yet or the greenery would have had to go. I’d sent Samuel a few messages, telling him I was safe and asking if he was okay. He hadn’t replied yet but I knew he’d read the messages. Maybe his hurt was still too fresh. Five days weren’t enough to come to terms with the fact that your sister betrayed you for a man you hated more than anything in the world. My messages to Mom and Sofia hadn’t even been received. I suspected Dad had gotten new phones for them so I couldn’t contact them.