My phone rang, startling me but luckily not Leonas. I picked up when I saw it was Orazio.
“Hi little brother,” I said with a smile. In recent years, our relationship had improved again and it made me deliriously happy.
“Hey Val. How are you? Sorry I didn’t call sooner.”
“Don’t worry. I guess Dad’s keeping you busy so you don’t get in trouble.”
He made a non-committal noise, which could only mean that they’d had another fight. “I’m not on speaking terms with him at the moment.”
“Again? But I thought you’re helping him with the new drug lab?”
Another grunt. “Let’s not talk about that now. I wanted to come over in the afternoon to see my nephew, is that okay?”
“Of course. Will you stay for dinner?”
“No… no, I can’t.”
I didn’t ask why. Orazio always made himself scarce. He was a ladies’ man, or so rumor had it and I assumed he’d rather spent the night with a conquest than with his sister and her two small kids, or his boss. He and Dante had never really become family. It was difficult for Orazio to ignore the fact that Dante was his Capo.
“I need to hang up now. See you later.”
“Until then,” I said. It sounded as if Orazio was in a car.
“Who was that?” Anna asked curiously.
“Uncle Orazio. He’s coming to visit this afternoon.”
“Yay!”
I grinned at her obvious delight then grabbed Leonas and stood. “Come. Let’s find Zita to tell her she needs to bake Orazio’s favorite cake.”
After talking to Zita and Gabby, I headed into Dante’s office to tell him about Orazio’s visit. He preferred to know who set foot into our mansion. His protectiveness hadn’t really lessened since he had two small kids to worry about. I knocked then stepped in. Anna immediately rushed toward her dad and he hoisted her up on his lap.
Dante’s brows furrowed in concern. The Famiglia situation had weighed heavily on him these last few days. “Is this a reminder that I’m working too much?”
“Yes!” Anna bellowed, beaming up at Dante. He wrapped an arm around her with a chuckle. “All right.”
“Orazio called. He’s coming over for coffee.”
Dante’s demeanor shifted at once, becoming vigilant and focused. “He did? Where is he now?”
I pursed my lip. “I suppose in Chicago? Isn’t he helping my father?” Dante’s question threw me off, and at the same time worried me.
“Neither your father nor I could reach him since yesterday.”
“He said he had a fight with Papa. Maybe he needed time to cool off.”
“That’s what Pietro said.”
“You asked Pietro if Orazio had returned to Minneapolis.”
Dante looked down at Anna who’d begun drawing on one of the papers on his desk. But I had a feeling he was also doing it on purpose to avoid my eyes. “I prefer to know about the whereabouts of my men.”
Then it dawned on me and indignation rose in me. “You can’t seriously consider Orazio doing anything against the Outfit. He’s my brother, Dante. For God’s sake, please don’t drag our family even more into this war than we already are.”
Dante looked up with a pained expression. “I never meant to drag you into this. But it’s inevitable.”
Anna glanced between us. We tried not to argue in front of her and I already regretted my outburst but since the war had begun Dante suspected enemies at every corner. If his paranoia now extended to family that was simply too much.
Dante stood and set Anna down on his desk chair. “Can you draw a picture of us?”
Anna nodded and bent over the sheet with a look of acute concentration on her gorgeous face. Leonas shifted in my hold and I rocked him gently so he wouldn’t start crying.
Dante righted his vest before he headed my way, touching my shoulder. “I don’t suspect Orazio, Val. But his conflict with your father is something that concerns me greatly. He needs to make peace with him and step up to his duties.”
I didn’t catch a hint of deceit on Dante’s face but still a small part of me stayed worried. “I know,” I said quietly. “Dad expects a lot from Orazio but my brother wants to have a little freedom. Maybe that’s why he’s not willing to settle down with one of the possible brides Dad keeps pushing on him.”
“At some point, he needs to marry.”
“Not everyone wants to settle for less than love,” I said, even if I wasn’t sure if a wish for love held Orazio back or if he just wanted to keep having fun.
“We didn’t settle,” Dante said firmly, pulling me closer but careful not to squish our sleeping son. “We worked for our love, and we were rewarded.”
I cocked an eyebrow with a teasing smile. “We?”
Dante sighed and kissed my mouth. “You did all the work in the beginning, I know. If it wasn’t for your stubborn streak, I’d still be—”
“…sulking in your office?”
A hint of exasperation flickered in his eyes. “…caught up in the past.”
“Done!” Anna exclaimed.
“I’ll talk to Orazio,” I promised.
“I’ll have a word with him today as well.”
“Don’t go all Capo on him.”
“I am his Capo, Val. I doubt he’ll ever see me as anything else.”
I nodded. “All right. Bibi is supposed to come over any moment for lunch. Will you join us or are you going to work?”
“I need to work. I’m sure you two have a lot to talk about.”
Anna hopped off the chair and rushed over to us, brandishing her drawing excitedly. “Look!”
Dante squatted beside her and regarded her artwork patiently as she explained every stick figure to him. I stifled laughter at his serious expression. I loved seeing him with Anna, how he tried to make her feel validated with everything she did.
* * *
Fifteen minutes later Bibi arrived at our mansion for a playdate. Luisa and Anna loved each other, a fact that made me deliriously happy. I was glad that Anna had one of her best friends living close by because she was always sad that she couldn’t see Sofia very often due to the distance between them.
I nodded toward the guards sitting in the car in front of our house who’d driven Bibi over. She didn’t have a license unlike me but even I hardly ever drove anymore now that I had kids. Dante didn’t want me to go anywhere without either Taft or Enzo, or preferably both anyway.
Bibi looked splendid in a formfitting wool dress with her auburn hair down as she strode toward me, holding Luisa by the hand who was dressed in a cute pink dress. Luisa looked exactly like Bibi as a child, a fact for which I was very grateful because Bibi didn’t need any more reminders of her dead brute of a husband. Holding Leonas, I hugged her with one arm then cocked my brows. “You look stunning. Who are you trying to impress? Now I feel underdressed.”
I had opted for comfortable chino pants and a blouse that allowed quick access to my breasts for nursing.
She flushed, looking around in embarrassment as if someone might overhear us, and I ushered her in. Anna and Luisa hugged then they rushed upstairs, probably to play in Anna’s room.