“You can’t kid a kidder, Matt.” He took a sip of his drink, and tsked through the side of his mouth. “How about burning off some excess steam tonight?”
“Come on, man, you know I’m too pretty to get in the ring.”
L’Anello’s wasn’t only a bar in downtown La Riva, it was a front for Verona County’s underground fight ring. Before Nicco met Arianne, I’d watched him beat many opponents. They called him the Prince of Hearts, a play on his ruthlessness in the ring, but that all stopped when he fell in love. Enzo dabbled occasionally, but he didn’t have the natural talent Nic possessed.
And me?
Well, I was a lover not a fighter.
“Try it on for size. You never know, you might like it.”
“I doubt that, Jimmy. Maybe another time.”
“Sure thing, Matt. Sure thing.” He squeezed my shoulder before clapping me on the back again. “Enjoy your evening, kid.”
I snorted at that.
‘Kid’ was a word the older men liked to use to remind us of our place in the hierarchy of things. But it was steeped in irony considering that as one of Nicco’s most trusted men, I outranked nearly every man in here.
My father, Michele Bellatoni was Antonio Marchetti’s second. And Nicco his third.
It hadn’t always been that way. Enzo’s dad had been Antonio’s second, but he was gone now. And although the Family was still recovering from shock of Vincenzo Marchetti’s betrayal, we were stronger than ever.
“Hey, Matteo,” a sultry voice said, and I turned around to find Gina Fabiano smiling at me.
“Gina, you’re looking beautiful.” I leaned in and kissed her cheek. Left and then right. She placed a perfectly manicured hand on my shoulder and gazed at me through thick lashes. “It’s good to see you.”
“You too.” I returned her smile.
Gina was the daughter of one of the Family’s associates. Mario Fabiano owned a string of tailors across Verona County. He was Uncle Toni’s first choice every time.
“I didn’t realize you were back,” I said.
Gina had been studying in Italy.
“Just for a few weeks. My Nona is sick.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Thanks.” She tucked her silky dark locks behind one ear. “Are you here alone?”
“I… yeah. Pretty pathetic, right?”
“I’m here with my cousin, her fiancé, and his friend. But between you and me, he’s not my type.” Gina brazenly checked me out, letting her gaze linger on my mouth.
“You should give the guy a chance,” I said, not wanting to get involved.
“Or.” She moved closer. “You could pretend to be my ex and we could get out of here.”
“Listen, Gina, it’s good to see you, it is. But I’m not—”
“Seriously? You’re not interested?” She glanced down at herself as if the idea that I would turn her down was preposterous.
I knew most of the male population would agree. Enzo especially. He’d definitely have something to say about me turning down a girl like Gina Fabiano. But I wasn’t feeling it. And truth be told, she wasn’t my type.
Nowhere close.
“I came to have a quiet drink before I head home.”
“Alone…” Her brow lifted.
“You should get back to your date,” I said.
“Your loss.” She smiled but it had lost some of its sweetness. “Good to see you again, Matteo.”
Gina walked away from me, drawing the eye of almost every man in the room. Maybe I was a fool. Maybe I should have taken her up on her offer and tangled with her between the sheets. Sex didn’t have to mean anything more than a good time. I knew that.
I knew… and yet, I couldn’t do it.
I had no desire to do it.
Fuck. I needed another drink.
Or three.
The next morning, I found myself hungover and alone. After lying in bed for almost an hour, willing myself to get up, I finally dragged my sorry ass into the bathroom and freshened up. I needed extra strong coffee, and something to soak up the liquor.
I’d shared this apartment with Enzo before he’d decided to move out and get a love nest with Nora. It wasn’t the same without him, so I didn’t stay here a lot, preferring to stay at home with my family. But I couldn’t begrudge him. If anyone deserved to be happy, it was E. He had a shitty life at the hands of his old man. Nora was his redemption. His salvation. She was everything he never knew he needed, and I didn’t expect him to last long before he made it official and put a ring on her finger.
He was that damn serious about her.
I scrubbed a hand down my face as I padded into the kitchen and turned on the coffee machine. A bang on the door drew my attention. It was barely nine, and I didn’t get a lot of visitors.
“Just a minute,” I yelled, crossing the room, and opening the door. “Nicco.”
“Hey.” He grimaced, and I frowned. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Can I come in?”
“As if you have to ask.” I stepped aside and he slipped past me, making a beeline for the breakfast counter.
“I was just making coffee.”
“Black, one sugar,” he mumbled.
“I know how you take your coffee, Nic. What’s up?”
Because this wasn’t my best friend. His eyes were ringed with dark circles, and he looked like he’d hardly slept in days.
“Is it Ari? Is she—”
“She’s fine. She’s back at the apartment, sleeping. We had a late night.”
“I bet you did.” I smirked, but it melted away when his eyes shuttered with pain.
“Fuck, I don’t know what to do.”
“Nic, talk to me,” I said, feeling like I was missing something huge.
“It’s my dad.”
“Uncle T?”
He nodded. “He’s sick.”
“I know. We all do.” He had a heart attack earlier on in the year. But he was making a good recovery.
“No, you don’t…” He let out a heavy sigh, anguish bleeding from him. “He lied, Matt. He lied to everyone. He isn’t okay. He isn’t fucking okay at all.”
“He’s not?”
“It’s cancer.”
The words echoed in my skull like gunfire.
“C-cancer?”
“Yeah. I found some medical letters.”
“He didn’t tell you?”
“What do you think?” His expression darkened. Nicco was the levelheaded one out of the three of us. I was the joker, the light-hearted one looking to make people smile. Enzo was the storm. Cold and unforgiving. He didn’t trust easily, and his heart was buried under a thick layer of ice.
Then there was Niccolò. He was somewhere in the middle. As the boss’s eldest and only son, he knew the responsibility weighing on his shoulders, and he carried it with nothing but strength and honor. He was already a true leader. Men respected him, strangers revered him, and our enemies feared him.
“Shit, Nicco, I’m sorry.”
“He said he was fine. He said—” Nicco buried his face in his hands. I gave him a second, waiting. When he eventually lifted his face, what I saw there made my heart squeeze.