Page 16 of His to Break

“And the kids?” Alessandro asks. “Charlie’s at NYU, right?”

“He’s doing good. Thanks for asking.” Dennis bestows a grateful smile on Alessandro, something he would never give me. “Can I get you anything?”

“Nah, I’m good. Give my love to everyone.”

I shake my head in disbelief as Dennis walks off, his demeanor more relaxed after speaking to Alessandro. My brother can really turn on the charm when he wants to. He takes a genuine interest in people, but it’s not just to be nice. He knows how to get people on his side, to make them lower their guard. His friendliness is a means of gathering information, finding potential weak spots the family can exploit if we ever need to.

“So,” Alessandro gives me his full attention once more, “you married the Bianchi girl.”

“Woman,” I correct him because Vinnie is definitely not a girl, “and she’s not a Bianchi.”

“No, she’s not,” Alessandro agrees. “She’s yours now, and I gotta say I’m impressed. She handles herself well.”

“Yeah?” I was worried about how she’d deal with my family. Dumping her with my sister was a shitty thing to do, but I needed to let her sink or swim on her own. Being my wife affords her a certain level of protection, but there are some nasty bitches among our soldiers’ wives. They won’t hold back from letting her know what they think of having an enemy’s daughter in their midst.

“Yeah. She walked into Mamma’s house, head held high like a queen. She didn’t take any shit about your secret wedding. Blamed the whole thing on you.”

I shrug. “That’s fair.” It was my decision not to have anyone present, after all. Though Antonio and Matteo knew I was going to marry Vinnie, they didn’t realize I was planning to get it done so quickly. I didn’t see any point in waiting. It’s not as if I needed to romance my bride. “You think Mamma likes her?”

“I only stayed for a few minutes, but yes. Mamma seemed to like her, and so did Livvy and Emilia.”

“That’s good.” A smile touches my lips. I want my wife to fit in. She needs to get along with the other women who’re important to me.

“You like her.” A disbelieving snort accompanies Alessandro’s comment.

I’m not sure how he decided that based on what I’ve said so far, but I don’t deny it. “She’s interesting.”

Alessandro smirks. “I knew it. You like her.”

“What are you, twelve?” My jaw twitches in irritation. “All I said was she’s interesting.”

“Which is practically a declaration of love from you.”

I flip him off because I don’t want to discuss what I do or don’t feel for Vinnie. Although Alessandro’s my brother and I’d lay down my life for him, we don’t have the sort of relationship where we talk about emotions and shit.

As I sip my coffee, Alessandro’s expression turns serious. “Do you think you can trust her?”

It’s a valid question. Vinnie seemed genuine in her desire to escape marriage to her father’s frankly disgusting choice of husband, but for all I know, she might have been spinning us a tale to worm her way into our family. She’d have to be a pretty good actress to fool all of us, but I can’t rule out the possibility she’s here to spy for her father.

“No. Her story checked out, and she seems like a straight shooter, but I won’t be sharing family secrets with her anytime soon.”

Alessandro frowns. “Of course not, but you’ll have to open up to her a bit if you want to build trust. Your relationship won’t survive if you don’t communicate.”

I roll my eyes. Vinnie and I have been married for less than a day. We haven’t had much opportunity to communicate yet.

“You’ve been married for how long?” I ask Alessandro.

“Six months.”

“Offer me advice when you get to six decades, little brother.”

Alessandro holds his hands up in surrender as I remind him of his place in the pecking order.

“I’m not trying to be an asshole,” he assures me. “I just want you to have what Emilia and I have.”

It’s possible, I suppose. I mean, Alessandro and Emilia got married mere days after setting eyes on each other for the first time. Now they’re mooning about like love’s young dream. I doubt Vinnie and I will slip down the same romantic rabbit hole, but we could make a formidable team.

“Yeah, okay.” I know he’s only looking out for me, but this isn’t a conversation I’m willing to continue. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

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