Page 40 of His to Break

“Because you married Leo fucking Volante, Vinnie!” His exasperation is on full display as he throws his hands in the air. “What were you thinking?”

My brother knows exactly why I approached the Volantes and married whichever of them was willing to take me on. Since he apparently doesn’t want to discuss the predicament I was in, I throw a flippant answer at him. “I was thinking we’d make beautiful babies.”

Daniele snorts derisively. “There are literally millions of men out there you could make beautiful babies with, Venezia.”

Ouch. He used my full name, a sign that he’s angry with me. If he’d tacked on Giulietta Maria Bianchi after that, I’d have started planning my funeral.

“Why Leo Volante? Are you trying to start a war?”

“Why would marrying a man I find attractive, who makes me feel good about myself, start a war?”

I’m being deliberately obtuse and my brother knows it. He grits his teeth.

“You may have grown up in England, but you’re not naïve about this world.”

Sometimes I wish I was completely unaware of how my father and his kind operate. Unfortunately, the men he had guarding me weren’t discreet. They happily discussed his crimes in front of me. Whether that’s because they were oblivious to my presence or they wanted to scare me into compliance, I have no idea.

“Will there be a war?” I may not want to know every aspect of the mafia business, but if conflict is coming, I need to be ready for it.

Daniele shakes his head. “Not if I can help it.” He reaches across the table and takes my hand. “The old man’s on his way out. He has weeks, a couple of months at most.”

I look down to where Daniele is rubbing his thumb back and forth over the back of my hand. Does he actually think I’d need to be comforted as I heard that news? Though I would never gloat about someone dying, I don’t feel the need to mourn for my father, either. After a lifetime of him alternating between indifference and cruelty toward me, I have no fucks left to give.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“Lung cancer.”

My father wasn’t a smoker, but he spent most of his life around people who were. I guess the moral of the story is to be careful who you choose to hang out with.

“So when he dies, what happens? You become the enemy?”

The corners of Daniele’s lips turn down as if the very thought of us being at odds with each other makes him sad. My brother and I may not have grown up together, but we’ve always been close. The only source of jealousy between us is that I got to spend time with our mother when I was little and he missed out on knowing what a wonderful woman she was. He knows he can’t blame me for that. Given that he was raised almost entirely by our bastard of a father, Daniele’s turned out to be a decent man.

“I’ll never be your enemy, V.”

“And Leo?”

He sighs in a world-weary way. “I’m not going to invite your husband over for a family barbecue anytime soon, but if he stays out of my business, I’ll leave him alone. I’m not interested in continuing feuds our grandfathers started.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

I try my cappuccino again and find the temperature more pleasing this time.

Daniele leans against the back of the banquette and looks at me appraisingly. “Did you mean what you said about Volante making you feel good about yourself?”

“Yes, I did.” I smile as I consider how desirable I feel when Leo hits me with one of his smoldering glances. “He’s not exactly Prince Charming, but he’s right for me.”

Daniele smiles tightly. “I can only hope I’m as lucky as you, then.”

“What do you mean?”

His mouth twists in displeasure. “Umberto Gallo was out for blood when he heard what you did. To appease him, I’m marrying his granddaughter, Serena.”

I mentally scan the Gallo family tree, searching for someone of that name. “Paulie’s daughter?”

“That’s her.”

Serena’s thirty-two, which makes her four years older than my brother. It’s unusual for a future boss to take a wife who isn’t a lithe young virgin, let alone one who comes with two—or is it three?—infant daughters.

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