Page 103 of Savage Vows

“Lasagna?” I ask.

She smiles, and that pleases me. “How about eggplant for Alessia?”

When I don’t answer right away, she studies me. And maybe my expression betrays me. With a mother’s instinct, she leans back against the counter. “How are you, Matteo?”

“Adjusting. Coping.” Since we don’t have enough information yet, I don’t tell her where we are in the investigation.

“I remember those days. They weren’t easy.”

They couldn’t have been. My father seized power. There had to have been a lot of planning, and I know there was significant bloodshed. Now I wish I’d thought to ask him the details, what made him take the action. He was still a rich man, with businesses of his own. He could have made a different choice.

But could he have?

Protect the family.

That didn’t mean just his wife and children, it extended to aunts, uncles, cousins.

My mother is still considering me. “And how is married life?”

I hesitate. The truth is a weight that’s pressing down on me. But if I am not forthcoming, my mother will know. How she knows, I have no idea. It’s a mother thing, she’s told me in the past. “She’s currently…” I sip my espresso, stalling.

She waits.

“Staying at the Sterling Uptown,” I admit finally.

“Ah. I see.”

No doubt that she does.

“Sit.”

I make a show of checking my watch.

“It’s early. You have time.’

Maybe a conversation with my mother is what I need. Probably that’s why I headed here instead of straight to work.

While I sit at the island, she fills a plate for me.

“She left for a reason.”

Did she? If so, I have no idea what it was.

“Was there a fight?”

As I pick up a piece of bacon, I shake my head. “I left for the Hill Country, and when I returned, she was gone.”

“I see.”

Glad someone fucking does.

“Before that?”

“What do you mean?” I scowl.

“How much time have you spent together? As a couple?”

She was a Mafia wife—an excellent one. More than anyone, she has to know what my life has been like. “I’ve been busy, Mama. With everything going on?—”

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