Page 77 of Between Us

She paced the room, gnawing on the inside of her cheek. “Good, Papà. And you?”

“I'm fine. Haven't seen you since you got married.”

“I visited a few weeks ago, but you weren't home.”

“So I heard. Regardless, you've been neglecting your family as of late. I expect you to be home for lunch this Sunday. Bring your husband with you.”

Alessandra met Roman's eyes as he entered the bedroom. “I...uh… I'll let him know.”

“Good. I'll see you then.”

As soon as he hung up, she realized that her father's birthday was on Sunday.

“Who was it?” her husband asked, reading the apprehension on her face.

“My papà. He wants us to attend the family lunch this Sunday for his birthday.”

She expected Roman to refuse the invitation. Instead, he simply nodded and reached for the buttons of his dress shirt, undoing them one by one.

“So, you don't mind going?”

“I'm not going to enjoy it, but I don't want you to go alone.”

She let out a deep breath. “Thank you.”

“Come here,” he cajoled softly, letting the open shirt expose his inked chest. She walked over and wrapped her arms around his naked waist. Roman lifted her chin and pressed his lips to the tip of her nose. “You are a Leskov now. Your father can go fuck himself and take his demands with him. If you don't want to go, you don't have to.”

“I want to see Matty and my mom.”

“Then we'll go together.”

Alessandra felt an infinite ocean of gratitude that he was so supportive, even when she knew how tense relations were between their two families. She pressed her cheek to his chest, listening to his strong heartbeats. “Does he know?”

“About last week?”

She nodded.

“No.”

She nodded again in acknowledgement, though she didn’t say anything else.

She didn't even want toimagineher father's reaction if he ever found out about the kidnapping. Nero Rossetti was a shrewd and skilled businessman before anything else. He only needed a reason to capitalize on the Russians' slip up, and she refused to be the one to give it to him.

Not that she cared too much about the Bratva and its future, but Romanwasimportant to her, and the organization was his legacy. For him, she would do anything.

29

As soon as they made it through the front door of the Rossetti mansion on Sunday, Roman and Alessandra were greeted by an animated Gabriella.

“Bambina, don't you look beautiful.” She pulled her daughter into a tight hug, the happy glow in her eyes revealing she'd had a few drinks already.

“Hi, Mamma,” Alessandra said with a chuckle.

Gabriella drew back to give Roman a smile. “Roman, I’m glad you could come.”

“Thank you for the invitation,” he said smoothly, keeping one hand in his slacks' pocket. As much as he disliked Nero, he found his wife a lot more tolerable. Besides, he was trying to play nice for Alessandra’s sake.

Gabriella took the gift bag from Alessandra and ushered them toward the patio doors. “Your father is outside. He'll be happy to see you.”

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