Page 101 of Of Lies and Shadows

I sigh and shift, trying to slide out of his hold, but the moment I move, his arm tightens around me. He buries his face against my neck with a soft groan.

“I love the way you smell,” he mumbles into my skin, his voice thick with sleep.

God.

I close my eyes, swallowing hard.I love the way you smell too.I’ve been burying my face in his pillow every morning like some pathetic girl with a crush, telling myself it’s just comfort. Just routine. But I know better.

“I have to get up,” I whisper. “The kids are probably already stirring, and Alessio has fencing this morning.”

He presses a lazy kiss just beneath my ear and groans like the universe has wronged him. “You sure he needs fencing? It’s not very Italian mafia.”

I laugh before I can stop myself, shaking my head. “It’s not supposed to be. Not everything has to be about legacy.”

He releases me with a sigh and rolls onto his back, rubbing his hand over his face. “You’ve ruined me,” he mutters.

“I haven’t even had coffee yet,” I reply, sitting up and stretching.

He looks at me then, eyes heavy-lidded, hair a mess, and still somehow the most beautiful contradiction of a man I’ve ever known. “Still,” he says, “you’re doing a pretty damn good job of it.”

“Don’t you have a meeting this morning?” I ask as I slide out of bed and reach for my robe.

Dante groans again. “Yeah. A breakfast one. I’ll leave soon.”

I tie the sash around my waist and head toward the bathroom. “I’ll let Nina know Lucia’s tutor should be here any minute. I’m just going to shower first.”

His voice follows me, low and teasing. “You offering me an invite to join you?”

I pause with my hand on the doorframe and glance back at him. There’s a lazy grin tugging at his lips, but something vulnerable flashes behind his eyes. Hope? Maybe even affection, and that’s somehow worse than the question.

It’s too intimate, too real, too much like a relationship.

I don’t answer. But he reads the silence like he always does.

His smile fades before I can even say no. “Forget it,” he mutters, shifting onto his back. “If I step in there with you, we’ll both be late.”

I give him a small, grateful smile and slip into the bathroom.

The water is quick and scalding, but not enough to quiet the thoughts spiraling in my head. When I finally emerge wrapped in my nanny outfit, the hallway is alive with thesound of giggles and pirate curses.

I follow the noise to Alessio’s room, where I find Lucia doubled over on the floor, laughing so hard she’s red in the face. Alessio, on the other hand, is flailing like a fish in a net, halfway into his fencing uniform and clearly losing the battle.

“Cece, this thing is cursed!” He huffs, tangled in one sleeve.

Lucia gasps between giggles. “He’s stuck! Like a trapped crab!”

I laugh despite myself. “A very dramatic one.”

Alessio glares at both of us. “I’ll have you know this is a royal pirate uniform, and it’s clearly been sabotaged.”

I kneel beside him and start helping him out of the mess of fabric. “Well, let’s un-sabotage you, Captain Calamity.”

He grins as I free his arm. And just like that, the world narrows for a second to this. Laughter. Fabric. Fencing gear. His sister’s snort as she rolls on the carpet. The sweet, messy beauty of a moment that feels a lot like peace.

By the time we make it to the kitchen, the smell of coffee and warm toast wraps around us like a blanket. Nina is already bustling at the stove, flipping something in a pan, while the twins scramble into their seats with the kind of energy only children and madmen possess.

Lucia hums as she stirs her yogurt, swinging her legs under the chair. Alessio sits a little straighter in his fencing uniform, clearly feeling very dashing after surviving his earlier wardrobe crisis.

I’m pouring juice when I hear the creak of the stairs behind me, and then I hear Dante’s sure and heavy footsteps.

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