Page 49 of A Son Hidden from the Sicilian

Rocca should be here.

It was his failure she wasn’t.

But he hadn’t failed again. He was surrounded by evidence of all he’d done. The way every step from that mistake, that loss, had been exactly the right one.

He looked around the table. So many voices. Laughter, little arguments, children’s meltdowns. It was the sound of a job well done. There weren’t loud, angry fights. No one here had to worry about money. No one had to sell themselves for a scrap of bread. No one here had to lose themselves in a haze of drugs in order to deal with the weight of the things they’d done to survive, to earn a dollop of praise.

BecauseLorenzohad stepped in. Unlike their useless father.Hewould have let them starve.Hewould have let them all be ruined.

Lorenzo refused.

So he should be able to enjoy it, his success, but he couldn’t, because Brianna sat shoulder to shoulder with Saverina and Isa, Stefano’s wife, discussingsomething. Meanwhile, Gio had voluntarily climbed into Lorenzo’s lap and was playing a kind of peekaboo game with Karl, Valentine’s partner, the two of them the last to arrive, coming all the way from Germany.

Why had Saverina done this to him? The whole evening was interminable. And he struggled to stick with any conversation because his gaze kept traveling to Brianna. Thinking over what she’d said in his office. What she’d said last night.

Watching the way she fit right in. Her and Gio, even her parents. They didn’t feel like a little American island, out of place in the midst of his loud, opinionated family.

It all fit.

And Brianna loved him.

He had known she cared for him. He had been afraid she loved him—well, no. Not afraid. That wasn’t the right word.Concerned. But her saying the words this morning... It shouldn’t change anything. The words weren’t a surprise.

So why did he feel rocked to his core?

“I love you. I will do a lot of things to put Gio first. I would sacrifice almost anything for him. But I can’t sacrifice myself—every happiness. If I did, he would feel it.”

Those words haunted him. On a constant loop.

If I did, he would feel it.

As if sacrifice, as if control and plans wouldhurtGio, when everything he was putting in place was to protect Gio. Just as he’d done for all his siblings over the years he’d finally been in control.

Brianna came over to him, and she didn’t meet his gaze. She looked at their son.

“I better put this one to B-E-D,” Brianna said, holding her arms out to Gio. The boy went easily, but he smiled at Lorenzo as he did. He was warming up. Step by step. And Lorenzo knew that time would only strengthen their bond. Gio would never remember Lorenzo had missed out on him as an infant.

Gio would only know his constant presence. Because itwouldbe constant. No matter what Brianna saidnoto.

“Say good night to Dada,” Brianna said to Gio.

“Night, Da.”

It was the first time Gio had actually saidDa. The boy clearly didn’t feel the weight of that first, but Lorenzo did. And when he lifted his gaze to Brianna, he knew she did as well. It would be a moment that would stick in his memory for all time.

Gio in his mother’s arms. Lorenzo’s family chattering around them. And one simple word.Da.

Brianna turned away quickly, Gio in her arms, her parents trailing after her. Leaving him to face down his family. The exit of the Americans seeming to put everyone’s attention squarely onhim.

“Saverina says you’re in love with her,” Valentine offered, rather loudly, considering the Andersens had onlyjustleft the room.

Lorenzo skewered him with a look.

“I heard that she loves him right back,” Stefano offered.

“Then why is she still planning to leave?” Saverina demanded. “What iswrongwith you?”

“As lovely as this little family reunion is, without the excuse of Christmas, I can’t imagine why I’d put up with it.” He tried to get up, but Accursia, who sat on his other side, put her hand over his.

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