17.

LUCA

"I know now that Geno and Frank are the lowest of the low, but kidnapping a little girl is beyond anything I would have ever . . . I just . . . I can't wrap my head around it," Zach admitted with a sigh as he shook his head in disbelief.

"All this time, we thought he was just coming after us, but obviously, Geno had a secondary agenda," Rico said before he took a sip from the rocks glass in his hand.

"And we're positive that this woman is innocent in all of this?" Ziggy, Rico Romano's brother and second in command, asked. "How can we be sure?"

"Maybe we should have a few words with her," Cento Moretti suggested.

Cento and his brother Tonio were the head of the Moretti family and just so happened to be Zach's cousins. The connections between the four families went back for years - long before me and my brother or even our friend Zach Campana were born.

My father had killed the leader of the Moretti family after he planned the murder of my grandfather that also took the life of an aunt I'd never gotten the chance to meet. For that crime, he'd spent most of my life in prison, having only been released a few years ago - after which, he decided to make his life in Texas rather than come back to New York and rejoin the family business.

With our father out of the picture, his uncle took over the family and ran it just like the men before him - on the wrong side of the law and without any morals whatsoever. Luckily, our parents had worked with the Morettis and Romanos to help develop a deep friendship with Zach Campana. When it came time to wrest control away from Zach's father and our great-uncle, we had the help of the entire Romano and Moretti families.

Rico and Ziggy Romano along with Cento and Tonio Moretti had been instrumental in helping us take our rightful place as the head of our family, and they'd done the same for Zach when he took over the Campana legacy. With the newfound peace between the families, we'd merged them together into The Four Families and worked together to keep the peace in New York while forming alliances up and down the east coast and across the country.

"You won't be having words with Tabby," I said firmly. "I can assure you that she wasn't in an alliance with the Bovinos."

"I'd like to make sure of that myself," Rico said just as firmly.

"She's my wife," I announced as I looked Rico in the eye. My gaze didn't waver as I looked from Rico to his brother and then over to Cento and Tonio. When I looked at Zach, he had an expression of utter shock. "I married her this morning."

"What an overachiever," Zach mumbled. "I asked you to watch out for her, not turn her into your wife, Luca."

"Well, I made an executive decision."

"It's more than that," Matteo said with a wry grin. "I've met her, and let me just say that although I probably wouldn't have taken it quite so far, I can understand why he wants to protect her."

"You married her?" Rico asked. "What if she's part of this entire scheme? Did you think about that?"

"I am positive that she isn't. Neither is Simon or their friend Darlene."

"Darlene works for Teddy," Matteo informed us.

"Teddy? Vegas Teddy?" Zach asked. "No shit."

"I just made the connection," Matteo explained. "The last time I was there to cover the games, a guy kept giving me the death stare. I asked who he was, trailed it back to New York, and realized he was one of Teddy's guys that he took over when we got out of the business. His name is Reynaldo, and he works for Darlene which means that he works for Teddy."

"He thought you were me."

"Exactly."

"So, your wife has connections to one of the highest priced madams in New York, is carrying two of the Campana heirs, and was living in a building owned by the Bovinos while working in their bar, but you're trying to convince us that she doesn't have connections?" Rico asked incredulously.

"You'll have to give me a second. I'm still reeling over the fact that my new daughter calls a high-priced escort ‘grandma,'" I admitted. "That's a lot to take in all at once."

"So is the fact that you married your mark," Cento said angrily.

"I fell in love with my mark and will do whatever it takes to protect her," I retorted.

"Brett insists that Tabby wouldn't knowingly get in bed with the mafia," Zach insisted. "But unless you haven't consummated this marriage, that's exactly what she did."

"She's not quite as innocent as Brett seems to believe," Matteo said while staring at me. "We haven't had a chance to discuss this yet, but Tabby's daughter spilled the beans earlier about just exactly how Rebecca died."

"And that was part of the reason she was hiding out," I added. "She overheard Rebecca on the phone talking about basically selling the twins and refused to be part of it. There was some sort of struggle that included her daughter, and Tabby reacted the way any mother would. She fought back, and Rebecca ended up dead."

"Holy shit," Zach whispered in shock. "Tabby's going to make me give her the key to the city."

"Is that even a thing?" Matteo asked.

"She killed the thorn in Zach's side?" Rico asked. "I'm right there with him. Holy shit."

"Rebecca threatened Ember, so Tabby pushed her over the railing, and she went splat," I said with a grin. "Tabby took off and hid out with Simon and fully planned on raising the twins as her own."

"And now?"

"I married her, so she'll always have a connection to them. It's killing her to know that you could take them away and never let her see them again, but now that she's part of The Four Families . . ."

"And she's protected by the Russo name," Matteo interrupted.

"She's untouchable," I said firmly. "I have faith that she's exactly what she seems, and as soon as you meet her, you'll all feel the same way."

Rico leaned back in his chair and studied my face for a second before he said, "I guess this means congratulations are in order."

"Aww. The kids are growing up so fast," Cento said with a grin.

Tonio laughed. "It almost brings a tear to the eye. We've got Zach and Luca suddenly becoming fathers to little girls who are going to give them gray hair and ulcers, and Zach's going to be raising twin boys who I imagine will turn out to be little hellions. There really is a God, and he's laughing his ass off."

I looked at Zach and reiterated, "I assured Tabby that you wouldn't cut her out of their lives."

"Brett never planned on keeping the kids away from Tabby; she just wanted to make sure they were safe," Zach assured me. "And if being around the tiny terrorist has taught me anything, it's that I'm not going to be much help when it comes to infants, so I'll welcome anything you and that . . . your wife want to do to help."

"You mean that?"

"How often do any of us say shit we don't mean?" Tonio asked. He winced and said, "Well, at least, to each other?"

"Good point. I should have had more faith in all of you, but there's just something about her that makes me want to protect her. Ember too."

"It's called love, my friend," Cento said knowingly. "Protect that with your life because it's not as easy to find as you may think."

◆◆◆

TABBY

"I lost my temper because I was hurt that you'd believe Rebecca even after everything I'd confided in you about her."

"I understand now, although I didn't at the time. She was so convincing that I let my underlying feelings about the situation with my own mom override my common sense."

"I don't understand what you mean."

"Your mother seemed so sincere when she said that all she wanted was to make up for what a horrible job she'd done with you. She said that she was young and selfish with the wrong priorities, and you'd paid for that dearly. She convinced me that she just wanted another chance to be a mother and prove to you that she was a different person in the hopes that you would forgive her for the past and develop a solid mother-daughter relationship."

"And you believed her?"

"I did it because, more than anything, I wished I could have a second chance with my own family, but I see now that part of my motivation was also greed. I was impulsive and didn't consider how I would feel about carrying a baby that I couldn't raise. I know that surrogacy happens all the time, but I see now that I'm not cut out for it. I know that you're with Zach now and the two of you plan to raise the boys but . . ." I looked away and sniffed back tears before I said, "I want to sincerely ask for your forgiveness and beg for a chance to be part of that, Brett."

"I forgave you the second I calmed down, Tab. If it's possible, I'd like to forget that day in the park and the horrible things I said to you. If anyone understands how manipulative Rebecca could be, it's me. And as far as helping to raise the twins goes, you're so firmly entrenched in their lives, there'd be no way for you to escape at this point."

"I hope so."

"You married Luca. I mean, don't get me wrong, the man is definitely a looker, and I have to admit that he can be charming, but you married him?"

"Today, actually. We've been married less than twelve hours."

"Did you want to or did you feel like you didn't have any other choice because if that's the case, then we can fix this, Tab."

"No. I wanted to. He's different from any man I've ever met, and the way he makes me feel is . . . I just can't explain it. I feel like he really sees me, and when we talk, he actually listens and hears what I'm saying."

"But is that a reason to get married, Tab? You barely know him."

"I barely know Luca the mobster, but I know Luca, Brett. I'm glad I didn't know who he was when we met because I would have never given him a chance otherwise." I wondered how much I should tell my friend about the situation or the conversation I'd had with Luca, which was crazy considering that I used to be able to tell her anything. But now, I had someone else to think about - not just Ember, but Luca, too, and I didn't want to have a repeat of those moments in the car when I felt like an embarrassment to him. "You should understand since you're with Zach now, and we both know what the odds of that happening were."

"Less than one percent, that's for sure," Brett said with a laugh. "He's not what he seems on the outside, Tab. He comes off as this selfish little shit, but he's so much deeper than that when you get to know him."

I laughed at Brett's description and said, "That's not how Luca described him at all."

"Luca isn't a woman or a single mother who has her child's best interest at heart."

"In a way, I'm glad that you let Luca keep coming around so I could get to know him, but I'm sort of upset that we couldn't reconnect sooner."

"I didn't know that Luca had found you until very recently, Tab, but I'm not sure I could have deterred him. My mother was in the middle of some odd triangle of terror between horrible Italian men and the Russian mafia. Believe me, it's been a very terrifying and enlightening time in my life."

"Ditto, sister. I feel your pain."

"But now look where we are," Brett said as she motioned to the huge apartment around us. I could hear Ember and Coco giggling from somewhere and then the yip of a small dog before they laughed again. "Living in the penthouse at the fanciest address in the city with men who are so rich, we never would've imagined them giving us the time of day."

"And I'm married."

"I still can't believe it," Brett admitted.

"It's getting easier for me, especially now that I know you and Zach won't yank the babies out of my life permanently."

"Honey, I remember what it was like to raise one infant. You're crazy if you think I'm not going to take all the help I can get when you throw two into the mix while I keep track of the most curious and obstinate toddler God ever created."

"Wouldn't it be nice to have a clone of Sasha at this point?"

"We don't need a clone, Tab. We've got the real thing just downstairs, and she can't wait to see you."

"I missed her so much."

"Probably just about as much as she missed you," Brett said as she stood from where she'd been sitting on the couch. She held her hand out to help me up, and then I smiled when she said, "Let's take the girls to see their bushka."

"I think this is the happiest day of my life," I admitted before I added, "Right after the day Ember was born, of course."

"Don't lie, sweetheart. I remember what childbirth was like, and anyone that says it's beautiful hasn't experienced it themselves. It's painful and terrifying with a side of wonderful."

"Isn't that the truth?"

"This time it will be different, though, because I'll be right by your side through it all."

"Promise?"

"Absolutely."