Valerian, had attended the funeral and had seemed devastated at the loss. He was ruthless, but he was loyal to all the Italians, which meant it had to be someone on the inside.
I gave my head a shake; I wasn’t going to solve his murder today, or possibly ever—that was where I relied on Romeo. As much as I loathed him—he was good at his job—too good.
I made my way into the kitchen. Wine bottles lined the granite countertops.
Typical Italians.
Someone dies? We drink.
Someone’s born? We drink.
It’s a Tuesday? We drink.
“Naz?” I rounded the corner and nearly choked on my tongue as Romeo sat at Naz’s little Fisher-Price dinner table, his knees knocking the cheap plastic, red crayon in hand. Naz stuck his tongue out between his lips in concentration as they both colored in silence.
“Uncle Romeo, why do you use red all the time?”
“Oh, I’m sure one day you’ll know…” Romeo smirked and then held it up. “Trade you for the pink?”
Naz stared at the red, then at the pink in his hand. “No deal.”
“I’ll up it by one green.” Romeo dug around the crayon box and pulled out a green.
“I love green!” Naz held out his hand. “Pleeeeeease?”
“Please, what?”
Naz rolled his eyes. “Please, favorite uncle?”
“There it is.” Romeo handed him the green, then took the pink and started adding to whatever masterpiece he was working on.
Naz started scribbling something and looked over. “Mama! Where were you? I looked! I got scared, and then Uncle Romeo said you needed to put on lipstick!”
Leave it to Naz to be the only human in existence capable of putting a smile on my face during my husband’s funeral reception. “Uncle Romeo was right,” I pointed to my mouth. “What do you think?”
“Pretty,” Naz giggled; his jet-black hair fell around his ears, his clear blue eyes were identical to his fathers; it was ridiculous how gorgeous he was at five years old.
Ridiculous and terrifying.
“Do I get kisses then?” I knelt.
“Only two.” Naz crossed his arms. “Because I’m a man now.”
“True.” I winked and pointed to my cheek.
He reached up with his grubby hands and held my head, then kissed my cheek twice. “Okay, Uncle Romeo’s turn!”
My eyes widened in horror.
Romeo’s coloring crayon broke in half falling from his fingertips and rolling onto the ground.
Was he thinking about it too?
That night so long ago.
Where I’d finally snapped.
Getting shot would hurt less than the words Romeo had said to me. I would never forgive him for stealing my heart and then, in one fell swoop, breaking it in half like it meant nothing to him.
He didn’t know I hadn’t slept with Tristian yet.
Just like he didn’t know how he took more than my heart that night. One day I would show him the damage. One day it would be impossible not to.
“Um, buddy.” Panicked, I forced a smile. “Uncle Romeo doesn’t give Mama kisses, silly.”
Naz frowned up at me. “Course he does, he gives Nana kisses, and Papa, and he gave Daddy kisses on his cheeks sometimes, Daddy says it’s r-r-resp—” He stopped talking. “It’s responsible?”
“Respectful,” I corrected before I realized I was agreeing with him by correcting him.
Perfect.
“Yeah! Dad said so! He’s in Heaven with Uncle Louis now, and he’s watching. Don’t make Dad sad, Mama.”
Motherfucker.
I half expected Romeo to repeat, yeah, don’t make Dad sad. Instead, he’d completely paled like the idea of kissing me on the cheek was right up there with a beheading.
Seriously?
I smiled at Naz and slowly walked over to Romeo.
He stood, part of the broken crayon still in hand.
“See?” Naz grinned. “You’re making Dad happy now!”
Romeo coughed under his breath. “Not so sure about that…” And before I could stop him, his full mouth was pressed against my cheek, once, twice.
I was lost all over again.
To the man who had loved me only to destroy me.
To the man that had fucking given me to his brother like a consolation prize.
It was over before it even really started, but the linger of his lips felt like a branding on my body—my soul.
And something told me this was just the beginning of the carnage he would leave in his wake because how could he not?
He was Romeo Sinacore.
His brother had been my best friend.
And by marrying him…
I’d lost my soul mate.
“Yay, Uncle Romeo!” Naz did a little cheer. “Does that mean Dad gets to come back now?”
I couldn’t help the gasp that escaped between my lips.
“Little man.” Romeo got down to his level. “I know it seems that kisses are magic and