Mafia Casanova - M. Robinson Page 0,28

you’re safe. Fucking deal with it. I have cameras hooked up to Naz’s room.”

“When did you do that?”

“Don’t worry about it. He’s safe; my men are watching over him. Now go to sleep.”

“But—”

“Eden, keep arguing, and it’s gonna be your bare ass up in the air.”

With a heavy sigh, I hugged my pillow and said nothing only to have him lean over, the heat from his body pressed against mine, as he murmured, “Good choice.”

Although I was exhausted beyond belief, it took me forever to fall asleep.

Because less than forty-eight hours ago, I’d committed the greatest sin of all.

I’d been angry with Tristian.

I’d coveted his brother.

I’d imagined him in my bed.

I’d remembered our hateful night.

And I’d dreamt of Romeo Sinacore, falling asleep with me in his arms.

Now there we were, a dream come true…

But why did it feel like a nightmare instead?

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“The more successful the villain, the more successful the picture.” —Alfred Hitchcock

Romeo

Then: Nine months later

“It’s a boy,” I read in a flat tone the banner hanging across the living room.

Laughter trickled out of the joint baby shower, the house was littered with happy couples and screaming children, something that a year ago would have sent me running in the opposite direction or at least forced me to lie face down on the pavement in the middle of rush hour traffic.

Instead, there was a small twinge of pain in my chest where my heart of stone beat. The saying, green with envy, never made sense until that moment.

I felt physically sick as my eyes drank in the blue balloons, blue cake, blue confetti, and what seemed to be hundreds of tiny little blue clothes folded near the unwrapped gifts.

I’d been late on purpose.

I knew I would only be able to stomach so much, and not showing up would be insulting to the family, Eden included; after all, I would be his godparent. This would be my godson.

Worst idea Tristian had ever had, but there it was.

Part of me wondered if he did that so that his son would always be protected, never hated by yours truly. I would never touch a child. Our relationship had been strained in the last year, ever since his marriage and their instant pregnancy, instant happiness, instant family, I’d drifted away, burying my head between women’s thighs some nights, slitting their throats the others. Some might say I became the hardest underboss in the Cosa Nostra.

With laser-like focus and determination to forget the woman in the other room, I’d poured myself into making more of a name so that even if I couldn’t touch her, see her, kiss her, be with her, she had no choice but to hear my name until she was sick with it.

If that made me a monster, so be it.

She needed to hear my name like I did hers in my head with no end in sight. There were nights where I pictured her lips I kissed, her tongue I sucked, her pussy I stuck my dick in. Those were the times I felt the most guilt, picturing my brother’s wife so I could come.

What kind of monster had I become?

“Romeo.” My brother’s voice interrupted my morose thoughts. He was wearing a blue shirt with the moniker Dad to be scrawled across the front. “Glad you could finally make it.” He held out his hand.

Was it my imagination, or did he emphasize the word finally? I took his hand, completely unfazed as his fingers squeezed mine to the point of all-out strangulation before I dropped it to my side.

It was the first time we’d shaken hands in months, the first time we’d been forced to talk, the first time we’d been in the same room together voluntarily.

“It seems like all I’ve been doing lately is congratulating you.” My smile felt so fake I wanted to choke myself. “And a boy? I bet Mom’s excited. She always did favor boys. Much to Juliet’s dismay.”

Tristian scowled. “I used to think that, but have you seen Juliet recently? If she’s not at the house, she’s out shopping with Mom, getting her hair done, nails. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if Mom took her wine tasting as a teen.”

A shriek sounded as Juliet rounded the corner, ran at me at full speed, and launched herself into my arms, her glossy black hair swinging into my face. “You’re here!”

“And you learned how to strangle a man, good for you.” I chuckled, hugging her back.

She laughed against me, her body humming with energy as I