ログインMatteoFamily days like this are supposed to feel easy. Sunlight. Laughter. Kids running wild in the garden. Mama and Nonna arguing over who gets to hold Luca next. Ciara leaning into me like she was made for my arms. And it is easy. Mostly. Except for the part of me that keeps glancing toward the driveway.Salvatore should’ve been here by now. He didn’t fly in with Kat and Wolf. He didn’t send a text saying he landed. He didn’t even answer when I called this morning. The last time I saw him in person was months ago, before Luca was born, before Christmas, before Juan started stirring up trouble again.We talk on the phone, sure. But that’s not the same. And lately… he’s been different. Shorter calls. Longer silences.A tone in his voice I haven’t heard since we were teenagers and he was hiding something he didn’t know how to explain.Juan is part of it, I know that much. The bastard has been pushing into Kansas City again, trying to take advantage of the chaos Hector and Isolde left b
A year changes everything. The villa is alive in a way it hasn’t been since last year when I first arrived, doors open, sunlight pouring in, voices echoing through the halls. The smell of rosemary, lemon, and fresh bread drifts from the kitchen, mixing with the sound of laughter from the garden.I stand on the balcony with Luca Cillian Ricci tucked against my chest, his tiny fist curled in my dress. He’s three months old now, all dark curls and Matteo’s serious eyes. He’s quiet, observant, always watching the world like he’s already trying to figure out where he fits in it. Below us, the chaos of family unfolds. Matteo and Wolf are “playing” soccer with Jace and Koda, though really, they’re letting Koda win. Jace, now sixteen and all legs and attitude, pretends he’s too cool to care, but he still laughs every time Koda steals the ball from him.Koda shrieks, “I scored! I scored!”Matteo clutches his chest dramatically. “He’s unstoppable!”Wolf falls to his knees. “We’ve been defeated
I never thought getting ready for my wedding would feel like this. Not rushed. Not chaotic. Not like I was being shoved into a suit by half the family. Just… steady. Like the world had finally stopped spinning long enough for me to breathe.Wolf was fixing his tie in the mirror, muttering under his breath about how Kat was going to cry the second she saw Koda walk down the aisle. Salvatore was sitting on the edge of the bed, rolling his cuffs, pretending he wasn’t watching me out of the corner of his eye. I caught his reflection. He smiled. But it didn’t reach his eyes.Wolf clapped me on the shoulder. “You ready, Ricci?”“More than ready,” I said. And I meant it. “I’m marrying Ciara. And we’ve got a baby on the way.”Wolf grinned. “You deserve this, brother.”Salvatore’s smile tightened.That was the moment I knew something was off.I sat beside him. “Alright. What’s going on?”He blinked, surprised. “Nothing. I’m happy for you.”“Sal,” I said quietly. “Talk to me.”He looked down at
I never thought getting ready for my wedding would feel like this. Not rushed. Not chaotic. Not full of nerves. Just… full. Full of everything that’s happened. Everything I’ve survived. Everything I’m about to step into.Kat’s room is warm, sunlight spilling across the bed where my dress hangs. The air smells like hairspray and perfume and the faintest hint of Mama Red’s cooking drifting in from the kitchen. Laughter echoes down the hall, Koda’s, probably and for the first time in days, it doesn’t make my chest tighten. I’m safe. I’m loved. I’m here. And I’m getting married in the backyard of the LOV clubhouse.If someone had told me that a year ago, I would’ve laughed in their face.GreenLee is pinning my hair back, her fingers gentle, steady, practiced. She hasn’t said much, not about the shed, not about Isolde, not about anything that happened yesterday. But she doesn’t have to. Her presence is enough. Her calm is enough.Nonna Ricci sits on the edge of the bed, humming softly whil
The walk back to the clubhouse felt longer than it should have. Maybe because the cold air was finally wearing off. Maybe because the weight of everything, Ciara’s pregnancy, Hector’s end, Mama’s toll was settling into my bones.Or maybe because all I wanted was to see her. The moment I stepped inside, the warmth hit me first. Then the sound.Laughter. Soft. Small. Familiar.I followed it down the hall and into the common room. And there they were. Ciara curled up on the couch, Kat sat on her other side, legs crossed, eyes on the screen. Declan was in the recliner, arms folded, pretending to watch the movie but really watching Sean.And Sean… he sat on the floor beside Koda, stiff at first, but Koda had already leaned against him like he’d known him forever.A cartoon played on the TV, bright colors, silly voices something about a talking dog and a spaceship. The kind of movie that didn’t belong anywhere near the world we’d just walked out of.But maybe that was the point.Ciara looke
Cold air. Concrete. Silence.That’s all I feel at first. Then the door closes behind Matteo and the others, and something inside me breaks loose, panic, sharp and choking, clawing up my throat. I’m alone. No...worse. I’m alone with them.GreenLee steps forward, calm as a still lake, wiping her hands on a towel like she’s about to start baking instead of… whatever this is. The other two women flank her, quiet, steady, their faces unreadable. Luca stays too, arms crossed, eyes hard. I don’t understand why he’s here. I don’t understand any of this.“W‑what are you doing?” My voice cracks. “Where’s Sean? Where’s...”GreenLee tilts her head, studying me like I’m something under glass.“Matteo has other things to focus on,” she says softly. “His woman. His child. My grandchild.”The word hits me like a punch. Child. Ciara is pregnant. My stomach drops, my breath stutters. My heart slams against my ribs so hard it hurts.“No,” I whisper. “No, she’s not...she can’t be...”“She is,” GreenLee sa
Sean’s voice was still ringing in my ears. Shaky, broken, terrified in a way I hadn’t heard since we were kids. And now I had to figure out how to tell everyone else. How do you walk into a room full of men who want your twin dead and say, Hey, he called me. You don’t. You just… do it anyway. Becau
Something was wrong. I didn’t know when the feeling started, maybe back in Texas, maybe before that, but now, sitting in this dusty Oklahoma ranch house with Hector pacing and Isolde pretending to be sweet on me, it was impossible to ignore. They weren’t what they seemed. Or maybe… they were exactl
I didn’t expect her to react like that.Hell, I didn’t expect any of it.One second, Ciara was standing in front of me, eyes sharp, voice steady, arguing logic and strategy as she belonged at the table with the men. Then next? She shoved the dress box into my chest hard.“Here,” she snapped. “Doesn
Kat issued our assignments, GreenLee prepped the coffee, and Mama Red mapped out a plan of attack, none of us even in the first dress yet. We weren't just a group of women out for a shopping adventure; we were family, blood or chosen, sisters in all but name. GreenLee, my best friend since college,







