Campbell chuckled. "Well, from the impression I got that must have pissed him right off."
"I'm sure a lot of things about Samara pissed him off," I agreed. "She's not exactly the type who belongs with a domineering bastard like that, but she's a grown ass woman and has to make her own decisions. Or so she likes to remind me, anyway."
Another chuckle, and I'd known Campbell long enough to know he commiserated with me. His own wife was like an older, more stubborn version of Samara. There should be a special club for men like us, who had women who drove us crazy, and we loved every second. Because even while we loved it, I knew my Little Dove made me want to tear my hair out.
Frequently.
But I very much looked forward to the day when she could tear it out for me.
While she was underneath me. Right where she belonged.
Damn the consequences.
"Alright, I'll run a background check," Campbell said.
"No. I want surveillance. I want to know where he goes, what he does. If he so much as looks at Samara wrong, I want to know about it. He's fighting the divorce, and she's keeping secrets from me. I want to know exactly what they are."
"You want me to look into her too?" Campbell asked, and even though I thought about it, I decided against it.
"Let's start with him. If she finds out I had her followed, she'll lose her shit. If nothing comes up with him, then we'll reconsider."
"Good plan. I'll start today." He stood from the chair, making for the door without so much as a glance my way to say goodbye.
"Campbell? You find something, I want to know as soon as you find it. Got it?"
"You got it Mr. Bellandi."
I nodded, dismissing him out the door of the club.
???
The Bellandi Estate was far too much house. How Ivory had adjusted to living in it so smoothly given her circumstances was beyond me. She waddled around in the kitchen, ignoring the way Donatello fussed over her and begged her to go sit down. But the woman was already past her due date and pissed about it.
"Angel, would you sit before you give Don a heart attack, please?" Matteo chuckled from his seat on the island stool next to me. I nearly laughed out loud, considering how much he'd hovered when she'd first started showing what seemed like a lifetime ago.
"You heard the doctor. Movement is good for me, walking helps bring on labor sometimes," Ivory protested, walking to the other side of the kitchen to grab the sugar she needed for whatever chocolate deliciousness she was mixing.
"I don't think pacing around in the kitchen is what he had in mind. A walk around the property in the fresh air would be more accurate."
"Have you been outside today, you hermit?" After the stand mixer stirred for her, she poured the batter into the pan and let Don bend to put it in the oven, thankfully.
I wasn't sure she could bend that far anymore.
Matteo grinned at her back as she strutted over to Smaug's tank, lifting him out gently and cooing at him affectionately. The lizard was more spoiled than most children. "I haven't, no. Why would I when I have everything I could ever want in my kitchen?"
"Daww," I teased. "I'm so glad I'm everything you could ever want, Teo."
"Don't call me that," Matteo warned, waving a finger at me. My eyes tipped over to Ivory where she continued to pace about the kitchen and only spared her husband a single, bored glance.
The joys of pregnancy.
"It's freezing outside, so the kitchen it is. Little Luna needs to come. I am not having a C-Section, do you hear me Matteo Bellandi?" Her face hardened into a glare that would terrify most men. Matteo was braver than me, or just plain stupid. Personally, I thought the latter.
"Whatever you say, cara mia," he murmured in that gentle voice I'd thought I would never hear from my hardened cousin. Satisfied with his agreement, Ivory nodded and kept walking. Smaug snuggled on the shelf her protruding belly presented, clinging to her sweater lightly. He hung out there more than on her shoulder since her belly had gotten big enough, staring up at his owner in awe like he knew exactly what kicked at him periodically from inside her stomach.
Some people had guard dogs. Luna had a guard gecko.
Totally normal.