“Be safe, Alessandro.”
“I will.”
I head out with my mind turning over every possible stone. Who could have attacked Graziella and why? An unknown enemy is traipsing freely in our midst, and they must be stopped before another member of our clan is attacked.
The ride back to my estate takes ten minutes, and peace settles on me when I see the guards patrolling my grounds.
“Sir, you might want to take that off before you go into the house. The kids…” Rocco says, nodding his head at my shirt.
Looking down, I notice there are streaks of blood on my shirt. They’re from holding Marco and trying to calm him down. Rocco’s right, I think, removing my shirt. The last thing I want to do is scare the shit out of my wife, daughter, or Sabrina.
Handing it to Rocco, I say, “Get rid of this.”
He nods as I bound up the steps, pushing the large doors to my home open. I hear Mila’s voice as she comes running from the family room.
“Ales, baby? Is that you?”
Her beautiful face is all the reassurance I need that everything will be right in the world. She stops running when she notices I’m only wearing my undershirt.
“Where’s your shirt?”
I see Sabrina, Bianca, and Bones stepping out of the family room. Giving him a brief nod, I turn to Sabrina with a plea in my eyes.
“Hey, Bianca. Why don’t we go fix your Papà a plate and warm it up for him?”
“Okay,” my sweet daughter says, taking Sabrina’s hand and heading toward the kitchen.
“Where’s Aris?”
“He’s asleep in the den,” Bones says.
“Mind watching him for me?”
“Not a problem, Boss.”
I grab my wife’s hand, tugging her behind me as I head up the stairs to our master suite.
“Ales, you’re scaring me again. What the hell has happened, and what aren’t you telling me?” Mila demands as we head up the steps.
“Just a minute,” I say.
Once we’re in the bedroom behind locked doors, I sit on the bed, pulling her onto my lap.
“Bones is here, and I’ve noticed an increased presence on the grounds when I took Aris and Bianca out for a little sun earlier. Bones wouldn’t let me wander around the property. He kept me in the back, close to the playground. What’s going on, Ales?”
“Baby.”
I sigh, holding her close as my heart thunders in my chest. All my fears slam to the forefront of my heart and mind at this moment. I’ve kept the worries at bay the entire morning to not go insane.
“What, Alessandro?” she asks, turning around on my lap to face me.
She holds my face in her hands when I look up at her. “Tell me. I can handle anything.”
“Graziella is dead.”
“What?”
It was such a soft whisper that I’m not sure she even realized she spoke it.