Twisted Bonds (The Camorra Chronicles 4)

“If she doesn’t want to fight, Alessio and Nevio are going to protect her,” I said, pressing a kiss to Alessio’s soft hair. The others gathered around Alessio and me as well, and I showed him to everyone.

“Hey Alessio,” Fabiano said with a small smile. “Finally, another blue-eyed boy in this family.”

“You could just start working on blue-eyed kids yourself,” Remo suggested with a twisted grin.

Fabiano’s eyes widened in alarm, and Leona shook her head quickly.

“Not yet,” she said. They exchanged a look and laughed.

“I think there are enough babies in this house now,” Savio said.

Remo’s mouth twitched. “We’ll see.”

“Oh man,” Adamo said. I rolled my eyes at him and he gave me a small smile, one that reminded me of the ones from the past. “He is cute though.”

“I know he is,” I said.

Nevio and Greta were still curiously, considering the newcomer. I couldn’t wait for them to be older and play together in the garden.

Alessio began to squirm and mewl softly, smacking his lips. “You’re hungry, aren’t you?”

“Do you want me to prepare a bottle for him?” Serafina asked at once.

Smiling, I nodded. “That would be great.”

She handed Nevio over to Nino then hurried away.

“I can’t believe someone would throw a baby into the trash,” Leona said in disbelief, coming closer.

Remo and Nino exchanged a dark look.

“He’s too thin and he’s got cigarette burns on his stomach,” Nino said. “And the whore didn’t even remember his birthday.”

“She gave birth to him in the apartment of a shitty dealer she fucked in return for drugs and didn’t take him to a doctor until a few days later.”

My throat tightened as I regarded Alessio. Nino had briefly mentioned that we’d have to choose the birthday of our son but it seemed like such a monumental thing to decide that we hadn’t made up our minds yet.

Leona shook her head with glassy eyes.

“Fuck,” Savio muttered. “We’ve done some crazy shit but dumping a baby, burning it, that’s just fucked up.”

“He’s safe now,” Remo said.

“And in a few years, he’ll be strong enough to defend himself,” Fabiano added.

“You’ll be as strong as your dad and your uncles,” I told my boy.

I settled on the sofa with Leona and Serafina while the twins played with each other on the floor.

I couldn’t stop looking at Alessio as he drank from his bottle, resting peacefully in the crook of my arm.

He was a small baby with thin arms and an almost elfish face, too thin. “We’ll work on those chubby cheeks, won’t we?” I murmured as I stroked his soft cheek then trailed up to his hair. He watched me quietly. Even if his fussy moments would be a lot of work, I preferred them to his very quiet moments, because I always worried that they were a sign of the things he’d already had to endure at such a young age.

Serafina cooed softly and tugged at his small feet. “Makes me want to have another one.”

Nevio threw a wooden block away, then another, grinning like that was an achievement.

“But I’ll give it a few more years,” she added. Nevio continued throwing things around. “Or maybe even longer.”

Leona laughed. “I can’t believe you want more after giving birth to twins.”

“Well, I’m not too excited about labor. You didn’t miss anything,” Serafina told me then grimaced. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

I shook my head. “No, it’s okay. I’d love to give birth, even if it’s painful, but I’m perfectly happy with Alessio. It doesn’t matter how he came to us. He’s our son.”

“He is,” Serafina murmured and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “And you’ll be an amazing mom.”

“Considering that I never had a good or even decent mother, I wonder how I’ll ever be a good mom,” Leona said, touching Alessio’s head gently.

“I don’t have a role model either. My mother was weak, and then she died, and my aunt always only saw me as burden. I’ll raise Alessio like I would have wanted to be raised, with love and care.”

NINO

The other men and I moved to the room adjoining the gaming room, which used to be our father’s office but now harbored only our boxing ring and the pool table as well as part of our liquor cabinet. With our family expanding we needed more room in the gaming room, which was slowly turning into a general common room for all of us. Remo raised a glass. “To the new dad.” We all downed our drink and Adamo hissed at the strength of the alcohol.

“I’m surprised you killed her,” Adamo said with a frown as we all sank down on the armchairs arranged in a half-circle.

“I would have been surprised if he didn’t,” Fabiano said, exchanging a look with Remo. “She deserved death.”

Savio shook his head. “What was he supposed to do to her? Let her go? Hand her over to the police? Not really an option.”