Twisted Bonds (The Camorra Chronicles 4)

She nodded, her eyes filled with so much love sometimes it still caught me off guard. Sighing, she turned to the crib and carefully laid Alessio down then stayed bent over him and just watched him. I pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. “I’ll grab a quick shower.”

“Okay,” she whispered.

When I emerged ten minutes later Kiara had changed into a nightgown and was lying on her side, watching Alessio. She’d removed the bars on the side of the crib facing the bed and was stroking his belly gently.

I climbed into bed behind her and pressed against her back. She released a small breath. “Sometimes I’m scared he’ll disappear if I close my eyes, and that this will turn out to be a dream.”

“It’s not,” I murmured against her neck. “And nothing will take him away from us. He’s ours. Have you chosen his birthday?”

Kiara released a small sigh. “I’ve been thinking about it all day. It seems wrong to decide something like that for a small person.”

“We have no way of finding out his birth date.”

“I know, and I think we should just say he was born July 1st. It’s the beginning of a new month, a new start. The possibility of new adventures…” She trailed off. “I know I’m putting too much meaning into a simple date, but I feel like he needs a special day.”

“That sounds good. First of July, it is then.”

She nodded. “I’ll always be grateful to Remo and you for bringing him into this family. Many men in our circles wouldn’t want a child that wasn’t their blood, especially not a child from a prostitute. They’d insist to have an heir.”

I trailed my fingers up and down her slender arm. “Alessio is my heir, Kiara. Blood or not. Remo and I don’t care about that. We took Fabiano in and he’s become our family. And I can’t see how it would matter that his birthmother was a whore. It’s got nothing to do with him. He’ll grow up to be a Falcone.”

“Look at everyone in this house. All of our pasts hold horrors in some shape or form, but somehow we’ve come together. Sometimes I’m scared it’ll catch up with us. It’s too perfect, too good.”

I shook my head. “The past is just that. It can only catch up if we allow it to, and we won’t.”

Kiara smiled, and with that beautiful image I extinguished the lights. I believed in the words I’d just said even if Remo and I were still tethered to our past through our mother.

That was our weakness and wouldn’t taint our family.

CHAPTER 24

NINO

Despite a lack of sleep a newborn entailed, Kiara seemed to glow with energy and happiness as she took care of Alessio. He hardly slept more than two hours in a row, a fussy and nervous baby who needed lots of attention. That was probably why his birthmother had burnt him. Some people should never consider having children, so very unlike Kiara who had an endless supply of patience, not just for Alessio but for everyone.

While Kiara prepared a bottle for him, I cradled him on my thighs. He was already mewling, desperate for food. “It’s okay, Alessio. Your mom’s bringing you your milk soon.”

I gently pushed up his shirt, checking the two burn marks on his belly. They were still red but healing. “Can you give me the salve?” I asked Remo, who’d been kicking the boxing sack, which he refused to have removed from the living area despite Kiara’s and Serafina’s not so subtle hints.

Stopping his assault, he grabbed the tube from the table, sank down beside me and handed me the salve. I put a bit of it on my fingers and rubbed it between them, so it wouldn’t be too cold then spread it on Alessio’s wounds. He stopped the mewling only moving his mouth as if he was already suckling the bottle.

“I can’t believe how fucking small he is,” Remo said, touching his finger to Alessio’s palm. “Nevio and Greta were already five months older when I first saw them, and I already thought they were tiny.”

When I was done with his burns, I pulled back and immediately Alessio mewled again so I kept rubbing his belly with my thumb. Kiara showed up with the bottle and I was about to hand Alessio to her because she’d handled the feeding and almost everything else so far, eager to finally be a mother, but she shook her head.

“Your turn.”

I took the bottle from her and she settled on the armrest. The moment I touched the dummy to Alessio’s lips, he eagerly began to suck but I kept stroking his belly since it seemed to calm him. Remo got to his feet and squeezed my shoulder then walked out into the garden.

“What do you see when you look at him?” Kiara asked, raking her fingers through my hair the way I always enjoyed.