Bound By Blood Anthology
I headed over to them, shaking my head. “Who would have thought that it ends like this? I remember the days when the three of us were notorious players and party-goers. Now we’re only notorious killers.”
Amo perked up from his slouch over the pizza carton. “What kind of players?”
“Nothing interesting,” Luca said to his son before he smirked at me. “You look like shit. The only women you can have right now are the ten-dollar crack whores in Jersey.”
“Luca,” Aria whispered, shocked.
Luca slanted a look at Marcella who had stopped singing, and grimaced.
“Never mind,” he said.
“I was never a player,” Romero muttered.
“I remember you with more than enough women,” I said with a grin.
Lily’s attention shifted to her husband. “How many?”
Romero gave me a murderous look.
“Why don’t we postpone this conversation to tonight?” Aria suggested.
“Romero was fairly tame,” Luca tried to save Romero’s ass.
“In comparison to you?” Aria asked with raised eyebrows.
Luca sighed. “We men can’t win this argument, can we?”
She came over to me and handed Isa to me before she went over to my brother, wrapping her arms around his neck from behind. “No, no you can’t.”
I kissed Isa’s soft forehead, then pressed her up to my bare chest before I sank down. “How was the night?”
“Busy,” Aria said.
“She can wake the dead with her screech,” Marcella said.
“Maybe she’s trying to sound like that boy band you love so much. What’s their name again? The Castratos?”
Marcella flushed then glared. “That’s not funny.”
I sank down beside Amo and grabbed a piece of the cold pizza. “Why’s your little poo machine not teething and being intolerable yet?” I asked Liliana.
She pursed her lips. “I think he’s just starting to teethe.”
Soft steps rang out and Gianna appeared in the room, red mane a complete mess but she’d put on her own pajama bottoms. She scanned our small congregation with a frown. “What’s going on here?”
“Family council to vote if we’re going to have a second kid or not.”
Gianna snorted and dragged herself over to Aria. “Good luck with that. If necessary, I’ll glue my vajayjay shut.”
“Dad, what’s—” Amo began but Luca shook his head. “Later.”
Marcella looked mildly disturbed but didn’t say anything. Gianna took Isa and cradled her in her arms, kissing her gently. “This girl will remain the only one to ruin my birth channel.”
“Ew,” Marcella exclaimed.
I winked at Gianna who grinned. She sat down beside me.
“You look better,” I murmured.
“I feel better. Sorry about the cold pizza.”
“I fell asleep before I could eat a single bite.”
Gianna rolled her eyes. “Next thing I know we’ll buy a condo in Florida and drive one of those cabs. We’re getting old.”
“You’re growing up,” Luca muttered.
Romero stifled a laugh.
“Family… you can’t live with them, but you can’t live without them either,” I muttered.
Gianna tickled Isa’s belly, earning a giggle. She exchanged a look with Aria.
No matter how much we all teased each other, we stuck together. I’d never appreciated family more than I did now.GiannaThe day of Matteo’s surgery finally arrived. I picked him up afterward. He didn’t show any outward sign of being in pain, but Matteo being Matteo that didn’t mean anything. I’d tried to read up on vasectomies and, in general, the pain was described as moderate, so for Matteo it could really be nothing.
He settled on the passenger side while I took the wheel, which almost never happened. I wasn’t a bad driver but Matteo, like all mob men, preferred to steer.
“Feels as if I got a thumbtack in my balls.”
I snorted. “You’ve had worse.”
“True, but those injuries usually didn’t have me worried I wouldn’t be able to get one up.” Matteo touched my thigh. “We should give it a try.”
I sent him a disbelieving look. “You just got out of surgery and already want to have sex. You know the doctor said you need to wait a week before we do it.”
Matteo’s hand moved higher. I swatted him away.
“Come on, babe. One week is a long time, considering I’ve only been getting regular sex for a few months.”
“So sorry, my vajayjay needed time after being shredded giving birth to our daughter,” I muttered.
“So that’s a definite no to sex?”
“Definite.”
“Then lets at least get drunk tonight. Isa is being taken care of. We need to use our evening alone.”
We’d had one evening in the Tipsy Cow since Isa’s birth, but we hadn’t gotten shitfaced, nor had we gone to a club to party afterward, but still it had felt like a major accomplishment.
“You’re not supposed to have alcohol either.”
“No sex, no alcohol. At least, let’s find someone I can cut up.”
A laugh slipped out but I combined it with a scowl to show Matteo I thought he was being an idiot.
I patted his leg. “You get my eternal gratefulness for doing this.” It wasn’t even only meant as a joke. I really loved Matteo even more for taking responsibility.