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“No,” Ilias and Maxim said in unison.

They knew. We all shared the same stubborn gut feeling. She was out there. Somewhere. Hiding from a past we didn’t create, but sure as hell could burn down if we found it.

“She might resurface eventually,” I said. “When the heat’s low. When she thinks no one’s watching.”

“I won’t stop looking,” Ilias muttered. He’d developed a stubborn interest in Galena that I wasn’t sure I understood. There hadn’tbeen any pressure from anyone recently regarding Galena, not that it meant he was off the hook …

Maxim’s hands were clenched into fists, knuckles white. He didn’t say it aloud, but I could feel it: he was torn between hunting down every shadow and letting her have peace.

“Maybe that’s the point,” he said, voice low. “Maybe she doesn’t want to be found. Not yet.”

“What about the police report about the assault?” Remo asked.

“Haven’t been able to narrow anything down on that.” Maxim shrugged, his thoughts far away. “We worked through the intel they had, but Galena didn’t identify anyone.”

Even as we canvassed the neighborhoods and shook the trees, it seemed like the small-time crooks scattered. It felt like we did more harm than good by asking questions about her, and in the end, we decided we weren’t helping anything and were bringing more attention than anything else. The report had turned out to be a dead end so far, but I had a sneaking suspicion that Ilias was still pursuing his own leads.

“We’d better wrap this up,” Maxim tapped an unlit cigarette on the bar. “The women are going to be pissed if we’re late.”

Ilias glanced at his phone with a frown. “You’re not wrong.”

We had family night tonight, and we were already pushing it to make it back on time. Our wives had been understanding about the meeting and had worked around it, but expected us to arrive in a timely fashion. After everything that happened with Carlotta, we decided it’d be nice to have a rotating weekly dinner. Tonight it was at Conall and Frankie’s, and I’d already received pictures earlier from Theo of her and my sister making funny faces as they made cupcakes.

We’d driven separately, which I didn’t mind. It meant I had a chance to drive my Lamborghini Miura. I babied it as I drove over to Conall’s Vinegar Hill building that he owned. Coaxing it down the alley behind the building, I flashed the headlights until the bay doors opened, allowing me to drive into the back entrance and let the doors seal behind me so I could park.

Conall had completely renovated the entire building to accommodate all of hissoldiers. There were floors of meeting rooms, bunk rooms, and apartments for his right-hand men. At the top of the building, overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge, were his and Frankie’s apartments. It was a cool place, but I wouldn’t want to live with my mafia so directly.

Giving Finn a nod as he opened the door to the penthouse for me, I ducked inside. It was already noisy and crowded, filled with laughter that only the chaos of our combined families could bring. My eyes were on Theo holding up a tiny pair of ruffled violet baby bloomers to show Frankie. She glowed now, her hand often resting on her stomach to feel our daughter kicking.

I moved forward, pushing past the obnoxious O’Kelly brothers, ignoring their jibes that they tossed my way. They loved to tease me about my singular focus. Wrapping Theo up from behind, I slid a hand over her belly as I bent a kiss to her neck. “Hello, wife. How are my girls?” She leaned back against me, relaxing.

“Husband,” she purred. “We’re good. I brought Frankie the rest of the outfit I was making for my niece.”

Frankie rolled her eyes. “It could be a boy. We don’t know yet.”

Just this month, Frankie found out she was pregnant. We were thrilled for her and Conall, not to mention how happy we were that our children would be growing up together.

“Sure, but it could be a girl,” Theo said reasonably. “Can’t hurt to have a few starter outfits.”

“That’s right, piccola. You’re so smart,” I praised. I’d stopped listening and was focusing on pulling her against me. For some reason, her increase in libido had just amped mine up. I wondered if I could pull her into Conall’s office and fuck her before dinner.

Frankie was giving us a knowing look. “You know, you could put that in the guest room for me. It’d be ahugehelp. I need to get a few things in order before dinner, and I don’t want it to get dirty.”

“What?” Theo started and then caught on. “Oh? Right. Thanks bestie. Angelo will help.” She shoved it into my hands and hurried towards the guest room.

Giving my sister a wink, I followed my wife. Conall’s penthouse was gorgeous, but it only had two spare rooms, an office, and theguest room, which was going to be designated as the nursery. Before I even pulled the door shut, Theo threw herself at me.

“What took you so long?” She fumbled with my belt.

“Oh, my naughty girl is needy …” I teased as Theo cut off the rest of my words, slamming her mouth against mine. I knew this would be fast and furious. Ever since the pregnancy, Theo went off like a rocket as soon as we started, but I wasn’t complaining. Getting the message, I let my wife take control as she dropped my slacks and pushed me onto an office chair before shimmying out of her panties. “Take what you need,piccola.”

Fuck, she was so hot. Anchoring her back to my front I helped her sink onto my cock. “Just lie back, baby. Make yourself come while I fill up that pussy of yours. I’m going to make you feel so good. I can’t get enough of you.”

She slid her hand between us, her fingers feathering over me as I thrust in and out of her channel before going back to flick at her clit. I loved being close to her like this, feeling her tightening around me. Keeping up the pace while I pumped into her, I whispered, “That’smy dirty girl. You’ve been waiting to be fucked all day haven’t you?”

“Yes,” Theo moaned, as I bit down on the flesh of her neck. I put my hand over hers, pinching that kernel of nerves. That was the magic trick. My wife came apart in a blaze, her pussy fluttering around me, finally allowing me to give in and surge one final time before I emptied into her.

Later, when we gathered around the table, my hand in Theo’s, I looked over at the crazy family to which we belonged and felt blessed. As an eleven-year-old so long ago, this image would never even have crossed my mind as a dream or a wish. Damn — I was so lucky. My gaze caught Ilias’s for a heartbeat. His was somber and filled with worry. I wanted so badly for all of my family to find what I had. Vowing to redouble my efforts to help in the search to locate Galena, I refocused on Theo.

She was my happily ever after.

The End