Page 158 of Brutal Heir

“With your feelings?” Isabella chimes in, appearing beside Serena with that deceptively sweet smile.

“With the whiskey,” I correct, lifting the glass.

Raf appears behind Isabella, dropping a kiss on her temple. “Don’t let him fool you. Matteo’s a romantic at heart.”

“Shut it, Raf,” I mutter, but a grin tugs at the corner of my mouth.

“Are you coming to dance, or are you just going to stand there like a creep?” Serena arches a brow.

“I don’t dance without a few more of these.”

“You will tonight,” Alessia calls from behind the bar, pouring herself a shot before hopping over it like the little menace she is. “No one escapes the cousin dance circle, Matty.”

“Try me,” I say, but they’re already dragging me toward the dancefloor.

I resist for a grand total of ten seconds before Isabella snags the drink out of my hand and Serena loops her arm through mine. Raf and Antonio join, pulling Alessia along, and suddenly, we’re all there in the middle of the floor, surrounded by music and the roar of the Vault.

Alessandro and Rory join, and Ale pulls his wife close, dipping her dramatically before spinning her into a laugh that lights up the entire room. Her hair fans out, and her eyes catch his like he’s the only man on earth.

“Dio, they’re disgustingly in love,” Serena mutters, but she’s smiling, leaning back against Antonio, who presses a kiss to her hair.

“Better than them being disgustingly miserable,” Bella points out, grinning as Raf spins her, then shrieks before bursting into laughter.

I watch them all, feeling something warm loosen in my chest that I haven’t let myself feel in a while.

Home.

That’s what this is. What they are. Loud, overbearing, sometimes unhinged, but they’re mine. My family.

Alessandro catches me watching and raises his brows, mouthing, “You good?”

And for once, I can answer honestly. I nod, lifting my fingers in a half salute.

“Oi, Matty!” Rory calls, breathless and glowing as she leans against Ale. “Your turn!”

“Not a chance,” I say, smirking, but I can’t help the laugh that breaks out as Serena and Alessia start chanting my name, the others joining in.

“Mat-te-o! Mat-te-o!”

I roll my eyes but give in, stepping into the circle, where they all erupt into cheers. Rory whistles, and Ale wraps an arm around her, pressing a kiss to her cheek as they watch me get dragged into a ridiculous cousin dance battle I did not sign up for.

And for a moment, as I let the laughter and the music wash over me, I realize that maybe, just maybe, there’s room for something like this for me too. Someday.

But that’s a tomorrow problem.

Tonight, I raise my arms, let the cousins scream, and dance like a fool in the middle of the family that will always have my back.

Because if I’ve learned anything from Ale and Rory, it’s that even in this dark world of ours, love can find you. Even if it has to fight like hell to get there.

And when it does, you hold on.

I wish Rory had dropped into our lives sooner because maybe then, I wouldn’t have let Cat go. And I’d have my own little fiery Irish girl at my side.

But I was young and stupid back then, and I’d walked away from the first woman I’d actually loved.

As Alessia is pulled into the middle of the circle, I cautiously back out, then disappear into the crowd. Weaving between the tangle of writhing bodies, I make my way back to my drink at the bar. The Dream Cask by Redbreast. A super expensive, collectible Irish whiskey that Ale has specially imported in for his best clients. Namely, me.

As I sip on the smooth liquor, the pounding bass grows more muffled and my thoughts flicker to the past. To my own fiery redhead and that summer in Sicily I’d never forget.