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“Volk is solid. Secure. Lots of branches and brotherhoods always shifting, rising, falling. No more full-out war and infighting. We allow competition. Keep things entertaining. But all sects swear to the same blood when they join.”

“Wow. that’s intense .”

“You’ve met Vanya, right? Boss Bitch handles her shit,” I raise my glass.

Ciro

“Whoa, there, Chips Ahoy,” I push my imaginary glasses up my nose. “Um, you can’t come out of retirement.”

“It’s not … I mean, I’m still?—”

“Finally not a sour, dried up, bitter, soul-draining, fun-sucking, tired-ass, beat-down, grizzled, burned-out, crusted-up, withered?—”

“Hey!” Aless interjects.

“—cantankerous old dumpy diaper with a chip on your shoulder,” I finish in one breath.

“I am not a dumpy diaper.” Aless’s scowl turns into a grin.

“But you are debating making a move. Back to New York, or…?” Adriano presses.

“Man, I don’t know. It just seems like someone needs to fill the void?—”

“I’ll fill your mom’s void,” I snort. “Aw, dammit. That’s not cool.”

“So not cool. And you really don’t need to even consider this, Aless. You put in years of your life. The old throne is gone. I’m sure something will rise to take its place,” Adri shrugs, glancing away.

My eyes go wide, my mouth dropping open. “That’s his tell! He’s hiding dirty secrets. Did you get caught wearing Gloria’s dirty socks on your nose while you stared at pictures of her feet and?—”

“Fucking—no!” Adriano sputters, laughing and flushing. “For the last time, quit telling everyone you meet that I have a foot fetish!”

“The person that you hurt the most when you lie…is yourself, Adriano,” I close my eyes, bowing my head.

“Holy shit,” Alessandro perks up, hammering Adriano with that stare. Fucking hell, I hate that stare. Even seeing it applied to someone else makes me want to spill my guts about crimes I didn’t commit.

One of these days I’m gonna master that look and then the world will be?—

Vanya

“Speaking of handling shit…” I lead, thrusting out my chin toward Gloria.

“No sense keeping it from you now,” Gloria scrunches up her nose. She is disgustingly cute when she does this. Not my flavor of vodka. But she has a spectacular ass.

“Keeping what, exactly?” Isabella plants her hands on her hips, the model of a smoking hot but also intimidating mother hen. My mother used to make this face she gives Gloria and I, making me want to leap over the railing to escape her wrath.

Need to learn that one.

“So you remember how Ananke claimed that she killed her father, took control of his enterprises and his seat on a certain super-secret and powerful syndicate?” Gloria sets the stage. She is good storyteller. Could get to the point more quickly, but people like to listen to her speak.

“Yeah, Artemis told us everything she could remember from her time with Ananke. She swore that Ananke eliminated the rest of the ’Ndrangheta. Took over their collective influence.” Isabella is a whiz at details, gathering information. Like an evil Louis Lane.

“Well, that’s just what they wanted her to think.”

“You beat the bush too hard, Glo,” I finally snap, grabbing her glass and taking a small sip.

“Vanya!” Isa clips, reaching for the glass and pointing at my belly.

Gloria cackles, throwing her head back. “Beat the bush. Oh, Van, you kill me sometimes.”

“Plug your face, pretty girl. I finish story,” I point one finger at Isabella. “Two weeks ago, two men and a woman requested to meet with Adriano.”

“They wouldn’t let anyone else in on the meeting. Tomas was pissed,” Gloria adds.

“Why would Tomas be pissed?”

“Because he is working security for Adriano,” I state, thinking this to be obvious.

“Oh, that lying little bi—” Isa pinches her lip. “My sister-in-law told me Tomas got a new job and that they would be enrolling Gigi in a new school because of the raise!”

“She did not lie about this.”

“We planned to tell you, it’s just been?—”

“Nuts? I know. Ever since Ero and that whole mess blew up—” Isa barrels on, diverting the conversation away from our news. She is bad about this. “Wait, but why would Tomas be doing security for Adriano, unless?—”

“Hey ladies. Now that we’re all here, I thought we might raise a toast before we get down to business?” Alessandro swaggers up to us. Movie star good looks. Salt and pepper now in his forties. Ciro will look fucking hot like this when he is older.

“First, to our health. To our kids, and future children,” Aless offers.

“And to a world without Dom, always good to remember. Sorry Gloria,” Ciro bites his tongue.

“He had it coming. But so do we, the good things, I mean.”

“To what’s next?” Isabella looks around, smiling.

“To interesting offers…” Adriano quirks his lips.

“To those no longer with us,” I add.

Aless glances around the circle, pausing for effect. “To Ero. I wish he was here with us.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake, why would you wish that?!” An obnoxious voice echoes over us.

Circe

“Oh joy, the insane asylum must be having field trip day,” Vanya glares at me as we appear at the top of the winding stairs above them. This house is wild, levels and tiers, terraces all over the place.

“Oo, oh Vanya. Sweety. Did you forget to renew your subscription for a personality?” I hum as sweetly as I can manage.

“They only had yours available, so I deleted the app. Too bad it did not delete you with it.”

“Someone brought their sass-hole with them,” Gloria mutters, rolling her eyes. I like her. Everyone does. Really off-putting.

“My goddess! You weepy, sappy, pathetic excuses for mobsters.” I peer down into their blissful circle of Home and Garden hell. “Ero wasn’t worth the bullet it took to shut him up for good. Good riddance, goodbye, and?—”

“Good looking? I think that was the phrase you were looking for to describe me.” Ero interrupts shoving me aside.

“Maybe at shitting on people’s day,” I giggle, bashing my shoulder into his.

“What are you all staring at?” Ero tucks his hands into his pockets, at ease with himself. For Ero. He’ll always be hypervigilant, prowling like a panther and ready to kill at a moment’s notice. It’s my favorite fucking thing about him.

“You keep doing that thing with your mouth,” Adriano huffs, makes a face.

“Oh the things he does with his mouth…” I wag my eyebrows and Isabella bursts out laughing.

“Will you two get the hell down here and pour a glass already? We were just getting to the juicy stuff!” Isa snaps her fingers and everyone hops to.

How does she do that?

It works better than fucking mind control.

Ero

I don’t say much when I’m with them. There are plenty of words to go around. Not that I don’t have a voice anymore.

I just … like to listen.

To their stories. To their lives.

Maybe because I have one too, now. Fucking weird.

Chatter and banter spiral willy-nilly around that table until the sun goes down. We eat. We shout, we fight.

Until we’re all a little drunk, a little drowsy.

Adriano kicks at my knee. “Come on! Do it!”

“Hrng. I don’t?—”

“You used to sing in front of the whole family when you were a kid,” Alessandro slurs a bit.

“If you don’t, I’m gonna have to—” Ciro stands. “Never gonna give you?—”

Vanya, Gloria, and Circe tackle him all at once, burying him in pillows until he’s squawking and screaming for air.

“I hate all of you,” I mumble, plucking a few strings. Deep breath and?—

Once I start, it’s so easy. Circe joins in, complimenting my voice. Her harmony makes my skin tingle. My brain too.

I think it might be the only time my family actually likes what comes out of our mouths. We’re a mess. We’re chaotic.

A little violent.

Damn good in bed.

An amazing duet. A team. Parents to a perfect little girl who lives a very happy life with a distant relative of Circe’s in Greece.

Eva.

The one thing Ananke took from us, but didn’t ruin.

“Unreal,” Aless rumbles, sipping Grand Marnier. “So. Is anyone going to spit it out?”

“Spit what out?” Gloria preens.

“Nothing, if you know what’s good for you,” Ciro snickers. Vanya flicks his ear, making him scream soundlessly.

“Don’t act like I’m completely in the dark. I was the head of one of the most powerful families in the world. I know something’s brewing.”

Circe and I exchange glances. Nod.

The pause ricochets around the room, then four voices answers at once:

“We’re rebuilding the Lyras—I’m—Adriano’s taking over a seat on the ’Ndrangheta?—”

“We will be…staying Bratva,” Ciro and Vanya add as an afterthought, shrugging noncommittally.

Alessandro huffs a laugh, tosses his head back, laughing harder. “Ah, the fuck was I worried about? Just three Diamantes and their badass brides ruling over the entire criminal underworld!”

Everyone loses it a little, falling about and raising glasses.

And I’ll never get tired of being able to smile with them.