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She smiled. “So he told me. As for me, I never imagined Rian would have lasting feelings for me. And I know how you guys can be when it comes to a man in my life. I didn’t want you to say anything to him.” She squinted, mostly at her brothers.

Her brothers made grumbling sounds but didn’t say anything.

“How will this affect our partnership?” Alphonso asked.

“What do you mean by affect? It doesn’t change anything from our perspective, does it, Darragh?” I asked.

“I don’t see why it should,” my oldest brother said.

“We’ve always been cautious not to mix business with personal. If one of my children were involved with someone, that person had no connection to our work. I found it prevented ugly situations later,” Alphonso explained.

“You mean when they inevitably broke up, you didn’t want fighting or other behaviors in the office,” Aidan stated.

“Exactly. As a family, we may sometimes disagree. But we do it in private, and ultimately, we figure it out and don’t let our differences impact our work. It is to be kept professional,” he added.

“Good, that’s how we resolve ours. Believe me, we have disagreements.

As for not becoming involved with someone who works with you, we have that rule, too, except when it involves your anamchara .

If you find that one special person who happens to work for us, it’s handled differently.

That was the case with Karizma. She worked for Aidan at Sirens.

That’s how they met. Alistair grew up with us and has been part of the Hounds most of his life, so he has worked with us since he got out of the military.

Finding your soulmate is an exception. When that happens, you grab them with both hands and hold on,” Darragh informed the DeSantis men.

“Will he expect Gianna to stay out of the missions we go on and out of bounty work? Because if that’s the case, it won’t work.

We rely on her not only for her skills in the field but also on the back end.

My daughter will not appreciate being relegated to staying at home.

Believe me, I tried that when she was younger, and it didn’t work.

I’ve made sure she is trained the same way my sons are.

She’s able to carry her weight,” Alphonso warned.

“Alphonso, I don’t doubt for a second Gianna is capable.

And I do know that she would never allow herself to be forced to sit on the sidelines.

I won’t lie and say that no matter how trained she is, I won’t worry for her.

It’s automatic for me. She knows this. We’ve talked about it.

However, to force her out would make both of us miserable and possibly destroy our relationship.

I won’t allow that. You haven’t seen it, but our sisters are as well-trained as Gianna.

Do they go on missions? Not typically, but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t or haven’t had to get their hands dirty.

We live in a dangerous world today,” I told him.

“Speaking of your world, you live very differently from us. How is my sister supposed to deal with people always watching her? When she works, she can’t have paparazzi following her, snapping pictures. Do you expect her to have bodyguards?” Luciano asked.

Gianna and I hadn’t gotten this far. “There will be more scrutiny on her. That can’t be avoided.

It’s a fact of our lives. We’ll have to work on having people not follow when it’s work for her.

We have to talk that out. As for the bodyguard, we’ll talk over that together. We haven’t gotten it all laid out.”

“You mean she’ll have to quit and sit home doing nothing and looking pretty,” Rocco said.

“Do you believe we do nothing?” Siv asked him.

“I, well, I don’t know what you do,” he answered.

“I manage our art gallery, Modern Muse. Cara is the manager of Kelly’s, our steak house.

Surely, you’ve heard of it. We have them all over Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Aisling oversees Maeve’s Cellars, our winery in California, and she’s expanded into Italy.

Our mothers work on various boards and charities, and at the headquarters in whatever capacity we ask.

They worked with our fathers for years to run our various businesses.

We’re not expected to be mere pretty dolls,” she snarkily told him. He wisely kept his mouth shut.

“Do any of you have concerns or questions you want to ask them?” Alphonso asked my family. They were all shaking their heads.

“It’s easier for us, Alphonso. This will be our fifth child who has settled down.

They know what they’re looking for in a forever relationship.

My brothers and I were blessed to find our soulmates.

Our children have seen how we live all their lives.

However, I can see how it can be jarring if you don’t believe in soulmates.

And with Gianna being your daughter and first to get involved this way, it can cause anxiety,” Daid said.

“I believe in them. I just hadn’t seen it in years.

I lost mine when Gianna was three. My wife, Guilia, was the love of my life.

I’ve never been tempted to make another my wife since I lost her.

I’ve often wondered and prayed that my children would experience a love like that.

I hope that what you both say is true. It’ll take time for us to get used to it and to see how this works,” her dad said quietly.

Gianna left my side and went to hug her dad.

He held her tightly. His sons looked uneasy.

After they had finished hugging, my family artfully turned the conversation to other topics. They knew it was time to let the subject sink in. While they did, I spoke privately to my woman for a few moments. “Are you doing alright?”

“I guess so. I knew they’d be shocked and would have questions.

Rocco is always the abrasive one and somewhat of a hothead.

He’s four years older than I am and acts like he’s my dad.

All of my brothers are protective, but he irritates me the most. Your family seems to have accepted it without a problem.

Or will they wait until we leave and ambush you? ”

“They would’ve spoken up if they had real concerns.

They know me. I don’t make hasty decisions.

My family sometimes teases me about it, but I’ve always been that way.

I ensured it wasn’t a reflexive response to your outer beauty, which is incredible.

You’d make any heterosexual man stop and look twice, Gianna.

Hell, even some gay men, but your appeal is due to so much more. ”

Her smile made my insides feel good. I felt even better when she kissed me. When we stopped kissing, I saw her family watching us closely. Her brothers still didn’t appear happy. Alphonso was more challenging to read.

Not long afterward, the two families seemed ready to call it an evening.

We all had work in the morning, and they seemed to be leaving the two of us to our privacy.

My family filed out the door first, calling out goodnight.

On their heels went the DeSantis men. Alphonso hugged her and shook my hand.

The brothers shook my hand but didn’t look happy and tried to strong-arm me.

I gave it right back to them. As they cleared the doorway, Rocco looked back.

“Gianna, aren’t you coming? You should head home. We’ll follow you,” he called.

“No, I’m staying longer,” she called back.

“But—” his protest was cut off by their dad.

“Get in the car,” Alphonso growled.

As Rocco trudged to the car, Gianna and I chuckled.

Rocco was hardheaded. He’d be fun to deal with.

We waited until they had driven out of view before closing the door and returning inside for private time.

I knew it was too soon to expect sex, but I wouldn’t be opposed to more kissing and maybe heavy petting.

Plus, I wanted to give her a tour of the house.

After all, it would be hers one day. And if I got my wish, that day wouldn’t be far in the future.