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Chapter seventy-six

Luca

Friday, September 25, 2026

I can’t even express how excited I am for the wedding tomorrow, and despite Samara being distant tonight, I had a great time.

“Gia, mia bambina , come on, little girl. Let’s head to your mommy’s house.”

Alessandro squeezes my shoulder, a big, dopey smile on his face. “Hey, you heading out?”

“Yeah, I’ve got to get Gia over to Cici’s. She’s gonna spend the weekend with her and head back over after the wedding, but I didn’t want her to miss one of her days, so I told her I’d bring her over tonight.”

“You guys are really doing this co-parenting thing, huh? I’m proud of you,” he tells me. I hadn’t realized how much my brother’s approval would mean to me, but now that I have it, my heart feels like it’s bursting wide open.

“Yeah.” I smile at him. “I guess we are.”

He gives me a hug, nearly crushing Gia between us as he does, and presses a kiss to her chubby cheek.

“What? No kiss for me?” I joke, but he leans in and makes a big show out of the fat, slobbery kiss he leaves on my forehead.

I wipe it off with the back of my hand, shaking my head as I head out to my car with a wide smile on my face.