Page 12 of Single Mom’s Mafia Daddies (The Forbidden Reverse Harem Collection #22)

ALESSIO

W as there any way to convince Lila of the danger without telling her exactly who and what I’d become in the years since she met me? Unlikely. That single fact drove me to confront Lila last night, though it ended with me storming from her room and no agreement made.

The woman was determined to put herself in danger.

After I left, I’d forced my body to rest, even if my mind strayed into a constant loop of questions with no easy answers. I dressed with less care than usual since I had no intention of leaving the house and called for Matteo and Renzo to meet me in the study.

Dragging a hand through my hair before leaving my room, I took several seconds to lock my mind onto business.

The peace and quiet in this room usually tempered my anger, but today the silence turned oppressive.

I craved the sound of Lila’s voice and Leo’s laughter.

I’d missed her with the kind of ache that felt like death, but nothing prepared me for the protectiveness that rose when I saw Leo for the first time.

I stalked from the room with its beige walls and priceless paintings and made my way down a narrow corridor hidden from view behind a secret door, entering the study and crossing to the desk before Matteo joined me with Renzo on his heels.

Matteo went straight to the balcony and peered out, his body curved into a slouch.

Renzo stood ramrod straight at the side of the desk, his face as expressionless as a piece of paper and his clothing bristling with weapons.

I sat on the corner of the desk and watched my two friends, who were so opposite each other it was laughable, take one look at me and close ranks. I kept my voice steady as I began giving orders.

“I need you both on recon duty today. Run down the Verducci syndicate, check their recent movements. Find out if Leo and Lila are safe out there.” They were not.

We all knew it, but Lila’s desire to be rid of me ruined all common sense.

I met Renzo’s silent stare. “You think Lila will try to leave. I agree. We need to make sure that doesn’t happen while keeping tabs on the Verduccis.

Find out what they know and who they’ve told. ”

“If I can get close enough, I can tap into their systems.” Matteo’s smile held a vicious edge. “I can tell you how many times they shit every day if it helps.”

“Not sure that’s relevant information.” I slapped his shoulder in silent thanks for his attempt to lighten the mood. “Unless it helps us kill them.”

“You never know. I’m sure Renzo has blown up a few toilets.” Matteo cocked his hip forward and pretended to raise an invisible hat. “As the primary recon man, you get first dibs on toilet explosions.”

“Pass.” Renzo rubbed his thumb across the pistol I’d gifted him when he agreed to join my service. “I like to look them in the eye when they die. Make sure they know who cut their strings and left them shitting their pants.”

Matteo guffawed and punched Renzo’s shoulder. “I knew you had a sense of humor.”

Renzo stared him down until Matteo stopped laughing and withdrew his hand.

“Well fuck.” Matteo shook his head. “You’re a dark motherfucker. Good. We need it.” He grabbed Renzo’s tactical belt and yanked. “Come on. Let’s get to work.”

“I’m not a dog to be dragged around.” Renzo locked his feet and smacked Matteo’s arm.

Matteo danced away while holding his hands up. “Fine. No insult intended.”

They continued to gripe and fuss with each other all the way out of the office and down the hallway. I listened to them, Matteo’s need to laugh and Renzo’s steady stoicism butting up against each other until the front door opened and closed again.

The weight of loneliness bound me tight. I sighed and shifted my weight off my hip to retrieve my wallet. My father’s picture stuck up slightly from the middle, and I removed it with my thumb.

“If you were here, you’d tell me to get Matteo in line…

I’m not sure that’s possible. He’s good at his job.

” They both were. “I’m going to make things right.

” I’d done my best after his murder. Seven years later and we were still going after each other, the Verduccis trying their best to eliminate me so they could take over.

Keeping the syndicates in line and ensuring the legacy of the Cavallo family were my responsibilities.

How did I keep Lila and Leo safe? I trusted Matteo and Renzo with my life, and they trusted me.

That had kept us alive many times when we should have died.

Lila lacked that sense of safety, that knowledge and respect we had for each other that gave way to trust. If I told her to move, she’d probably stand still just to spite me. Then she’d be dead.

“Violence is in our blood, Son.” Papa told me that so many times I almost had it tattooed on my skin. Keeping Lila and Leo safe in a world steeped in violence seemed impossible.

I returned the picture to my wallet and waited for Renzo and Matteo to return.

The look on Matteo’s face when he and Renzo stormed into the office hours later told me everything before the first word left his mouth. “They know about Leo.”

“Increased Verducci activity in the area,” Renzo added. “They’ve been all over our streets, talking to our people.”

“Fucking bastards.” I knotted my hands into fists and knocked them on the desk. I’d expected this, but to hear it out loud set my pulse hammering. “What are they saying about Lila and Leo?”

“Asking questions, mostly.” Matteo moved to the leather couch in the corner and sank onto the arm with his ankles crossed. “They suspect Leo is your son. No contracts out…yet. But rumors are spreading that they want the boy as leverage against you.”

I stilled my face before it gave away the terror trampling my insides.

Suspecting Leo was my son was one thing.

Knowing it for certain raised the stakes considerably.

Nothing mattered more to my father than family, and he’d passed that down to me.

The Cavallo line ended with me, a fact my father begged me to remedy.

“They’re going to come for the boy. It’s a matter of time.” Renzo’s voice carried a depth of pain I’d never experienced. The loss of his son almost destroyed him. It tore pieces of his soul away and left him a hollow, empty shell. He was stronger than me for surviving that loss.

“I need to talk to Lila.” I stood and led the way to the veranda where she spent most of her time.

Leo ran around the yard playing with trucks in the sandbox I'd installed yesterday. The white, gauzy curtains lining the veranda had been pulled back and tied to the limestone posts. The layers of material rippled in a breeze that teased Lila’s hair and sent it trailing over her face.

The shorts and tank top she wore hugged her curves, the brands expensive enough to show her taste matched mine.

I took a deep, calming breath and sat in the wicker chair closest to her.

“If you’re here to hound me about Leo again, you can shove it up your ass.” She locked her arms across her stomach. “All three of you.”

“You’re in danger, Lila.” I tried to temper my words so she’d listen this time. “The men who shot up your shop, they won’t stop.” I angled a meaningful look at Leo. “They think he’s my son, and that makes him a prime target.”

“Then you should have left us out of your mess.” She leaned forward and glared. Purple shadows ringed her eyes. Her fingers tensed and released in a series of squeezes that left red marks on her arms.

She was right, of course. If I’d kept my distance, none of this would’ve happened.

“It’s too late for what ifs.” I scooted to the edge of the seat and gripped my knees with both hands. The longing to comfort her almost drowned me. “What matters is that my enemies think they can destroy me through Leo. And through you.”

Having a son threw a wrench in my empire.

I’d planned on being the last in my line.

The Cavallo syndicate would pass to a new family upon my death, one I’d yet to choose because so many led back to our enemies.

I couldn’t risk giving them the power they craved, even if I did so by accident.

Leo breathed new life into our family line, a new Cavallo to carry on the family name and the dynasty that our ancestors fought and died to build.

Family. My chest spasmed with a sudden, sharp pain.

“They’re not touching my son.” Lila pushed to her feet. The shift gave her an advantage when I remained sitting, forced to look up to meet her heated gaze.

I didn’t mind letting her have this moment of power. She had so little when it came to my world. “We all agree on that.”

“Send me somewhere else. We’re in more danger here with you.” She scowled down at me, her crossed arms pushing her breasts up so I had a delicious view.

I ignored the physical attraction in favor of keeping us all alive. “It’s too late for that. You’re safer with us than on your own.”

“You never should have come into the boutique.” Scorn laced her voice. “He’s my family, Alessio. Leo is the one thing in the world I can’t live without.” She dragged her hands down her face. “This is your mess. Fix it. Give me back my freedom, and my family.”

The Verduccis knew all about family. They had the largest of all the syndicates.

Vincenzo Verducci and his younger brother Luca were ruthless, vengeful, and absolute assholes.

They protected each other, even though I suspected tension between them since Vincenzo ruled over Luca. Neither would hesitate to kill Leo.

They’d have to kill me first.

I grabbed her wrist when she started to walk away. “This isn’t just my mess anymore, Lila. Whether you like it or not, you’re part of this now.”

Movement from my peripheral tugged me around. Leo ran over to Renzo and held up a toy truck. “Watch, Renzo.”

To my utter shock, Renzo followed Leo to the sandbox and knelt to dig alongside the boy. Matteo elbowed me, his head dipping slightly, and I read the intent in his eyes. Our enemies would have to kill all of us to get to Leo and Lila.

The Verduccis would learn what family meant, even if I had to teach them in blood.