Page 11 of The Prices We Pay (Vittori Enterprises #1)

Luca

“ Congratulazioni, Papà.” I watch him through the screen on my phone. His smile is practically as wide as the ocean that separates us. “ Sono così felice per voi due.”

“Thank you, Son.” He switches to English as Emma sits on his lap and wraps her arm around his neck. She’s been working on her Italian, but she’s nowhere near fluent, and I know he wants her to be a part of this conversation.

“The boys and Harper already know. Pascal asked them for their blessing,” Emma adds, her soft Irish accent floating through the speaker. She looks at my dad like a woman so deep in love that she doesn’t know how she will ever live without him again.

I suppose that’s the dream, though, isn’t it?

A little over a year ago, Ronan and Mac McDermott and their best friend Finn Donovan—leaders of the Irish Mafia here in New York City—reached out to my dad, a VIP of their nightclub, Kings, and longtime friend, to help keep their mom safe while they took care of their psychopath of a father and their girlfriend’s even more psychotic grandfather.

All it took was one desperate phone call, and my dad immediately agreed to house their mom at his home in France.

To make an extremely long story short, when shit got too crazy and Harper was taken by said grandfather, Dad sent the four of us in to help them get their girl back.

Thankfully, we were able to save Harper with only a few cuts and bruises and eliminate the threat of any crazy family members.

Two months ago, the four of them got married on the roof of their building, and I’d be a dirty liar if I said it wasn’t one of the most beautiful things I had ever witnessed.

While they couldn’t legally get married, they did all change their last names.

Now they are the Donovan-McDermotts, and my friends, who I now consider family, truly couldn’t be happier.

Every time I see the four of them, they have the same love-sick look on their faces that I now find on my dad and Emma’s.

It didn’t come as a surprise to me when we found out that Emma’s isolation aided in developing a relationship between the two of them.

A relationship so intense that they went and got married at a church in town with only Enzo’s parents as witnesses.

A relationship that has gained me three new stepbrothers and one amazing sister-in-law.

“Luca,” my new stepmother says as she eyes me with loving concern.

“I just want you to know that I will never replace Serafina.” My mother’s name causes an ache in my chest, as it always does, but I don’t look away from Emma.

“But I will always love your father and this family in a way that would make her proud.”

I watch as my dad softly kisses her cheek, and when he looks back at the camera, I don’t miss the tears pooling in his eyes.

I always thought my mother was his one true love—the other half of his soul.

I was only two when she died, but like my father, I carry her love with me every single day.

Since she died, he hasn’t so much as dated or looked at another woman.

He was perfectly content and happy to live the rest of his life alone. Until Emma.

He wasn’t looking for her, and she certainly wasn’t looking for him. Just like Harper and the guys weren’t searching for each other, and yet, love grew in the empty spaces of their hearts anyway. It took root between the cracks and broken pieces and grew into something beautiful.

If my new family has taught me anything, it’s that the person—or people—your soul truly needs shows up when you least expect it.

And before I can help it, the tattooed, raven-haired woman down the hall with the man I love flashes through my mind.

Forcing myself not to go down that rabbit hole right now, I answer, “I know you will, Emma. I am truly so happy for both of you. Vi amo entrambi. ”

“Anche noi ti amiamo, figliolo,” my dad answers before the three of us say our goodbyes.

Not more than five minutes after I’ve hung up the phone, it rings again, and I know who it is without even having to look at the screen. Putting it on speakerphone so I can continue to type at my computer, I answer, “Hey, bro.”

Ronan’s heavy sigh fills my office, and that should tell you how dramatic it is because this office is fucking huge. “Mum just texted me and told me she called you.”

“Sure did. Does this mean we get to fight over who has dibs on top bunk during family vacations now?”

Cue dramatic sigh number two. Ronan and I are alike in many ways, but I can confidently say he is wound far tighter than I ever will be—unless Harper is involved, that is.

All she has to do is be in the same room as him, and you can practically see his asshole unclench.

“The day you catch me willingly sleeping in a bunk bed will be the fucking day. ”

I hear Mac, Ronan’s younger brother, yell in the background, “Did you say bunk beds? I got dibs on top bunk!”

“Jesus fucking Christ.” Ronan sighs in exasperation while I bark out a laugh. “Anyway, I was just calling to make sure you were okay.”

“I appreciate everyone constantly asking that, but I assure you all, I’m fine.

Mama has been gone since I was two. I’m thirty-four years old.

Thirty-two years is a long time for him to be alone, and after everything your mom has gone through, they both deserve to find love. As long as they’re happy, I’m happy.”

Laughing softly into the phone, he answers, “Well, aren’t you a sappy fuck?”

“Ha! That’s rich coming from you. I’m curious: are you working right now or still lying in bed with Harper?” I already know the answer; I heard her giggle only seconds ago.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Mhm, sure. Hey, Harp.”

Her laugh grows louder. “Morning, Luca.”

“And I’m the sappy fuck. ”

“I regret even calling you,” he groans, even though I know there’s no real heat behind it. “I’m going to go now.”

“Talk to you later, fratello!” Not dignifying me with a response, he hangs up the phone.

Just as I’m hanging up the phone, Enzo and Dante come pushing through my office door.

“What’s got you looking so fucking chipper this morning?

” Enzo asks after taking one look at my face.

He plops his ass down in his usual chair on the opposite side of my desk while Dante rounds my desk and leans against the window behind me, arms across his chest, feet crossed at the ankle.

“Papá called. He and Emma got married yesterday.”

Enzo’s eyes widen in excitement; he’s always such a sucker for love. “That’s amazing! I’m assuming my parents were there?”

“Yeah. Gio and Caterina were the witnesses. Got off the phone with Ronan right as you walked in there. He’s thrilled to have a new brother. Obviously.”

That even gets Dante to chuckle from behind me. “Obviously,” Enzo replies with a smile. Throwing his thumb over his shoulder, he asks, “What’s going on in there?”

Instantly, I sit up a little straighter and ask, “What do you mean?”

“They’re snuggled up like two peas in a pod on the couch in her office, doing something on her computer.”

Dante sighs heavily. “Enz, stop trying to start shit. They are not cuddled up like two peas in a pod.”

“Oh yeah? Then what do you call this?” Enzo whips out his phone, and a picture of Seb and Josephine fills his screen.

“Would you stop sneaking pictures of her? It’s fucking creepy.”

“Oh, don’t worry, D. I have pictures of you, too.” Enzo winks at him, and I can practically feel Dante roll his eyes. Meanwhile, I’m taking the phone from Enzo’s hand, studying the photo.

Joe’s sitting on the couch, high-heels kicked off, with her feet crossed underneath her.

She’s got a coffee mug clutched between both hands, and her glasses are perched on her nose.

Smiling, she leans into Seb as she studies something on her laptop screen that’s sitting on his lap.

Except when I look at Seb, he’s not looking at the same thing she is.

No, he’s looking right at her. And his expression is the same one he usually reserves for me.

The one he wears when he’s trying to figure out what’s going on in my mind when even I can’t understand my own thoughts. It’s curiosity mixed with desire.

I wait for a wave of jealousy to crash through me at not only the fact that Sebastian was looking at her that way but also the fact that she seems so comfortable around him already.

However, he’s always had that effect on people.

Seb’s infectiously bright personality has the capability of attracting everyone in a room.

But no matter how long I give it, the jealousy never comes.

Instead, all I feel is longing . Because no matter how much I want to explore that with her, I can’t.

She’s my employee.

Vittori Enterprises needs her skills.

She can’t get too close .

The Horsemen still have so much work to do. Dangerous work.

I have Sebastian.

I have Dante and Enzo.

My life is complete.

Isn’t it?

“Want me to send you a copy of that, Amico?” My eyes snap up from the phone to find Enzo staring at me, brows raised, one side of his mouth tipped up as if he just read every thought that was rolling through my mind. Which he probably did. Has been able to since we were kids.

“He’s just running her through the company’s programs. The faster she gets integrated, the faster she can start cleaning up all of the imports and exports.”

“Speaking of which, Angelo’s shipment never got delivered.”

That pulls my attention away from whatever is going on in Josephine’s office.

Angelo’s is a high-end jewelry shop that we own on the Upper West Side.

It was about to go under about eight years ago when there was a fire, and Angelo lost everything.

His insurance company dicked him around for months before denying his claim and refusing to pay for the pieces lost, not to mention the cost it would take to rebuild his shop.

However, one look at his clientele base and the company books, and my dad knew that his shop was worth buying out.

In just a few short months, my dad had the store rebuilt, and it was filled to the brim with new luxury pieces.

Pieces that men and women across the New York elite are fighting tooth and nail to get their hands on.

We may own the store, but Angelo gives everything he has to that place, and because of him, it runs beautifully.

That’s how I know that if a shipment hasn’t shown up, it’s more than just a shipping error.

“How big was it?” I ask Enzo.

“Just a handful of small pieces, nothing more than a drop in the bucket, honestly.”

“Something you think we should keep an eye on?” I’m asking Enzo instead of deciding on my own, fully aware that he is more than capable of handling this .

“I don’t think it would hurt. If it’s something as simple as a missing shipment, fine, our shit’s insured anyway. But if it’s not, best be aware, yeah?”

“Agreed.”

Enzo nods in Dante’s direction, “Can you and Seb meet with the guys down at the port sometime in the next couple of days? Just make sure no one has their hands on shit they shouldn’t have?”

Dante quickly nods, always willing to do whatever is needed of him. “Sure can.”

“I’ll have Josephine check all of the paperwork once she gets settled in.”

“You want her to go to the port with D and Seb?”

“No,” Dante and I answer in unison, and Enzo’s face forms a shit-eating grin. Fucking shit disturber.

“Well, all right then.”

Like I have to do far too often, I point my finger across the desk at him. “Don’t even start, Enz.”

He holds both of his hands up in defense. “I’m not starting anything.”

“Yes, you are,” Dante grumbles. “You’re always starting something. ”

“Eh, maybe. But what can I say?” Enzo claps his hands on the arm of the chair dramatically as he stands. “You guys would be bored to tears without me.”

“My life would be far quieter, that’s for fucking sure.” I laugh at Dante’s exhausted tone.

“Quiet’s boring, Big Daddy.” With that, Enzo turns on his heels and walks down the hall toward his office.

“Stop fucking calling me Big Daddy,” Dante yells after him.

“Can I call you Big Daddy?” Clara yells down the hall, and I watch as Enzo high-fives her before he walks into his office.

“I really am going to kill him one of these days.”

Laughing, I say, “Better get in fucking line.”

The two of us fall into comfortable silence as I attempt to refocus on my computer and the endless amounts of emails that need to be answered. Yet, no matter how hard I try, my thoughts keep drifting to the two down the hall.