Sinner covered his ears and squeezed his eyes closed. “I did not hear that. I am a loyal friend to Cazzo and I did not just hear you say that you wanted to fuck her again.”
“I didn’t say that, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true.”
“Can I give you some advice?” Cap asked. I nodded. “I don’t want to have to find a replacement for you.”
“That’s not advice,” I said in confusion.
“That beat down he gave you after he found out you were banging his sister? You keep going after her and we’re going to be looking for your body parts all over the woods. Which means I’m gonna have to find another guy to replace you. And then Knight is gonna have to train someone new, and we all know how Knight gets when he has to train a newbie. And that means more fucking paperwork for me, and I fucking hate paperwork as it is. And then there’s the fact that I would have to create some elaborate story for the police about your disappearance because there’s no fucking way I’m bringing a police investigation into my business. Then, I have to contact your family and fucking lie to them about what happened to you. It’s just a fucking mess all around.”
I narrowed my eyes at Cap in resentment. “Just wait a fucking minute here. He went after Cara,” I said, pointing a finger at Sinner, “when you specifically told him not to, and look how that turned out.”
“Yeah,” Cap snorted. “Look how that turned out. I lost Maggie. Sinner moved across the country. He got captured and tortured. He almost got his dick shot off, and I had to go halfsies on buying him a new fucking truck. Paperwork!” he’s shouted. “Are you getting the fucking picture?”
“Look, I’m not saying I would even pursue anything with her. I’m not even sure she’s over her husband. For all I know, they could get back together.”
“Then why are you even bringing it up?” Cap asked in irritation.
“Because…Fuck, I don’t know. There’s just something about her. Even though I know she could go back to her asshole husband at any time, I just…I kinda want to know what it would be like.”
“What what would be like?” Sinner asked.
“To have what you have. The kids, the house, the family, and the woman that wants to spend her life with me.”
“And you think she’s the one?” Sinner grinned.
I shrugged. “I don’t know, but I’m willing to find out.”
“Oh, fuck,” Cap groaned. He pointed at me with a pissed off look on his face. “You know this means that we have to keep Cazzo in the dark. If you fuck this up, we’re all gonna have to deal with his shit. So, you’d better be real fucking sure before you go after her. And remember, there are kids involved.”
“I’m well aware of that. I got kicked in the balls last night when I was over there. Believe me, I know there are kids involved.”
“This is gonna get fucking ugly,” Sinner grumbled. “This doesn’t go past the three of us. If Cazzo finds out that I knew about this, he’ll make sure that I’m singing soprano the rest of my life.”
He stomped away, snatching some food as he went. My eyes went back to Isabella. Was I really going to attempt this? Even with my reservations about her husband?
“Just try to keep your hands to yourself while you’re at my house. Freckles will kill me if someone destroys the house,” Cap said right before he walked away.
Yeah, I was gonna fucking do this.
CHAPTER SIX
Isabella
I COULD FEEL his eyes on me during the whole party. I wanted to go talk to him, but Sam was watching me like a hawk and I didn’t want to deal with his bullshit when I was just trying to have a good afternoon. Not to mention that Enzo really seemed to like Gabe and I didn’t want his uncle to ruin that. He had run out last night after my phone call with Matteo and I was pretty sure it was because he was jealous that I was talking with him.
It would help if Matteo would just sign the divorce papers, but ever since I told him I was moving, he’d been stalling on signing. Suddenly, he was trying to be the devoted husband and father. I couldn’t figure out his motives though. He had never shown much interest after Vittoria was born, and then I had hope again after we had Enzo, but things just got worse. With his interest in the toilet and me not being able to handle any more of his shit, I wasn’t sure what his endgame was. We had fought endlessly, but when I told him that I wanted a divorce, he practically shoved me out the door with a smile on his face. Could it really be that he had finally seen the light? And did I really care at this point?
“Hey, you seem pretty far away right now,” Maggie smiled. “Got a certain someone on your mind?” she asked, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. “Sebastian told me about Gabe.”
I rolled my eyes and snagged a drink from the table I was standing near. “Those men are worse than women.”
“Tell me about it. You should see the things I’ve walked in on. They all get together to give each other advice on how to deal with us.”
“What do you mean ‘deal with us’?”
“Okay, so any time one of them has a problem they don’t know how to solve regarding their woman, they all get together and try and figure us out. Like it’s really that hard to come to the conclusion that when it comes down to it, they’re just a bunch of asses. They don’t really understand us and every time they try, they end up fucking things up.”
“That sounds just like my husband. Tell me, why would I want to divorce him and find someone new?”
“Because despite how idiotic they can be, they’re all really good guys and they truly do love us with all their heart. There’s nothing Sebastian wouldn’t do for me and that’s pretty much true for every other one of those guys.”
I glanced back to where Gabe was standing around with the guys, drinking a beer. He really was very handsome and he had been really good with the kids, despite not knowing the first thing about how to deal with them. Then again, there was a time that I thought Matteo was a good guy too and he had changed a lot over the years.
“Hey,” Maggie said, placing a hand on my arm. “Gabe really is one of the best. Do you see that guy over there with Chris and Ali?” She nodded in the opposite direction where a young man stood.
“Yeah, who is that?”
“That’s Chris’s son, Axel. Chris didn’t know about him until a few years ago. It’s a long story, but his mom, Ali, was running from some bad people. Gabe was very suspicious of them and he didn’t trust Ali. He wanted her to prove herself to the rest of the men, but Chris was emphatic that Ali wasn’t trying to double cross them. He was being a bit of an asshole. To say that he has some trust issues is putting it mildly.”
“So, what happened?”
“In the end, he decided to trust Chris’s opinion and he went along with things. After everything went down, which I can’t really tell you about, Gabe was a little more trusting. But things weren’t as over as the guys thought and Ali and Axel were still in danger. Gabe was there and saved Ali’s life. He was the one that took care of her when she broke down while Chris was in the hospital. He kind of adopted Axel as his second kid. Ali just had a daughter not too long ago and he’s practically that little girl’s father.”
“Okay, I feel like there’s a lot to that story that was left out.”
“There was, but it’s not my place to tell the story. It could get a lot of people in trouble, your brother included. My point is, when Gabe decides to let someone in and trust them, he gives all of himself. There’s nothing he wouldn’t do for Chris and his family.”
I watched as Gabe walked over to Chris and Ali and gave Axel a hug. I could see the devotion clear as day. I knew that I always had Sam on my side, but I wondered what it would be like to have a man like Gabe standing by me at all times. I was sure Matteo loved me at first, but he was never a fierce protector the way these men were.
“Come on, I’ll introduce you.”
Before I could say no, Maggie grabbed my hand and led me over to where Gabe was standing. I quickly looked around for my
kids, seeing that they were all preoccupied with the other kids, playing with bubbles and toy lawnmowers.
“Ali,” Maggie said as she pulled me up to the group. “This is Sam’s sister, Isa.”
“I didn’t know Sam had a sister that lived in the area.” Ali smiled and held out her hand. “I’m Alison and this is Chris and our son, Axel. He’s currently on leave before he goes back to SEAL training.”
“Wow,” I said in shock as I took in Axel. “You look too young for that.”
“Dad helped me train from the time I was sixteen. All of the guys did. By the time I went off to basic, I was well on my way to BUD/S.”
“What is that?” I asked curiously.
“It’s a training course you have to pass in order to become a SEAL. There’s a lot involved and it’s tough as hell, but it really tests your mettle.”
“Uh, I think I’ll stick with my piddly little job as a real estate agent,” I laughed.
“Not much for endurance training?” Chris grinned. I blushed as I looked at Gabe out of the corner of my eye. His eyes were trained on me and his eyes were studying me like he needed to memorize me.
“No, not much for exercise in general. I find that something always gets in the way.”
“Like what?” Gabe asked.
“Donuts, chocolate, chips,” I said with a shrug. “Besides, there are other ways to exercise.”
Holy shit. Did I just say that?
Chris barked out a laugh, but Gabe’s eyes went dark as he raked his gaze over my body. Holy hell, I felt like I was about to burst into flames from just his look. I lowered my gaze as Ali and Maggie both giggled next to me. God, I was such an idiot.
“Gabe! Gabe!” Enzo came running over to us, smiling at Gabe. “Look! I got a fucker!”
I went bright red, but everyone else was laughing.
“What do you have?” Gabe asked.
“A fucker!”
“No, that can’t be a sucker. It’s a hot dog,”
“No, ifs a fucker.”
Now he was just trying to see how many times he could get Enzo to say fucker.
“Alright, buddy. Let’s stop saying fucker before your mom gets pissed at me.”
But that didn’t help. Enzo grinned wide and jumped into Gabe’s arms. “Fucker, fucker, fucker!”
“That’s fucking hilarious,” Chris laughed. Ali smacked him, but laughed along with him.
I studied Gabe holding my son and was shocked how easily they got along. They had this weird bond that had formed in such a short time and Gabe seemed so much at ease with my loud son.
“Hey, buddy. I want you to meet a friend of mine. This is Axel,” he said, pointing to Chris’s son.
“Afel?”
“Yep, Axel.”
“You Afel?”
“Yeah, I’m Axel.” Axel grinned and held out his fist to fist bump. Enzo reached forward and smacked his fist. “No, buddy. You gotta make a fist and then blow it up.”
Enzo made a fist and then bumped it against Axel’s fist. Axel made an explosion sound and spread his hand wide. Enzo laughed and made another fist.
“Again, again!”
Over and over, Axel and Enzo did fist bumps as I stared at the man holding my son. I couldn’t stop staring to save my life and didn’t even realize that he was holding my gaze too until my brother stomped over and stood between us.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?”
I nodded and walked away with Sam, who was fuming and acting like the world was about to fall down around us.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Sam asked furiously. “You’re letting Gabe treat Enzo like he’s his son.”
“He’s holding him and talking to him. What’s wrong with that?”
“He’s going to confuse him. Enzo already has a dad.”
“Yeah, one that’s not very interested in him at the moment.”
Sam looked down and kicked at the ground. “He’s here,” he said quietly.
“What do you mean? Who’s here?”
“Matteo.”
Sam finally looked back up at me and I felt the anger inside me reach a fever pitch. “What did you do?”
“I swear, when I told you that he called, he never said anything about being in the state. He called me about an hour ago, said he was at your house and wanted to know where you were.”
“You didn’t tell him, did you?”
“Of course not. I said that you were at a company party with the kids and that he would have to call you himself if he wanted to see you.”
“God,” I said, bending my neck back as I tried to roll the stress from my body. “I don’t want to see him. He shouldn’t have come here. He has no right to intrude on my life.”
“He’s trying, Isa.”
“Sam, he’s not trying. He’s mad that he fucked things up and I finally walked away. He thought it would be better without me until he realized that he had to cook his own meals and do his own damn laundry.”
Sam sighed and gripped onto my hand. “Isa, I’m just asking that you hear him out. Do it for your kids. He came all this way to talk to you.”
“I can’t believe you’re taking his side,” I huffed.
“I’m not. I just want you to hear what he has to say.”
“Fine,” I said in irritation. “I’ll hear him out, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to just let him walk back into my life.”
“I’d expect nothing less from you, baby sister. Make him work for it.”
I smiled at my big brother. Even though he was totally wrong on this, he had the best of intentions and I knew he was just trying to look out for me. The rest of the afternoon flew by and before I knew it, Enzo was getting ready to crash. He had a busy day and didn’t get a nap today. When he had a meltdown when one of the other kids wouldn’t let him play with the blue lawnmower, I knew it was time for us to head home. I said my goodbyes and loaded the kids in the car. Enzo was out before we left the driveway.
“Did you have a good time, Vittoria?”
“Yeah, it was fun. I really liked that girl.”
“Which girl?”
“The one…the one….” I looked in the rearview mirror at my little girl that was staring out the window. One thing about kids, they were easily distracted and completing a sentence could take up to an hour.
“Which one, honey?”
“The one with the hair that looked like the girl with the red hair.”
I racked my brain, trying to figure out what the hell she was talking about, but nothing was coming to me.
“What girl with the red hair?”
“You know, with the blue bows in her hair? Where you get me the chocolate ice cream.”
“Wendy’s?”
“Yeah, the girl with the red hair,” she said as if I was stupid and couldn’t keep up, which I couldn’t. I tried to think about who at the party had pigtails and that’s when I remembered Maggie’s little girl.
“Are you talking about Caitlin?”
“Yeah, she’s fun. Her dad tells all those other boys what to do. She said that he was going to teach her how to shoot. I don’t know what that means, but I want to do it.”
“I don’t think you need to learn that right now.”
“Why?”
“Because…I said so.”
That was my go to line when I didn’t want to explain my reasoning. The fact was, I didn’t want to have a gun in the house, but if I said that, I would have to explain what a gun was and what it was used for. I’d leave that to Sam to explain to her.
I pulled into the driveway and Vittoria got out and ran ahead of me to the house. I got Enzo out, doing my best not to wake him, and headed for the door. Vittoria snatched the keys out of my hands and unlocked the door, racing inside to her room. I wasn’t sure yet what she thought of our new house. It was a nice house, but it wasn’t the one she grew up in and I was worried that she would hate it here. Since the kids had snuck into my room most nights, they obviously weren’t used to
the house yet.
I laid Enzo down in his bed as Vittoria dressed for bed.
“Let’s go brush your teeth, kiddo.”
She turned, putting her hand on her jutted out hip and gave me her sassiest look. “I can do it myself, you know.”
The attitude on this child lately was unbelievable. Some days, she was a sweet five year old and other days, it was like I was dealing with a teenager. I wasn’t sure where she got it from. Maybe she was watching Moana too much or maybe she was just angry about the whole situation with her father and I. Either way, dealing with kids day in and day out by myself was exhausting. I couldn’t wait until tomorrow when Vittoria started her first day at her new school and Enzo went to daycare. I would have a whole eight hours where I could talk to adults about anything other than which show was on TV or who pulled who’s hair.
I watched from the doorway, making sure she was doing a good job brushing and then checked her mouth when she was done.
“Mom, I’m a big girl now. I don’t need you to brush my teeth and look at my mouth every night.”
“Yes, I do.”
She grunted and stomped into her bedroom, closing the door behind her. I was so done with this day. I quickly changed into my favorite plaid pajama shorts and a tank top, whipping off my bra and groaning at the feel of freedom. I tossed my hair up in a messy bun and washed off my face. I was ready for bed, but it was way too early for me, even though my body was telling me just to go to sleep.
I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of wine, drinking almost half of it in one swallow. Sighing, I took the whole bottle with me into the living room and sat down on the couch, turning on the tv. There was nothing I wanted to watch. My mind wandered to Gabe and the way he held my son today, as if he was his own. It felt so wrong to be so attracted to a man when I had only filed for divorce just months before. In my mind, I had left our marriage almost a year ago, but that didn’t change the fact that I was technically still married.
A knock at my door drew me out of my thoughts. I walked over and looked through the peephole, jumping back in surprise. Gabe was standing at my door.
Shit. Did I brush my teeth? My hair probably looked like a rats nest and I already took off my makeup.
Gabe Page 5
