Page 78 of Sin and Supplication
The pasta was handed to Mamma, who finally set it down in front of Phoenix, and she began to pack his plate with food. It wasn’t worth telling her that it was too much because she wouldn’t listen, and when she was satisfied, she placed the spoon back in the bowl and popped a kiss on Phoenix’s cheek.
“Eat up, my darling.” She petted his hair until strands fell across his chin before she tucked them behind his ear again. “You need plenty of food for that big test you have coming up.”
“Oh yes.” Aunt Pamina swallowed her food and waved her hand in the air, the multiple rings on her thin fingers sparkling. Unlike the rest of us, she had blonde hair, which she wore in a short bob. “Luca is doing the same class. Did you tell him, Luca?” She gave her youngest son the evil eye, and he winced.
I held back a laugh because I knew exactly what that look meant when it came from my aunts or Mamma.
He cleared his throat and grinned at Phoenix. Luca was the second-youngest of our family, only older to Paolo, my cousin, and he was the only one who had his mother’s blue eyes—Adrian, Domenic, and Rosana had their father’s brown ones. “Ma told me you had Managerial Accounting and I realized I’m in the same class. I haven’t seen you in there, though. But now that we know, maybe we could study together for it?”
Phoenix’s face lit up and he bounced in his chair, grin so wide it must hurt. He’d particularly become closer to my younger cousins, including Luca, and it was good to see him open up more. He still had concerns and clear symptoms of PTSD, and maybe he always would, but he’d grown a lot. There were times when he thought I’d leave him, and I would have to remind him I wasn’t going anywhere. Some days he couldn’t wait to spend an evening with his friend Jesse, and others it was all I could do to get him to take the man’s phone calls. Jericho said that was part of his anxiety from having his life uprooted, then being abandoned.
“I’d love that. Professor Ackhurst is a d....” He broke off and smiled sheepishly when more than one of us shushed him. We never swore in front of Mamma and the aunts. “Sorry, Mamma.”
Mamma laughed and pinched his cheek. “You’re forgiven, sweetie. I bet he is a dick.”
“Mamma!” I chuckled when she winked at me.
“I’m sure God would agree, too, Gian.”
I shook my head when Phoenix laughed loudly, then kissed him on the cheek and whispered for him to continue.
He shrugged. “Mamma’s right, he is.”
Luca poked his tongue out and laughed. “It’s true. I swear he’s a racist and a homophobe, and he hates Sabbatinis, he even said so.”
“Did he?” Ric asked, a glint in his eyes I didn’t like. “Who did he teach before you?”
Toma grunted with laughter. “Me, I made his life hell.”
“Tommaso Giovanni Sabbatini.” Aunt Sofia frowned at him. “What did you do that for?”
I let them argue it out, or it would be more than Toma who got a lecture from his mother, while I focused on Phoenix. I wrapped my arm around the back of his chair and kissed his cheek, and then dragging him closer to me, I hooked my thumb under his chin and raised it so I could lay a gentle kiss on his lips. Ignoring the loud exchange of words around us—that was normal in a Sabbatini-Valentini get-together—I smiled down at Phoenix.
“Are you happy, baby boy?” I murmured.
Phoenix leaned his head on my shoulder and sighed. “So happy, Daddy. You make me happy, but so does your family.”
“Ourfamily, you’re one of us now.” I laid a gentle kiss on the corner of his mouth this time.
“Thank you,” he murmured, quiet enough for only me to hear.
“Hey, stop smooching,” Nic said from over our shoulder, and I turned for him to reach over us to drop a Coke in front of Phoenix. “There you are, brother-in-law. Welcome to the madhouse.”
Felice snorted as he took a sip of his rum, a strand of dark hair falling in front of his eyes. Normally he had his hair slicked back with product like Domenic, but it was nice to see my stuck-up younger brother more relaxed than usual. “Leave him alone, Nic.”
Beside him, Marco popped a cigar in his mouth, but one glare from Mamma had him dropping it unlit on the table. “Sorry, Mamma.”
I shook my head. I never thought I’d enjoy being back in this place with everyone, but here I was, doing exactly that with my boy at my side. I grabbed Phoenix’s fork and stabbed some rigatoni before I raised it to his lips. He opened his mouth and sucked the pasta off the fork, moaning. “That’s yum.”
I smiled. “Maybe you can go learn the recipe from Aunt Sofia and make it for me.”
He beamed. “Yes.” Laying a hand on my thigh under the table, he licked his lips, tongue peeking out just enough to be teasing. “I’ll take good care of you, Daddy.”
I had no doubt he was telling the truth, and I would protect him no matter what. I would even take another life if I had to because my boy was worth everything to me.
“Love you, baby boy.”
“Love you, too, Daddy.”
