Page 38 of Sandro

I nodded. Got it. Security had been upped just in case because…yeah. I happened to claim the grandson of a truly evil mafia boss. Lucky me. Now I really wondered how it was that his mother met his father. There was no way they ever moved in the same circles. Except…

“Sofia’s family,” I said. “They’re not bratva by chance?”

Master Vincent laughed. “No,” he finally said. “They are what a lot of people would call boring accountants and other business owners. But they have zero ties to the Russian underground.”

That was a relief. Maybe it shouldn’t have been, but it actually was.

“Good to know,” I said. “If that is all, I’ll go see if I can talk my beloved into a tour of the grounds, and then I’ll share with him all of the wonderful news about his grandfather.”

“Yeah, good luck with that,” Marcello said.

I scowled at him, which caused him to laugh. There truly wasn’t anything any of us could do with the information. We simply made do with what it was and did what needed to be done to keep Leo safe. But the first thing to help ensure his safety was to let him know what was going on. Because if he had no clue, at this point, that could be incredibly dangerous. Hopefully, he wasn’t too terribly upset with everything I was about to drop on him. Perhaps I could make it up to him later if he was feeling up for it. I wasn’t going to say no. Only a fool would, and I certainly wasn’t one. At least, not when it pertained to anything to do with my gorgeous and sweet beloved.

Chapter 16

Leonardo

Abel was incredibly sweet, but he was more talkative than I was used to. I was honestly thinking he was just normal, and everyone in the pride was just rude and ignored me all the time, but I didn’t know how to answer him fast enough. He wasn’t annoying or anything, but he had more questions than I had answers for.

“Do you need more tea?” Rio asked, saving me from answering another question.

“Uh, no. Thank you though,” I said to the warlock. “Do you think everything is all right with Sandro? He’s not in trouble, is he?”

Rio’s smile was nothing but warm. I’m sure it helped with his profession. “I’m sure that Sandro is perfectly fine. The family has been looking into both your pride as well as other things that pertain to Sandro’s time being held. Would you mind if I ask how he’s doing? I have to assume his body is finally starting to heal in earnest now that he’s mated.”

I nodded. “Most of the scars have healed. There are a few that he says won’t ever fully disappear.”

“Unfortunately, no. They can be removed with magic, but so far, he’s rejected that.”

I shrugged. “They don’t bother me. If he doesn’t want them erased, that’s his choice to make.” I hesitated, but I knew that Rio already knew about the nightmares. That was why Rio had come back to Banff after that first night. “The nightmares continue though. They’re not nearly as bad as that first night,” I whispered.

“They might never completely leave him. Time will tell for certain, but it might also be useful for him to talk to someone about it to help him deal with the situation in a healthier way.”

“How do we do that? Do you know someone who can help him? And what if he doesn’t want to?” It had taken a talk with Rio for him to talk to me about it, and I was his beloved. He should have been eager to discuss all the things with me. I understood why. I’d seen the memories before they basically went dark. And by dark, I mean blacked out. It was probably a good thing that he didn’t remember everything that had happened to him.

“I can reach out and see if I can find anyone. There are psychologists that do that very thing. I’m not certain they are willing to help us though. I will have to see.”

I nodded. I wanted that for Sandro, but only if it was something that he, too, desired. If he was completely against it, then no. I was going to support him in all things, and this was certainly an important one.

Before more could be said, Sandro returned to the dining room. I was happy to see him, and I was excited to show him how much I’d eaten. I don’t know if it was because of the tea, or simply because I had eaten a proper amount of food again, but I was feeling so much better.

“Hi,” I said as Sandro smiled at me.

“Hello. Are you finished with your meal?”

I nodded before pointing to my plate. I’d not eaten everything, but I’d come close.

“Excellent. How would you like to go for a walk? I can show you around the villa and the gardens. They’re always beautiful, but they’re especially nice this time of the morning.”

My smile grew. “I’d really like that.” I started to stand but then remembered Abel and Mazzi. I looked back across the table but found them both gone. Rio answered before I could even ask the question.

“They left several minutes ago. They both went to take care of the babies, I’m certain.”

“Oh.” I felt terrible because they had been so kind to me, and they left without me even thanking them for being so welcoming.

“They’ll be around,” Rio told me. “The babies all started to get fussy. Abel will most likely be out in the gardens at some point this morning. Mazzi as well.”

“Thank you, Rio.”