Page 141 of Fallen Rook

Sure enough, the front door opened and in breezed my older brother.

He wasn’t alone.

The entire room sucked in a breath.

Was Luca out of his damn mind? It seemed that way, for he’d brought over Azzurra Albanese. Azzurra was Luca’s number one fangirl. A Milan-based hair stylist. Her dad had begged my late father to make the arrangement that they would marry. Vello had deemed the Albanese too insignificant for our alliance, but that had not stopped Luca from indulging in bedding Azzurra sporadically over the years. I hadn’t seen them together since way before Luca married Sofia, and my guess was that this was a ploy to make his wife jealous and finally give him some attention.

Azzurra looked the part of a fallen woman, wearing four-inch Louboutins and a minidress so short I could see the pattern of her underwear. She clung to Luca’s arm, her half-exposed tits rubbing against his bicep through his suit.

Everyone was silent, torn between pissed off and shocked he’d hard-launch his mistress in the middle of this shit show, knowing his estranged wife would be here.

I glanced at Sofia. She was the only one who didn’t offer any reaction. She seemed completely unbothered by this turn of events, her expression as smooth as marble.

“Sofia.” Luca stepped toward her, shaking off Azzurra. His fingers twitched longingly. He didn’t dare touch her, but he wanted to. “You look”—he swallowed hard—“good.”

“Thank you, Luca.” She served him a lenient smile, running a hand over her belly protectively. “Wish I could say the same about you.”

“I did what you said.” The voice that came out of him did not sound like my brother at all. I arched an eyebrow. What the fuck was going on?

“And?” Sofia sounded like a patient teacher.

“And it didn’t work at all.”

She patted his cheek. “That’s too bad, Luca. At least you tried.”

“How’s the bab—”

She turned to my baby sister and Tierney, who were standing beside her like two bodyguards, and gave each of them a hug. “Lila, thank you for having me. I can’t wait to meet again soon. Do come over next week. You have to see the new stables.”

“Sofia,” Luca pleaded.

She strolled right past Azzurra, not sparing her a single glance, chin angled high.

The silence stretched a few more moments before I decided to break the ice.

“Ciao, Azzu.”

Tierney and Lila snapped their gazes to me, staring like I’d just dropped a dump in the middle of the vintage carpet.

“Hey, we can’t just pretend she doesn’t exist.” I shrugged.

“You’re right. Imma”—Lila turned to her housekeeper, putting a hand on her shoulder—“please make sure to clean every surface Miss Albanese sits on and get rid of the utensils she uses.”

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

My baby sister did not have one nasty bone in her body. For her to throw such an obvious dig at Azzurra was not only a pledge of alliance to Sofia, it was the equivalent to falling on a sword for her.

Luca’s eyes snapped to our baby sister’s. He opened his mouth, but Tiernan stepped forward before he could tell her off, protectively looming over Luca and shielding his wife with his body. “Yes, Luca? Is there a problem?”

“Your wife needs to learn to stay quiet.”

“My wife has been silent most of her life, thanks to your idiotic family. She has a lot of catching up to do in the talking department, and she can say whatever she wants, whenever she wants, to whomever she wants. Try to intimidate her, and the Bratva will be the least of your problems.”

Luca’s jaw locked in fury.

“Good, good.” Tiernan patted his shoulder, a chillingly cold smile touching his lips. “I knew we’d reach an understanding.”

Azzurra had the dignity to shrink behind Luca in embarrassment. This only amplified her presence in the room. The wrongness of it.