Page 95 of Fallen Rook

“I visit you every weekend!” I protested, swaggering into the living room and picking up my nephew, Nero, from his playmat. “Il bambino.”

He laughed as I tossed him in the air and caught him. I matched his gurgling sounds, which put my nephew on a high. He couldn’t stop giggling.

“Careful, Enzo.” Tiernan materialized from the hallway. “That’s my son and heir you’re hurling dangerously close to a twelve-foot ceiling.”

“If toddlers didn’t want to be thrown, they wouldn’t be the perfect throwing weight,” I retorted.

Tiernan stopped. Scowled. Looked ready to decapitate me.

“Relax.” I chuckled. “I do it all the time.”

“How is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“To feel anything, you must first be capable of emotions.”

“I’m capable of emotions,” Tiernan reassured me, leaning against the wall dispassionately. “For instance, right now, I’m madly in love with your sister and endlessly pissed off at you.”

With a sigh, I handed Nero to Tierney, who was less prone to treating babies like they were baseballs.

“Were you able to drag the woman of the hour to our conference?” I strode into the kitchen to get myself some coffee. Everyone followed me.

Lila shook her head, speaking, “I think Sofia has finally had enough of him.”

Lila’s pronunciation was different, because she was deaf and recently got cochlear implants. She still signed when she felt self-conscious, even though all of us could understand her just fine.

“Well, she lasted longer than I did.” Achilles flicked the coffee machine to life. That man loved coffee almost as much as he loved his wife. “I got fed up with his sour ass before I learned how to crawl.”

“Am I hearing right that you’re crawling, babe?” Tierney was the last to walk into the kitchen, Nero in her arms.

“Not at the moment. But for you, I’d get on my hands and knees in a room full of shattered glass.” Achilles slid the first cup of coffee he made her way, pressing an intimate kiss to her cheek.

“Thanks so much for this appetite suppressant,” I murmured. “Now, let’s figure out what to do with our new don.”

“What do you think Sofia is doing in that mansion with Jeremie?” Lila asked. She sat in her husband’s lap. He stroked her like she was a lazy cat, the movement automatic, almost like an afterthought.

Achilles elevated an eyebrow. “You want me to spell it out for you, little sis?”

“Might be for protection only,” Tiernan pointed out. “Considering her history with Luca and some of the shit that’s now coming out about everything he’s done over the years.”

We all had skeletons in the closet. But Luca had a fucking graveyard. We’d only found out about it recently.

“I hope it’s not just for protection.” Tierney sipped her coffee. “Sofia is a saint, but even saints have their limits. What do you think happened?”

Achilles shook his head. “Luca is cagey about his relationship with her. I know next to nothing about it. Enzo?”

“Same here,” I said. “Lila, you’re the closest to her, right?”

Lila nodded, just as Tiernan wrapped an arm around her waist. The psychopath couldn’t fucking stand it when another man talked to her, even if it was her brother.

“What do you make of it? Do you think there’s a chance she’ll take him back?” I asked.

“I’m not sure. She doesn’t talk about him at all other than to say they are not compatible.”

“The man is not functioning.” Achilles slammed his coffee cup on the counter. “And we’ve got a lot of shit on our plate. We need a plan.”

“Sounds like you gave it some thought.” I stroked my chin. Achilles never shied away from making bold decisions. Especially ones involving mass carnage and maximum casualties.

“We can get rid of Jeremie,” he said, in a tone suggesting he’d be happy to take care of that problem.