All I Believe (Firsts and Forever, #10)(86)
“Luck, or the universe, or fate put us in the same place at the same time, and we were drawn right back together.” I kissed Luca gently.
“You don’t actually believe in any of that,” Dante said. He’d just ended his call and was standing beside the couch.
“When Luca returned to my life, the boy I’d thought about for years, the one person I could never forget, I tried at first to write it off as a wild coincidence, but I just couldn’t,” I said. I brushed his hair from his eyes as I held my boyfriend’s gaze and told him, “You took all I believe and turned it on end when you came back into my life. You made me believe in magic. You also made me open myself up to love again. That right there is an absolute miracle! I’d built such thick walls around myself. All I could think about was the need to protect myself from any more hurt. But you knocked down my defenses like a sandcastle, and made me glad to be rid of them, Luca.”
“God I love you,” he said softly.
“I love you, too. More than anything.”
I’d completely forgotten we had an audience, until Dante said, “Who are you, and what have you done with my quiet, reserved, totally unsentimental cousin?”
I asked, “Was I unsentimental?”
“Pretty much.”
“Well, that’s no way to be. It’s a damn good thing mio miracolo reappeared when he did and saved me from that.”
“Oh man, and you’re sappy now, too,” Dante said.
I raised an eyebrow at him. “Have you seen yourself around your husband Charlie? Don’t act like you’re above being a great, big sentimental fool for the man you love.”
“But I don’t call him gushy Italian pet names,” he countered.
“You call him Angel. Like that’s not completely sappy.”
“Let’s just agree that you’re all a big pack of lovesick saps and get back to the subject at hand,” Andreo said, looking uncomfortable.
“That from the man who kissed my hitman brother into submission,” I told him. “When do we get to hear your and Connie’s story? I bet it’s epic.”
“Never.”
“Wait,” Vincent said. “He did what?”
I told them about the kiss and that Andreo was the reason my brother hadn’t carried out the hit, and Luca said, “You never even told me you were gay, Dreo. Come to think of it, I don’t remember you ever dating anyone, male or female.”
Dante saved Andreo from further embarrassment by pulling out his phone again and saying, “I just thought of something. Jerry has a couple safes, one at home, one in his office. I’ll bet he keeps cash in there. I’m going to text his sister Carla, I think she knows the combination and can empty them for us.”
He fired off a message while Luca told his brother, “I know you did all the work to set this up, but I need to be the one to confront Jerry. I can’t let you fight all of this battle for me, Andreo. I get that it affects all of us, but this all started when I fell in love with Nicky. I’m the cause.”
“Actually, I assumed Dante would be the one to confront his cousin, since he’s taking back control of the family,” Andreo said.
Dante chimed in, “I have no problem with you taking the lead tonight Luca, but we’re going to be right there with you, backing you up, because that’s what families do.”
Luca said, “I’m not actually family.”
“Sure you are. That happened as soon as you and Nico became a couple. By extension, Andreo is, too,” Dante told him. “Tonight you’re both going to learn what it really means to be a Dombruso. Jerry and his actions are an anomaly. Normally, we have each other’s back, no matter what.”
“I never would have predicted that Luca and I would end up here,” Andreo murmured.
“It’s all coming full circle,” I said. “Our families were the best of friends once. It’s taken a long time, but we found our way back together.”
“Just like you and your boy by the fountain,” Vincent said with a grin.
Andreo got up and said with a smirk, “Okay, I sense a group hug coming on, and that shit can’t happen. I’m going to go downstairs and learn what the hell a Flaming Titanic is. Jerry will probably be home from his gala in about two hours, give or take. That’s when we all pay him a visit, apparently with joined hands while singing Kumbaya.”
As he headed for the door, Luca said, “You can pretend you’re a cynic, but I know different. I saw that kiss, Andreo. There’s one particular Dombruso who got under your skin a long time ago. It’s pointless to deny it.”
“Not discussing this!” Andreo yelled as he walked a little faster.
Downstairs, a party was going on. Nana had filled her giant, crystal punchbowl with all kinds of liquor. Apparently it included Curacao, since the whole thing was vividly blue. A plastic cruise ship floated in the center of the punchbowl, amid pineapple rings that reminded me of life preservers. The boat was populated with a couple dozen tiny male action figures. I had to wonder where Nana got them, since they were naked and anatomically correct.
To add to the party atmosphere, music was blaring, and little old ladies with martini glasses were twerking all over four big members of the security team, who stood at attention like the guards at Buckingham Palace. Jessie grinned and waved at me when we came in. He was sitting cross-legged on the counter, out of reach of the amorous dog, who sat on the floor whining for him.