Sweet Temptation by Cora Reilly

handed Simona to me. My baby girl had cried all night, but now slept soundly in
my arms. Daniele clung to my leg, looking confused. It was the first time he’d
sought my closeness since Gaia’s death. I could feel all the compassionate looks.
Alone with two small kids, a young Underboss… they were looking for any
small crack in my façade.
Mother came over with a sad smile and took Simona from me. She’d offered
to take care of my children, but she was sixty-four and had my father to take care
of. My sisters gathered around us, cooing at Daniele. Mia picked him up and
pressed him to her chest. My sisters, too, had offered their help, but each of them
had their own small children to take care of, and they didn’t live close by—
except for Mia.
“You look tired, son,” Father said quietly.
“I didn’t get much sleep these last few nights.” Since their mother’s death,
neither Daniele nor Simona had slept more than two hours at a time. The image
of Gaia’s bloody dress crossed my mind, but I shoved it away.
“You need to look for a mother for your children,” Father said, leaning
heavily on his walking stick.
“Mansueto!” Mother exclaimed under her breath. “We buried Gaia today.”
Father patted her arm but looked at me. He knew I didn’t need time to mourn
Gaia, but we needed to keep decorum in mind. Not to mention that I wasn’t sure
I wanted another woman in my life. What I wanted was irrelevant, though. Every
aspect of my life was dictated by ironclad rules and traditions.
“The children need a mother, and you need someone who’ll take care of
you,” Father said.
“Gaia never took care of him,” Mia muttered. She, too, hadn’t forgiven my
late wife.
“Not here, not today,” I clipped. She snapped her mouth shut.
“I suppose you already have someone in mind for Cassio,” my eldest sister
Ilaria told Father with a roll of her eyes.
“Every Captain and Underboss with a daughter of marrying age will already
have contacted Dad,” Mia said quietly.
Father hadn’t talked to me about it yet, because he knew I wouldn’t have
listened. However, Mia was likely right. I was a hot commodity—the only
unmarried Underboss in the Famiglia.
Luca and his wife Aria came over. I gave my family a sign to be silent. Luca
shook my hand again, and Aria smiled at my children. “If you need to step back
from your duties for a while, let me know,” Luca said.
“No,” I said immediately. If I gave up my position now, I’d never get it back.
Philadelphia was my city, and I would rule over it.
Luca inclined his head. “I know it’s not a good day to discuss matters, but
my uncle Felix approached me.”
Father nodded, as if he knew what Luca was going to say. “It’s a reasonable
idea.”
I motioned for them to follow me outside into the garden. “What is it?”