The Mafia's Babies by Kaycee Romano (rocket ebook reader txt) 📖

Your Bruised Knuckles Say Otherwise

River followed Alessia into the kitchen. Lilith was on a high chair in front of the stove. She looked over at the two women and asked immediately, "What happened?"

"Nothing... grandma?" Alessia tested the name, asking her if she could call her that.

"Call me Nanna. That's what River calls me." Lilith laughed as she took the chopped vegetables that the help handed her.

"Nanna." Alessia smiled.

Lilith looked between the two women again. She could tell that something was clearly wrong but she decided to not press the matter. She had resigned to the fact that she was old now and even if she did know what the matter was, there was little she could do to help.

"Alright then. I want the both of you to leave the kitchen though." She said. "I need to be alone and focused to make the best food in the whole wide world."

River chuckled while Alessia nodded. She moved to the refrigerator to get a few cans of beer before she walked out.

River smiled at her grandmother and waved before she left the room, following her friend up the stairs and to her room.

"Who is he?" River asked as she closed the door and turned around to see Alessia plopping down on the bed, opening the first can of chilled beer.

"Husband." She sighed.

I turned to her. "I didn't know you were married!"

"I wish I wasn't."

"You guys are separated?" Of course, they were. River cursed herself for the most obvious and stupid question. Alessia looked like she wanted to shoot him dead right there.

Alessia looked up at her and chuckled, shaking her head. "I left a few years ago but we are still legally married." She sighed as she took another swig of her beer. "Mafia law – marriage is a sacred rite to be realized until death does its part."

River didn't know what to say. Because she had never been in such a situation before. She had no idea what Alessia was going through nor did she know what had happened between her and her husband. She guessed it was pretty bad from the way Alessia, Mateo and Adam reacted to his visit. But River couldn't bring herself to ask the woman about what had happened because one, she didn't want to reopen her wounds and two, she didn't think it was her place to ask.

There was a knock on the door followed by "Mommy!" and "Zia!"

Zia was Aunt in Italian and Alessia had insisted that her niece and nephew call her just that. So now she was Zia Sia to the twins.

"Yes, coming!" River called out as she looked over at the door. Alessia quickly sat up and chucked the unopened cans of beer in the drawer of the nightstand and placed the opened can under the bed.

She rubbed her face with her palms and then gave River a nod telling her that she could open the door now.

River gave her a small smile and walked over to the door, opening it. A smile immediately made its way to her face as soon as she looked down and saw her two little munchkins waiting patiently at the door with their hands tied to their backs – they did that to stop their urge to knock again. Susan Johnson had taught them that to stop them from doing it when they were in her Law Firm and wanted to go into her room while she was in the middle of meetings.

Lilith and Susan Johnson had played a great role in raising the two darlings to be such disciplined and lovable children.

"Yes, my darlings?" River crouched down in front of her twins.

"GG says the food is ready and everyone should go to the kitchen to get it." Lucas said.

"Also, Uncle Adam and Papa are missing." Kiara pouted. "They are nowhere in the house."

River looked over at Alessia who walked over to her little niece and nephew and picked them up, placing them on her hips. "Uncle Adam and Papa got some work. They will come to eat once they are done with it." She placed a kiss on each of their cheek as she said it. "Now, we all should go get some food so that we can quickly take a nap and go back to the beach."

The children cheered as soon as they heard the word 'beach'. They loved beaches ever since they could remember. And while beaches in New York were almost always crowded, they had the whole beach to themselves in Amalfi which made it all the more appealing.

.

.

.

"Hello, my little babies!!!" Sebastian came forward with Mia in his arms and kissed the twins on their cheeks.

"Uncle Sebby!" They grinned and gave him a hug.

"Come on, let's eat cookies." The smile on River's face flattered. The last incident had definitely ruined lemon cookies for her. Lilith Johnson's lemon cookies were a very important part of her childhood and it was also a family thing – every single member of the family knew how to make it. It was the best recipe her grandmother had ever come up with and that was saying something because Lilith was a fantastic cook. But now, River just couldn't look at the cookies the same way again.

"I am so tired!" River exclaimed as she helped Alessia place the kids on the kitchen stools and took a seat herself.

"Rosemary Chicken and Bacon Avocado Salad for my favorite person on earth!" Lilith exclaimed as she wheeled over and placed the dish in front of her granddaughter. On cue, River's stomach growled making the room erupt in laughter.

"Oooh, can I get one of these?" Alessia gushed as she took a seat next to River, her excitement not reaching her eyes.

Whoever that man was, he had hurt her bad.

"Of course, I made for all of us!" The darling old lady laughed as she got all of them their plates of her amazing dish.

Alessia fit right into the conversation as always. They sat there and ate their lunch, cracking jokes and reminiscing old times and sharing stories of the many kitchen accidents, most of which were from the great Sebastian Shane and his incomparable cockiness when it came to flambéing food and how it almost always ended with foam all over the pan and a burnt dishcloth.

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