Page 185 of Mafia Billionaire's Surprise Baby

My chest is heaving, and I feel like I’m panting. I look at my sister, and the full force of my pain cracks through me.

“She should have chosen me. She shouldn’t have given up on me. She should have showed me that she’s just as into me as I am into her,” I croak. “She should have loved me back.”

“Oh, Sal,” Caterina says.

I put my head down. I don’t want to cry.

That’s not what I’m going to do right now.

Caterina rushes forward and pats my back. “It’s okay,” she soothes. “It’s okay.”

“I…”

Caterina kind of stumbles, and I catch her. I look down and realize that the bags under her eyes are dark, and her lips look a weird shade of bluish purple.

I remember that my baby sister just gave birth, not even a week ago, to twins.

“Come on,” I say, lifting her up in my arms. “Let’s get you back to New York.”

“Ugh. Fine,” she mumbles sadly. “But only if you come back with me. I can’t lose you, Sal,” Caterina says sadly.

“I’m sorry, Cat,” I say sincerely.

I am sorry.

I missed my niece and nephew being born.

I missed Luna’s end-of-year celebration.

I missed a lot of things.

As we head back to the helicopter pad, where Elio’s helicopter is waiting, shiny and sleek in the night, I have a glimmer of hope.

Maybe I can’t be loved by Gia.

But Caterina loves me. My nieces and nephew will.

Maybe I don’t need to be loved by Gia to survive.

The lie sounds so good that as I put Caterina onto the helicopter, I almost believe it.

Almost.

* * *

The twins are… loud.

Elio and Caterina’s house has gone from being a place of relative peace, with Luna as the only source of chaos, to being complete and utter mayhem.

Two are a lot of babies to have at once.

Caterina and Elio need all the help that they can get.

And I guess in this situation, that comes in the form of… me.

Dino’s kind of around. He’s actually been helping more in the warehouse and with the shipping stuff. He and I take turns running the business and running the organization, while Elio and Caterina do their best to keep up with Luna and the babies.

It’s insane.