Page 134 of Breaking Rosalind
My brothers exchange a glance that suggests they’ve been bitching about me behind my back. That’s how the dynamics of our family have always worked. Dad and his golden boys on one side, with Mom and me on the other. Now that our parents have gone, it’s just me being the odd one out.
Benito sighs. “No one is calling you incompetent, Cesare.”
“Allegra went to rehab and got clean. Are we going to ignore years of faithful service because she once had a problem?” I ask.
“But didn’t you and she have a thing?” Roman asks with a frown.
“Past tense,” I snarl, bristling at the insinuation I’m defending an ex. “What we did or didn’t do is irrelevant.”
“It is when you’ve got her running two of our businesses.”
“I wouldn’t have to dump all my work on her if you could get through to that asshole at the Moirai.”
“They’ve agreed to a temporary ceasefire.” Benito cuts in. “What’s the progress on the interrogations? What have you learned?”
“The assassins are immune to pain, truth serums, and the threat of death.” My hands ball into fists. “They’re like robots that don’t listen to reason and can’t be scared into submission.”
“Nobody’s immune to everything,” Roman says.
“True, but wearing down a person’s defenses takes time.”
“Leroi’s ex, what’s-her-name, has been with you the longest. Shouldn’t she be ready to crack?”
“Rosalind belongs to me,” I say through clenched teeth.
“Obviously not, if she won’t spill her secrets,” Benito mutters under his breath.
I cross the room and stand over my asshole brother. “You got something to say about the way I handle women?”
Benito rises. At six-four, the bastard usually eclipses me by an inch and a quarter. Today it’s at least four because he’s wearing Cuban heels, and I’m in water-resistant shoes designed to shield my feet from body fluids.
He squares his shoulders in the same defensive posture he always uses when anyone mocks the years of celibacy he’s spent pining for his treacherous ex.
“I took back control of the meth lab, cleared the casino of betrayers, and spent the entire night cremating them alive,” Benito says, his voice tightening with rage. “And you can’t get a single woman to speak.”
Raising my chin, I meet Benito’s glare. “You’re too much of a coward to say you’re pissed at us both because you finally have to get your hands dirty.”
Benito flashes his teeth because I’m right. He won’t dare say a word to Roman, who’s been spending all his time romancing that skittish woman. I would have broken her in twenty minutes and gotten her to sign over her entire fortune. If Benito had what it took to even keep a woman, he’d understand that Rosalind was a completely different breed.
“Enough.” Roman stands and places his hands on both our shoulders. “We only just got the family together. Let’s not tear each other apart.”
The door behind us opens, letting in a pair of light footsteps that could only be female. I turn around to find Sofia walking in, holding a wicker picnic basket.
“I packed my special panettone,” she says with a soft smile, looking at Roman like he’s the second coming.
Hell, sometimes I see him sitting behind Dad’s desk and can’t believe what I’m seeing. I shuffle on my feet, wondering why I’m squabbling with Benito when we’re finally together as a family. I should enjoy this moment while it lasts.
We fall silent as she continues toward us with her basket, filling the room with the aroma of freshly baked bread. Roman releases our shoulders and steps around us to place a kiss on the housekeeper’s cheek.
Sofia hands him the woven basket and stands back with a sigh as he strides toward the French doors that open into the garden.
“Where are you going?” I ask, making him pause at the exit.
“I’m taking Emberly to Simon’s Pond,” Roman says with a grin. “She wants to paint a picture there.”
My brows rise. I glance at Benito, waiting for him to protest. Instead, he folds his arms and presses his lips into a tight line. Just as I thought, he’s directing his frustration at our big brother to me.
Roman steps out onto the patio. “Family dinner tomorrow night. Bring dates.”