When he smiled at me in the way I always wished he would – warmly, lovingly – my own wobbled and I bit my bottom lip to stop it.

He reached across the table and lifted my glass. I took it from him and he lifted his own, holding it out to me. I felt a little silly as he forced us to celebrate, our glasses touched and gentle clink felt like a victory. I wondered why it was important, but the answer was sitting right there in front of me.

My wins were also his.

Our gazes locked as we sipped on high-end champagne.

And, sure, we had a long way to go, but we had to acknowledge how far we’d come.

* * *

Whenever I went through a relatively easy stage of my life, I could always count on something to come and mess it up. So, while basking in our temporary bliss, the hairs that stood on the back of my neck never truly calmed. And as predicted, I was soon reminded of why.

I stood at the top of the stairs when I heard them.

Giada was talking low to her brother and I hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but when I heard what my sister-in-law said, my chest immediately grew tight. “You heard Roam. He wasn’t messing around. She is overstepping again,” she emphasized the word, “and you know better than I do that if she does that with Roam, he’s going to fire a warning shot right into her head. Tor, you have to do something. She’s going to get herself killed.”

My eyes widened as I froze in my tracks.

Who?

“How do you even know about this?” Tor huffed out, aggravated.

Giada kept quiet a moment before she merely said, “Sammy.”

“He should not have told you that,” was my husband’s peeved reply.

“Well, I’m glad he did,” The usually sweet Giada snapped. “What are you going to do about it, Ettore?” Oh damn. She was using his real name. Even I knew that was bad. “What she’s doing is suicide.”

Tor, however, brushed off Giada’s concern with a cool, “How is that my problem?”

“You have to tell her.”

Tor scoffed. “Actually, I don’t.”

Giada took a deep breath before she started anew, “She’s still her sister. There’s still a way out of this. Vittoria needs to know.”

And it clicked.

Oh.

And my entire body slumped in awareness.

Oh.

Tor lowered his voice as he went off on a tangent. “No, G. She’s happy. Do you get that? She’s finally happy. And between my fuck up and hers, I am not letting anything touch my wife ever again. This is a hassle she does not need.” Sometime during his spiel, my heart melted into a puddle and my expression gentled. I loved Ettore Scala. I really, truly did. “I will take care of it. She doesn’t need to know.”