The Guzzi Legacy: Vol 2

by Bethany-Kris

  Everything looked good on her.

  Fuck him for noticing, too.

  He might have enjoyed the sight of her surprise on another day, but today, he wasn’t entirely sure what to feel. Except for maybe the fact he shouldn’t be here at all. Not standing on these steps. Not waiting for her release from the police interviews.

  None of it.

  And yet, there he stood.

  “Bene?”

  Her hesitant call of his name had him standing a little straighter on the steps of the police station. Shoving his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket, he stared at the woman who had changed his entire life in far more ways than she could possibly know. He wished that so much of this between them had been different, but as this was what they were given, then he would try to do something with it.

  Try being the keyword.

  “Did you come to tell me you hate me again?” she asked. “To call me a liar, and leave before you let me explain? Do you want to taunt me because you have what you want, and now I have nothing?”

  He didn’t miss how she kept a good distance between them. She took a few steps away from the door, likely wanting to get far away from the cops in that building, but she didn’t begin to climb down the stairs to come closer to him.

  “Don’t you think I would be owed that?” he asked back.

  Vanna swallowed hard. “That doesn’t mean I want to hear it.”

  “That’s the thing about love and forgiveness, isn’t it?”

  Her brow dipped. “Pardon?”

  Bene took one step higher, asking, “How about I ask you a question?”

  “Well—”

  “It’s a good one, I promise.”

  “Okay,” she whispered.

  “Why me?”

  “Honestly?”

  Bene nodded, taking one more step on the stairs.

  Vanna blew out a hard breath, her arms full with a large brown paper bag. Likely the items she had gone into the station with, or what they gathered of hers from the church when the raid happened. “You were the logical choice—all your other brothers weren’t single, or around.”

  “Marcus—”

  “Not my type.”

  For some reason, that made him grin.

  And chuckle.

  A little.

  “And why did you change your mind?” he asked. “About coming after my family, I mean. What made you—”

  “Because a part of me knew I was chasing someone else’s wrongs—a part of me thought it was the only way to keep my dad alive when I worried, I was forgetting him. Because I blamed your father for the way my life went. Because I love you.”

  Each time she said because, he took another step. There were only three left between him and her, now, but Bene wasn’t quite ready to close them. He thought there was still a lot left unsaid between the two of them, and if they didn’t get it out now, then he doubted there would be another chance for them to do that.

  And he needed to make a choice, didn’t he?

  To love this woman, and fight for her.

  Or to let it go.

  Give me a reason not to let it go, Vanna.

  “What did you mean—about love and forgiveness?”

  Bene arched a brow, tipping his head to the side a bit as he regarded her. “It only really works if you want to be forgiven, Vanna.”

  She just stared.

  He looked back.

  “When you hurt somebody,” he added, shrugging and taking one more step higher, “then you don’t get to decide anything about their forgiveness, but especially when it’s someone you say you love. You hurt them, and so you should be prepared to deal with the consequences of their forgiveness, even if it hurts you. It’s your willingness to accept their forgiveness in whatever form it takes that proves you understand what you did.”

  “You hurt me, too, but I don’t think the same thing applies.”

  He had hurt her.

  Said things in anger.

  Behaved rashly.

  Couldn’t deal.

  She’d taken the brunt of it.

  “But I understood,” she added softer. “So, I’m not sure if it’s that there’s nothing to forgive, or I already did. What about you?”

  “I wish you could understand the weight of what you did.”

  “I do.”

  “Really, you think?”

  Vanna dragged in a shaky breath, blinking before tears slipped out of the corners of her eyes and made glistening tracks down her cheeks. He expected her to quickly wipe away the tears, but she didn’t even bother.

  “I’m sorry I hurt you, Bene, and I’m sorry that I made it worse because you fell in love with me.”

  “But are you sorry for that?”

  It took Vanna a second.

  And then, two.

  Bene waited her out.

  “I’m not sorry that you love me, no, and I’m not sorry that I love you, either.”

  “This is a messy thing, Vanna.”

  She lifted one shoulder, holding that brown bag tighter to her midsection. “I wanted to fix it. It was too late, I knew it, but I still wanted to fix it. I tried everything I could to make it better and—”

  “Stop.”

  She did.

  Instantly.

  She tipped her head down, and because of that, didn’t see him climb those last steps, and cross the remaining distance between them. He didn’t even think about it before wrapping Vanna in a tight hug at the top of those stairs. The second she was in his embrace, he found life became far more bearable. All the noise of the city faded into the background. Her sugared scent soaked into his lungs, the soft strands of her hair on the top of her head pressed against his lips, and for the moment, everything was good again.

  Just fine.

  Or they could pretend.

  Vanna dropped the paper bag between them and hugged him back. He’d done well—did all he could to keep a respectable distance until they said as much as they could before his control snapped. Hanging on by a thread, watching her do what she needed to survive from a distance, all the while she still risked herself to help him, and his family ...

  Yeah, he didn’t need to be told.

  He knew she loved him.

  It was just so fucking messy.

  “I meant what I said that day,” he muttered against the top of her head, “that I love you and I hated you, but I didn’t know how to do both things at the same time.”

  “And now?”

  “Seems you can’t hate things you love.”

  He heard her heavy sigh.

  Their embrace tightened.

  “That doesn’t mean everything is good, Vanna.”

  She nodded. “I know.”

  “But it does mean I want it to be.”

  Her head tipped back, and her wet gaze met his. He swiped the pad of his thumbs under her eyes, wiping away what remained of her tears because he couldn’t stand that. She should never cry, but especially not with him. Sure, he understood why she cried now, but that didn’t mean he wanted her to.

  Hadn’t this been bad enough?

  “What bothered me the most,” he told her, “was that for a time, I wasn’t sure you ever loved me, or this had just been a scheme.”

  “It was at first, but then there you were, Bene ... and you were not who I expected. You were nothing like who I thought you would be.”

  God, yeah.

  “I know all about that.”

  She smiled.

  All he wanted to do then was kiss her, so he did exactly that. Oh, they had a huge mess to clean. Apologies to make. More things to say between them. Of that, he was most sure. There were more obstacles in their way to face, yet, the number one problem being his family.

  And yet, when he kissed her ... it didn’t matter.

  Just the press of her lips, and how her mouth parted for him without question, letting him find the taste of her on his tongue. Whatever remained of the world around them disappeared, and he had never been happier f
or it.

  With a kiss, she had him again.

  Took his heart back.

  Held it so tight.

  Bene was good with that.

  His lips grazed down her chin, and then she pressed a soft kiss to his forehead. Bene stayed like that for a second, lost in a space where it could be just the two of them, and nothing else. Where they didn’t have to deal with everything else quite yet.

  “Everything else is just details after this,” he murmured, “and we can figure them out as we go, if that’s what you want to do.”

  “I thought the point of this was that it’s what you want.”

  Bene straightened up, meeting her gaze with a smirk. “Well ...”

  Vanna smiled back. “I’ll go wherever you take me as long as you’re there, too.”

  “That’s all I need to know, then.”

  Something flashed in her eyes.

  A whole change in her demeanor, really. She went from happy and sweet, if not still a touch sad, to nervous in a blink.

  He didn’t miss it.

  Nor did he like it.

  “What’s all that about now?”

  Vanna’s gaze darted away from his, but just as quickly, their stares met as her lips moved to form words he hadn’t been expecting to hear. “I’m pregnant.”

  “What?”

  That seemed like the only appropriate response.

  And the only one his brain formed.

  “What?”

  Vanna swallowed audibly. “It wasn’t intentional, please don’t think I did it on purpose.”

  God, that’s what she assumed?

  That he’d be pissed?

  Bene blinked, asking, “The restaurant?”

  It took Vanna a second.

  “Yeah, I think so. You’re not going to ask about ... him, or if he’s the ... well, the father?”

  Bene felt the way his face changed at that question—how his expression morphed into something very unkind. That’s what the mention of Mario Detti did for him. He wasn’t even jealous of the man, and the asshole wasn’t free now, anyway. Wouldn’t be for a long time, if everything went well, and it would.

  Still, he hated that bastard.

  “No,” Bene said thickly, “because I know he isn’t.”

  Vanna’s gaze held strong to his. “I wouldn’t let him touch me.”

  “He didn’t deserve to. So, like a couple months or so?”

  “About nine weeks, I think.”

  Huh.

  He was mad that he’d missed nine weeks.

  Pissed this couldn’t be different.

  So fucking happy, too.

  Then, he had another thought. “Why didn’t you tell me that right away? Why wait until after we talked?”

  “Because you had things to say, and you deserved to be able to say them whether they would be things that hurt me, or not. I’d done enough already ... it’s your turn.”

  “Not a tit for tat, Vanna.”

  And then his hands slid down between them, palms covering the expanse of her flat stomach just because he could, and it felt so fucking good.

  “Hmm,” he said, tone thick with pride. “Love you.”

  “Love you, too, Bene.”

  “The pregnancy thing might make this a little messier.”

  Vanna grinned.

  He loved that.

  “But does it matter?”

  No.

  Not at all.

  Bene dropped another quick kiss to her lips, adding, “It’s my family we have to worry about.”

  Just in case she forgot.

  Because he hadn’t.

  • • •

  “What is she doing here?”

  Jesus Christ.

  Bene hadn’t even helped Vanna out of the car yet, and already, it had begun. Marcus came rushing out of the Guzzi mansion like a man on a mission, his gaze laser-focused on Vanna who was currently letting Bene take her bag before she stepped out of the passenger side of his Lambo. Following behind his oldest brother was the rest of his brothers. The mansion had become a hub of sorts for them while their father remained in lock up, and their mother refused to return home until Gian came with her.

  “Marcus—”

  “What the fuck are you doing with her, huh? Why is she here, Bene? You know we got Chris’s wife in the house, right? The kids. Ginevra is here, too, and the baby. And you bring that fucking thing here tonight?”

  “Marcus!”

  His oldest brother was all of two feet away from them, looking as though if he didn’t rip Bene apart piece by piece with his bare hands, then he might go for Vanna next. Bene couldn’t have that, so he quickly moved in front of Vanna, dropping her bag to the ground as his hand slipped behind him to lay flat against her stomach.

  He pointed one finger at his brother. “Don’t you dare touch her.”

  Marcus fumed.

  Blazing eyes.

  Clenching fists.

  Pure fucking rage.

  “Bene,” Vanna whispered, her hands fisting into his jacket, “it’s okay.”

  No, it really wasn’t.

  Except, he planned for this.

  Figured it would happen.

  Marcus was who he was—raised by their father differently than the rest of them, really. Sure, all the Guzzi brothers held a strong loyalty to their family and bonds. They protected each other first, and foremost.

  Thing was ... Marcus couldn’t be the same.

  The firstborn.

  The only singleton.

  He didn’t have a twin to level him out like the rest did. He never had someone else always watching only his back like Bene had with Beni, or even the way Corrado pushed Christopher to be more out going and take risks.

  Instead, Marcus had the responsibility of all of them. He took it on himself—did what he had to because he was the oldest brother, and it was his burden to bear, not that he ever complained. He was more protective, and in a way, the same lessons they had learned came in another way for him because his rules had always been different from theirs.

  “Marcus, relax,” Corrado snapped, finally catching up with his brother.

  The others soon followed.

  Chris stayed with his twin.

  Beni came to stand beside Bene.

  Just like that, the family almost seemed divided in the driveway with two on one side, two brothers on the other, and Marcus right in the middle. It was everything their parents would hate. Even if the cause was justifiable.

  It didn’t matter.

  “It’s not who we are,” Beni said like he could read his brother’s mind. “This isn’t what we do, Marcus, and you know that.”

  Marcus’s stinging gaze flew to Bene, despite his twin being the one who spoke, when he replied, “You know what else we don’t do? Bring home women who got our father put in jail!”

  Bene gritted his teeth. “I—”

  “Is that what you’ve been doing for the last month? Chasing her ass around when you were supposed to be helping us figure out something for Ma and Papa? Every fucking time I called, and you didn’t pick up, right?”

  Every sentence brought Marcus closer to Bene until the two of them were chest to chest and eye to eye. On another day, it might concern him how physical his brother became because that wasn’t like Marcus at all.

  Today wasn’t the same.

  He got it.

  Completely.

  Didn’t mean his stance changed.

  “Hey, hey,” Chris murmured, quick to leave his twin’s side to slip in between Marcus and Bene, putting at least the space of his body in the middle. “Let’s take a second and—”

  “I don’t need a second! I need her gone!”

  “She’s the only reason Papa will be getting out of jail, Marcus,” Bene threw at his brother just as viciously as Marcus spoke to him. “Because of her, yeah? Because she was willing to risk herself to help me.”

  Marcus straightened, his stare narrowing dangerously. “You went behind our backs and worked with th
e same bitch that fucked us over the first time?”

  Okay.

  That pissed Bene off.

  “Watch your fucking mouth before I make it bleed, Marcus.”

  Beni cleared his throat, giving Marcus a look. “Go easy with the names, huh? And it wasn’t just Bene. I helped him, too, and knew what was going on. Uncle Tommas pulled some contacts for us as well. You couldn’t get it done, man, and there was no way you would use anything we got from Vanna, so just relax.”

  “I want her the fuck out of here. Now.”

  “Absolutely not,” Bene replied.

  Marcus tipped his head up, staring down at his brother over Chris’s shoulder. “Or what?”

  “Or nothing, Marcus. She’s with me, and that’s the end of it.”

  “She’s a fucking rat—an informant. You brought her into our family, and she used everything she found to hurt us. If you think for one second that she’ll be welcomed here, you’re highly fucking misinformed, Bene. I will give you one minute to get in the car and take her away before I put her off this property myself.”

  Bene inched back a bit, closer to Vanna than before. Her hand came to cover his over her stomach—would he even get to explain that this was bigger than Marcus understood? Would he care that Vanna did everything she could to right the wrongs she made?

  “Shit.”

  Bene’s head flew sideways only to find his twin’s soft proclamation was punctuated by the fact he could see the protective nature of Vanna’s hand overtop his. Right on her midsection. There was only one reason why someone held their stomach that way.

  Beni glanced away, the dawning in his expression as clear as day, but it was already too late. Chris noticed, too, who only shook his head with a dry chuckle as he stared up at the sky with a muttered, “Are you fucking serious, Bene?”

  “What?” Marcus demanded.

  Well ...

  Now or never, he supposed.

  “Vanna’s pregnant,” Bene said.

  Marcus blanked.

  Just like that.

  His face became white paper.

  Nothing to see.

  “What did you just say?”

  Vanna’s hand tightened around Bene’s, but still, she stayed quiet. Smart, really, all things considered. Better for her to just stay out of this right now, and let the rest of them handle it.

  “Bene,” Marcus snapped, “what did you just say?”

  “You heard me.”

  His brother’s gaze darted between him, and the woman behind him.