Just like with Gavino, Cesare, and Zeno, Leondro had the same family resemblance: dark hair, strong jaw, broody brows. Unlike Cesare and Zeno, he wasn’t covered in ink. And he had a sturdier frame than the rest of us, thanks to more time spent in the gym.
“What’s her name?” Leo asked, voice pure gravel.
“What? Who?” Fuck. That was too quick. Too defensive. I’d have gotten away with it if it was one of my other brothers. But Leo was the second-oldest of all of us. Which meant he, like I had, shouldered the weight of our four younger siblings’ care and emotions, growing up without a mom and with an overworked father. He did his best. And he did better, in my opinion, than anyone else could have in his situation. But Leo and I needed to pitch in.
So we were more attuned to hidden feelings.
Leo’s lips curved up, making his dimple press in, looking like a slash down one side of his face. He got asked all the time if it was a scar instead of a dimple. Depending on his mood, it could give him a bit of a villainous look.
“Lord knows you never get out much. So it’s gotta be someone you’re crossing paths with for some other reason.”
“There’s no one.”
“I know you’ve been with Zen lately. And at Lorenzo’s. But as far as I know, there are no women there. And you’ve been dealing with those pain-in-the-ass Ferraros…”
“Hey.”
“Oh, come on. I grew up next to them too. They’re fucking insufferable.”
“They just lost Matt.”
“Which I’m going to assume is only amplifying the problem. Especially with… wait,” he said, brows raising. “Is it her?”
“Who?” I asked, picking up my slice and taking a bite but tasting nothing.
“It is, isn’t it?” Leo asked, watching my profile.
“Drop it,” I demanded.
“You have a thing for the widow.”
“Her name is Blair. And I don’t have athingfor anyone.”
Leo sat with that as he took a bite, chewed, and wiped his greasy fingers on the napkin.
“I was there, you know.”
“Where?”
“The wedding. I was there. And maybe at the time, I thought nothing of it.”
“Leo, let’s move on.”
“But you couldn’t look away from her. At the time, I figured, eh, she was beautiful. We were all looking at her. Looking back, though, you weren’t just looking. You were pining.”
“Pining?” I shook my head. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Is it? I found myself wondering a lot the past couple of years, why you kept bailing that guy out. You wouldn’t have bailed out one of us as many times as you did for Matt. But maybe youweren’t trying to help him out. Maybe you were trying to help out Blair.”
“Matt was my best friend.”
“Was he?” Leo asked, brows drawing low. “Just because he was your oldest friend doesn’t mean he was your best friend. He used you as a bank and gave you nothing in return.”
That was, honestly, fair.
But I didn’t feel ready to fully face that reality yet.
“Out of curiosity, who paid for the funeral arrangements? I know it wasn’t his family.”
