23-Sophia

**Isabella**

"Do you want children too, Capo?" I've never asked him what he wants.

"Not necessarily. I would not be mad if you ended up pregnant with my child, but I never cared to have any." Marcello and I are on the same page when it comes to kids. It wouldn't be the end of the world if I ended up pregnant, but I can't say whether or not I would be happy about it. Knowing about the depression that comes with motherhood makes it worse.

"Look, motherhood is terrifying to me. Sacrificing my body, postpartum depression, and constant worrying over a child who depends on me one hundred percent of the time? I don't see the bright side of motherhood." I'm not getting any younger, and neither are they, so I can see why Ezra is in a rush.

"What if you do not have to get pregnant?" Ezra says.

"You won't be knocking up another woman if that's what you're thinking." Ezra smiles even though I'm being dead serious.

"That is not what I meant, Love. So many children need a home. I was thinking we could adopt. We have a large castle and dozens of empty rooms. They do not have to be ours biologically. I just need both of you to help me raise them and give them a good life with stability. They will learn respect, trust, and loyalty in our home. When we are old, they can take over for us." Once again, Ezra makes my heart throb. I've never thought about adoption, but he makes it sound like something I would love to do. Sure, we would be responsible for these kids, but they would have a better life with us. We could give them endless opportunities, and they'll be safe with us.

"Capo, what do you think?" His expression isn't clear enough for me to read.

"I will always be supportive of you and Ezra, but I do not know anything about kids. Will I have to change a diaper? Will they call me dad? And what about schooling? Or would we do homeschooling? There is so much to think about." He loosens his tie, and I can tell his thoughts are becoming overwhelming.

"We can adopt older kids, so no diaper changing. We can hire a teacher or two to homeschool the kids until we figure out what works best for them, and they do not have to call you dad. They can call me dad if they want, though." Ezra has it all planned out.

"How many kids are you wanting? And what ages?" I like that he wants to take in older children. Younger ones are more likely to be adopted.

"I want ten, between the ages of nine and sixteen." I almost choked on my potato.

"Excuse me? Ten kids?" I can't even imagine living with that much chaos.

"We do not have to get ten all at once, but I would like to help as many children as I can. They're also going to be older and more mature, so they'll be independent for the most part. They deserve to have a safe place to call home permanently." I can't say no to him. Ezra is already emotionally invested; I can see it in his eyes.

"Okay. Let me get settled in at the castle first and become familiar with everyone there before we start growing our family. Does that sound fair enough?" I'm in this for good. Ezra and Marcello are it for me, so I'm okay with moving fast.

"It's perfect. That gives me time to get rooms properly arranged and look into what I need to do to get started." His excitement is contagious, and Marcello seems to be on board too.

This is the most fun I've had since my first date with Ezra. I love that we're sitting at a round table, equally spaced out, and our conversation flows easily between us. We finished eating about ten minutes ago, but we're taking our time. My good mood is soiled when a woman comes up behind Ezra and covers his eyes.

"Guess who?" She purrs next to his ear. I'll just sit back and see how this unfolds. I could never imagine Marcello assaulting a woman, but he looks like he wants to body slam her.

Ezra pushes her away and gives her a look that matches Marcello's. She doesn't seem to be intimidated in the slightest. "Not so happy to see me, huh? How times have changed."

Her words are slurring, making it obvious she has had too much to drink. "You need to go home, Sophia. I'll get you a taxi."

Ezra takes her by the arm and guides her outside, ignoring the curious glances from people sitting at other tables. Marcello stays quiet and sips his ice water.

"Are you going to tell me who that is and why she's comfortable touching him?" He nervously runs a hand through his long, wavy hair.

"I think Ezra should tell you after we leave." Common sense tells me to leave it alone. Ten long minutes pass before Ezra comes back in and pays the bill.

"Let's go." He is fuming, so I decide to stay quiet.

________________

The ride home was oozing with tension. I went straight to my room, changed into more comfortable clothes, washed off the makeup, and removed the jewelry. Now I'm in Chomper's room to give him some attention while Ezra sorts out his emotions and whatever else needs sorted. Marcello is with him; this is more serious than I initially thought. Maybe they were never romantically involved. After thirty minutes, I get bored.

It's almost time to get my stuff from Alli's house, so I look for them. If we need to do it tomorrow night, I'm sure Alli won't mind. I can invite her over for a much-needed girls' night if the men need some time alone. They aren't in their rooms, so I go to Ezra's office. I can hear them talking, so I knock on the door and Marcello opens it. Ezra looks angry still, but I'm not sure if my comfort is what he wants right now. There's only one way to find out.

I scoot a chair next to his and take a seat, "Is there anything I can do to brighten your mood?"

"Are you not dying to know who the wench is?" I can sense he doesn't want to talk about her, but I deserve to know.

"Yes, I would like to know who she is, and I expect an explanation sooner rather than later, but right now I'm worried about you. I want you to be in a good headspace when we talk about it." I take his hand and give him a gentle squeeze.

"There is no way I could talk about that disgusting human and remain in a good headspace. She is vile." He downs a shot of whisky.

I take the bottle and his shot glass, moving them out of his reach. He tries to protest, but I interrupt him, "Drowning your sorrows in alcohol won't fix anything. You don't get to preach at me for using mind-altering substances and then turn around to do the same thing. Deal with your emotions the right way."

Marcello sits in a chair on the other side of the desk. "Fair point."

"Shut up, Marcello," Ezra grumbles like a child.

"Talk to me. Get it out of the way so that you won't be put into a bad mood later on when I ask for an explanation." I was going to be patient with him, but there's no reason to bring it up again later if he will get worked up again.

"Sophia was my first submissive. I made the mistake of getting too emotionally involved, and she used that to her advantage. Marcello hated her, so we did not share. She was leaking information to someone who was not a fan of us. She told them when we were away and anything that was said in front of her. She started snooping through our things when we weren't looking. One of our men was killed because of her. The thug she was giving information to tried to break through our security while we were asleep, but our soldier, Jon, defended our home and us with his life. He wounded the intruder enough to disable him and bought Marcello and me time to handle the situation." I know how protective Ezra is over his family, and that is how he looks at his men. No matter the rank or title, every member of the mafia is part of their family.

"I'm so sorry for your loss. How did you find out what she was doing?" Ezra looks at me like I should already know the answer, and it dawns on me. They tortured the intruder to get the information they needed.

"Let's just say we punished Sophia the way we saw fit and sent her away. It has been maybe seven years since we saw her last, so seeing her today was very unexpected, and it is still hard to think about the damage she caused. Jon had a son to raise and a wife who loved him unconditionally. We make sure they are taken care of, but no one can replace a father and husband. Sophia ruined more than one life." My heart is heavy for a woman and child I have never met.

"Why didn't you kill her?" I never thought I would say this, but they should have ended her. She could be out there causing more deaths.

"She is a woman, and we try to handle women differently. Our fathers never cared about gender. They were much more lethal than we are, but that is not how Marcello and I wanted to run things." I understand that, but I feel like she is too dangerous.

"Women can be more unstable than men. She shouldn't have been able to walk away that night. Now I feel like I should be cautious of her." I can already tell she's unstable.

"You should be cautious of her, Isabella. She has problems, and we don't see her getting any better." Marcello joins the conversation.

"Well, then she needs to be taken care of because I refuse to let this woman interfere with my life. The fact that she was comfortable enough to approach you after you two supposedly 'handled' her only tells me one thing." Marcello and Ezra know I'm right.

"We'll get rid of Sophia tonight. I'll call Alli and tell her I will be there tomorrow instead. The last thing I need is a crazy bitch following us to Alli's house and putting her in danger. I can't protect Alli when we're in Italy, so it needs to be done immediately. Track her down while I get changed into more appropriate attire. If you can't kill the woman, I will." I stand from my chair and leave the office. I might as well start putting myself to good use before we leave the country, so I'll start by taking out the trash.