Filthy Marcellos: Legacy: A Legacy Prequel by Bethany-Kris Read Free Book Online Page B

makes the best casserole.”
    She did.
    “She was pestering me about something else, too,” Andino said, opening the garage door for his father to step inside the house.
    “About what?”
    “Settling down. Kids. The normal nonsense.”
    “Andino—”
    “I get it, but it’s getting old. Ask her to lay off for a while, okay?”
    Gio stood in the doorway with his son, glancing down the long hallway where Kim was likely still getting the table ready. She couldn’t hear their conversation from where they were standing. Andino was grateful. He didn’t want to hurt his mother, but he did need her to back off.
    “I love Ma,” Andino said.
    “I know you do,” Gio replied quietly.
    “But I’m not at that point, and I can’t suddenly be there just because she wants me to be, Dad. I’ve got no interest in marrying someone anytime soon or playing house. I’ve got far more important things to worry about.”
    Andino was a Capo—Cosa Nostra came first, always. For him, love and forever didn’t factor into that at all. Not right now. Maybe someday, but his immediate plans didn’t include that nonsense. He had businesses to run, a crew to manage, and money to make. He lived fast. No way in hell was he about to slow that all down for a woman.
    “I know that you have a lot to worry about other than settling down,” Gio said.
    “Then ask her to back off a little.”
    Gio stared at Andino for a while before he said, “I don’t know how you came from me, son.”
    Andino’s brow lifted high. “Why not?”
    “We’re just different, you and I.”
    “I can’t be like you and Ma.”
    Gio nodded once. “No one is asking you to be, Andino.”
    “Good.”
    “You can’t be us, Andino, because you’re already too much like someone else, son.”
    What in the hell was that supposed to mean?

Chapter Eleven
     
    “ Zia Catrina,” Andino greeted.
    His aunt accepted his kiss to her smooth cheek. Even in her late fifties, his aunt had aged remarkably well. The light dusting of gray throughout her red hair, and the laugh lines at the edges of her sharp eyes were the only telltale signs of her age.
    Catrina still stood tall. She still commanded a room. Andino knew his aunt was still capable of frightening a man with a few simple words or a flick of a knife, too.
    “How is my favorite nephew?” Catrina asked.
    Andino chuckled. “I’m not your favorite.”
    “Well, you’re all my favorites. But when we’re one-on-one like we are now, I reserve the right for any of you to be my very favorite at that moment. Now, how is my favorite nephew?”
    “I’m good. Busy.”
    “You should slow down and enjoy what is already around you a little more, Andino,” his aunt said before sipping from her tea.
    “Maybe.”
    Catrina’s red lips pursed as she regarded him over the rim of her cup. “Never do that, Andino.”
    “Hmm, what?”
    “What you just did. Say what a woman wants to hear just to please her. It won’t make for a good woman, I promise you. Tell it like it is and how it should be said. Honest, frank, and harsh if need be. She might not appreciate it as first, but she will learn that the truth is better than a blissful lie that will only hurt in time.”
    Andino blinked, surprised at his aunt’s candor. “Okay.”
    “Is that all you have to say?”
    “No. What in the hell is with everyone and me lately?”
    Catrina’s brow furrowed. “Pardon?”
    “Everyone seems to feel the need to point out to me lately that I am without a woman, and that I should be out finding one as soon as humanly possible to walk her down the aisle.”
    “You’re joking.”
    “No,” Andino said.
    Who would joke about that shit?
    “Your mother?” Catrina asked.
    “Yes, and others.”
    “Kim is finally starting to feel like her house is empty, that’s all.”
    “I am not going to fill it for her,” Andino said under his breath.
    Catrina laughed loudly. “Oh, she doesn’t expect you to, she simply figures you’re lonely like