Having Emiliana at his side as they walked through town, filled his heart to the brim. Dreams it seemed, could come true. They spoke to the people they saw. He seemed to answer the same questions over and over as the inhabitants of Santa Biago made it their particular duty to step outside and greet him.

He enjoyed his morning with Emiliana at his side. She seamlessly provided names when he drew blanks, helping him to appear a little less lost than he felt at times.

And that alone made him smile.

But their easy walk wasn’t meant to last. As they approached the front door of Stanzi’s café, Emiliana touched him.

His rational mind reminded him that it was just his elbow, but his bear hummed with delight.

And even that was short-lived as she narrowed her eyes at him. “Come along.”

And the man in him enjoyed the tug of her fingers but not as much as the fire in her eyes.

“Now.”

He looked at the café, narrowing his eyes to see through the midmorning glare of sun on the glass. “It’s open.”

She nodded, a stilted gesture. “I know, but we should see Miss Mancini soon.”

He grinned and covered her hand with his. “I saw her yesterday when I arrived. We will see her soon, but I want to step inside and see Mr. Stanzi.”

That seemed to lighten her mood. “Oh, well, Mr. Stanzi retired a few years ago and moved to be with his youngest daughter and her family.”

“His youngest,” he had to reach for his memory of the Stanzi family. He heard the bell above the door jangle and a name popped into his head. “You mean Clara?”

“Are you looking for me?”

Uberto turned toward the honey tone of a woman’s voice and saw a pretty woman step outside the Stanzi’s front door. He gave her a smile, the same smile he had given each time he was greeted with an unfamiliar face on their walk through the town.

But the fingers touching his arm pinched into his skin. It wasn’t his shirt that he was worried about, it was Emiliana. He turned to look at her and found her eyes focused on the other young woman. “Ana?”

She swung her gaze back to him and his smile brightened at the sight, but Ana stared back at him with a carefully crafted look of indifference.

“It’s good to see you, Uberto.”

He kept his gaze on Emiliana for a moment before turning to the woman walking up to them. “Clara?”

She grinned, a broad smile that lit her features with joy. “I heard a rumor that you had come back this year for the elders meeting.”

It took him a moment to remember who her family connections were. Her uncle, Joseph was a shifter even though his brother wasn’t.

Holding out his hand in greeting, he kept his other arm still, unwilling to pull away from Emiliana.

Clara took hold of his hand for a moment and then stepped back. “Would you like to come in for some coffee?”

When he hesitated, he felt the change in Emiliana’s hold on his arm. She let go.

He knew better than to look at her and gauge her expression, but a moment later when her hand touched his arm again, it was a soft brush of her fingertips.

“Grazie, Clara,” he swore he could hear Emiliana smile, “that would be lovely.”

And instead of dropping her hand to the side, she slipped her hand around his arm.

He felt his shoulders relax at the potential crisis averted. Uberto touched the fingers of his free hand to the back of hers and smiled at Clara. “Yes, thank you.”

She gave them both a look in turn and the expression on her face was one of genuine affection. “I’m glad. Please,” she gestured toward the door of the café, “come with me.”

Clara propped open the door with a little wooden block and re-entered the café, giving them a little space.

Uberto leaned closer. “We didn’t have to-”

“Yes,” she countered him, “we did. I was being ridiculous.”

He stopped just shy of the door, lowering his voice because as a human, Clara wouldn’t be able to hear his words from that distance. “You are not and never could be ridiculous, Ana. Why did you think that?”

She lifted her chin and forced herself to meet his eyes, he appreciated the effort. Her proud Bruno blood didn’t leave much room for her softer feelings. Her sister was very much like their mother, but Emiliana held the raw power of her bear on a tight leash. Knowing that, the slight tremble of her lower lip made him hungry, but not for the desserts that he could smell in the café. For her

“I could tell,” she confided in him, “I could smell her interest from here.”

He looked at the doorway and nodded, but they continued on as if she wasn’t sure he had accepted her explanation.

“She wants you. Even when we were younger,” she cleared her throat, “she wanted you.”

Uberto held back the smile that threatened to touch his lips. Emiliana would surely misunderstand his humor. “I don’t remember her very well.”

“She made her feelings very clear,” she assured him. “The way she looked at you made her interest impossible to ignore.”

He turned slightly and drew her closer to him, leaning down to meet her gaze with his own. “And yet, I don’t remember her.”

She nodded her head, but he could see that she hadn’t gotten over her earlier upset.

“What’s wrong, Ana?” A smile tugged at her lips for a heartbeat, but he could tell she wasn’t really happy. “Tell me.”

He watched her lips tighten to a white line. The contrast against her full lips was distracting, but he managed to focus on her rather than his need to taste her lips.

“I’m not jealous.”

Uberto nodded carefully. “Okay.”

“I’m not,” she insisted.

And he nodded again. “I believe you.”

She took in a breath and quickly let it out. “You shouldn’t, because while I have no reason to be jealous, I am. I didn’t like seeing her rush to the door. I didn’t like how she looked at you.”

He lightly trailed his fingertips along her forearm and felt her shiver. “And I didn’t notice either of those things, Ana. I was thinking about you.”

Nodding she blinked and looked up at him. He drew her closer, just enough that he could almost feel her warmth from his knees to his chest.

“Don’t ever doubt that I’m thinking about you, Ana. No matter what happens, you are the one for me.”

He saw a shadow pass over her features and felt himself studying her closely. Hesitant wasn’t something he wanted to see on her features, ever. Emiliana was a force of nature, and even when that force was filled with anger, she was the most breathtaking sight he’d ever seen. He just wasn’t sure he could stand to see any of that fade, especially if he had a hand in the cause.

“If you don’t want to go in and have some coffee, we can move on and come back later,” he felt her tense in his arms, “or not at all.”

He set his hands on her hips and gently smoothing them up her back.

“I’m not terribly jealous.” She looked up at him with a smile on her lips. “Still, if she tries to touch you, I may have to rip her hand off.”

His eyes opened in shock. “Blood thirsty, are we?”

“If you try to touch her-”

He held up his hands in surrender. “You’ll have no problems from me. I meant what I said. It’s you, Ana. Just you.”

She turned her head slightly to look at him. “Even after all of these years? Even after I pushed you away?”

He nodded. “You’re my mate. I want to make you happy. I need to make you happy.” He shook his head. “I did a horrible job in the past. The only thing I did right was leave. And now-”

“Now you’re here for the elder’s meeting, and I shouldn’t have given you a problem about coming home. What I wanted-”

He pulled in a breath and waited for her to tell him she wanted him gone again.

“What I wanted back then was because I didn’t understand who I was. Your mate was one thing. But I was a woman who could shift, and all I wanted to do was figure out one thing at a time. Between you and my father, there was only so much time and energy that I had for my own. I was selfish when I asked you to leave.” She shrugged. “Truth be known, I didn’t think you’d actually go. It was probably the first time you’d ever stopped arguing with me.”

“Then why didn’t you stop me?”

She shook her head. “Because I thought, foolishly, that if I did, you’d never let me hear the end of it and then you’d never listen to me again.

“I was half hoping you’d come right back home a few weeks later.”

He listened to her and wondered if that was why she’d moved into his room, waiting for him to come back. Whether or not that was her reason, this wasn’t the time or place to bring it up.

Still, there was something he could do, for her. Taking hold of her shoulders he stepped up and pressed a kiss on her cheek, trailing the gentle touch up to her temple. “Wait one moment.” He saw the way she raised her brows at him and added on one word. “Please.”

She nodded, and her shoulders shook with laughter.

Crossing to the door, Uberto pulled it open and looked inside. Clara?”

She popped up, peering over the glass display case. “Mmmhmm?” She looked at the empty space behind him. “She’s not coming with you?”

He shook his head. “We won’t be able to stay.”

He wasn’t sure what kind of disappointment crossed her features, but he didn’t worry about it. She was still smiling.

“No problem, Uberto. If you have time some other day, bring her with you.”

He nodded. “Grazie, Clara. Grazie.”

She waved him off. “We’ll be here.”

#

Neither of them made a big deal of the change in plans, but when Uberto gave her a pointed look and asked her where she wanted to go, she told him. Laughing, they continued down the street and down a side street to one of Emiliana’s favorite places. They were greeted at the door by the rounded form of Maria Bianci, daughter-in-law of the owner. With one hand on the lower swell of her belly and the other holding their menus, she showed them to a table near the window.

Uberto watched as Emiliana spoke with Maria, asked after her health and her family. Maria’s already rosy complexion deepened to a becoming flush as she enjoyed the conversation and assured them that her husband Daniel would come out to speak with them when he could be spared from the kitchen. With a quick word to Uberto, Maria disappeared into the kitchen with their order of wine.

When a hand slapped down onto his shoulder, Uberto hardly moved. He turned to look over his shoulder but kept in his chair when Dante Bianci kept his hand leaning on his shoulder. “Give me the menu.” The man would have barely reached Uberto’s shoulder if the two were standing beside each other, but neither of them questioned his order, holding up the menu. Dante plucked the menu from Uberto’s hand and gave him an approving smile. “I made gnocchi this morning.”

Uberto could see Emiliana’s smile brighten across the table. She leaned on the edge of the table, clasping her hands together in an eager gesture.

Before he realized his own intent, he reached across the table and covered both of her hands with one of his.

“And Daniel has made Pesce Marinato,” he paused when Uberto’s stomach growled at the thought, and continued with a hearty chuckle, “I will tell him to bring you a large serving.”

Uberto nodded in approval. “If it’s anything like yours, there may not be any left when we are done.”

The older man seemed to straighten his age-curved spine as he held the menu against his heart. “My son has great skill in the kitchen. You will be pleased.”

Lifting his hand from Ana’s, Uberto took hold of the older man’s forearm and gave him a bright smile. “I am pleased to see you in good health. It has been too long.”

Dante readily agreed. “Yes. Too long, but now you have returned and the Orsino family is back in its rightful place.” The older man cast a sly smile in Emiliana’s direction. “And soon, another generation?”

Uberto turned to look at Emiliana and felt his heart swell in his chest. He saw Emiliana lean down to look into the face of a little girl standing near the table. He didn’t hear the words that she gave the little girl, but there was something between the two that didn’t need a voice to communicate.

A smile.

The shy tilt of a head.

Raised brows.

A soft giggle.

And when Emiliana reached out her hands, the little girl all but jumped in.

Sitting back in her chair, Emiliana settled the little girl on her lap before she picked up her napkin and dipped the end into a glass of water.

She whispered to the girl as she wiped her hands free of flour and pressed a little kiss on an upturned cheek.

It was a simple gesture. A gentle expression of affection.

And yet, Uberto felt his heart seize up, and his lungs lock in a breath of air.

Emiliana pointed across the table at him and the little girl peered out at him from under her long bangs.

He was moments away from gasping for air when she raised her hand and waggled her fingers at him, offering him a gap-toothed grin.

When Emiliana’s gaze lifted and met his, he found himself floundering. He should say something. He should do something.

But for some reason, he had lost the ability to remember what they were.

The little girl had more aplomb than he did. She gave him another wave and laughed when he didn’t reply yet again.

Emiliana joined in with the laughter as she had done so many times when he was the focus of the joke.

And yet he didn’t have an ounce of anger in him, nor did he perceive it as a slight. All he could feel was a light lift of laughter in his chest and the muscles of his heart contracted at the sight of Emiliana with a child in her lap.

He saw her eyes as she looked down at the little girl and pressed a kiss on the backs of her hands. Peals of laughter erupted from the child and all eyes turned to their little table.

Maria rushed back to them with a basket of bread and set it down. “So sorry,” she apologized, “I hope she didn’t bother you.”

“Nothing to worry about, Maria.” Emiliana cuddled the girl to her chest. “We were having a little talk.”

“Oh?” The young mother relaxed visibly. “I’m so relieved. She’s quite a handful.”

Uberto looked from the girl to his mate sitting so close on the chair before turning back to Maria. “What is her name?”

Flushing with maternal pride, Maria gestured to the little one. “Renatta is our first and a special joy for us.” She set her hand on the upper curve of her belly. “Daniel is hoping for a boy next.”

Uberto felt something tug at his heart, a soft and unexpected emotion. “Boy or girl, I hope you will have a healthy child.”

Maria’s bliss mellowed into a soft wistful expression. “Grazie, Uberto. Thank you for your kind words.”

Maria turned to Emiliana with an unspoken question in her eyes, but Ana shook her head. “Go ahead and leave her with us, Maria. We’ll be happy to keep her here.”

The woman barely managed a nod before she walked away and disappeared into the kitchen. Worried that he’d upset her, he turned to Ana.

Her smile made him frown.

“What?”

She shook her head. “You don’t know your own power, do you?”

Before he could answer, she waved at him to hold his silence.

“What do you think, Renatta?” Emiliana gestured toward him. “Is Uberto a scary, scary bear?”

The little girl gave his appearance due consideration as if she were performing a serious duty. When she was done she looked at Emiliana and shook her head.

“No?”

Renatta shook her head again.

Turned to Uberto with shock clearly written on her features, Emiliana looked over the table at him. He wondered if she was waiting for him to say or do something.

Years ago, before he’d gone to New York, before he’d held his niece in his hands, he would have sat there, still as stone.

But now, he leaned closer to the edge of the table and asked the little girl, “Who is the scary bear?”

Renatta’s nose moved first, the bridge wrinkled up and her eyes narrowed as she opened her mouth so wide he could see the teeth at the back. Lifting her hands, and curling her fingers like claws, little Renatta gave the biggest little growl he’d ever heard.

Daniel came to a sudden stop beside the table, his eyes round as saucers, his face a mask of horror.

Everyone in the small cafe waited to see how Uberto would react.

                                                        

Covering his face with his hands, he cowered back from the table. “Oh no! A big scary bear!” He made a few snuffling sounds that may have sounded like sobs. “Please don’t hurt me.”

He made quite a show of it and began to enjoy the little scene he was playing. He was sure that by now, Amara would have been giggling and shaking at the sight.

Uberto would have gone on longer if he hadn’t felt someone touch his arm.

Looking down, he saw Renatta standing beside him, stroking his arm like a puppy. “There, there,” she gently gave his sleeve a pat, “don’t be afraid.”

He lowered his hands and looked down at her, his expression a curious mix of emotions. “Why not?”

She grinned at him and cocked her head to the side to look up at him. “Because in Santa Biago, the bears protect us.”

He felt Daniel’s breath rush from his lips and saw Dante sitting near the kitchen at a small unmade table. But the most important countenance that he looked for was Emiliana’s across the table.

Instead of laughing at his antics, his mate had a slight look of panic on her face.

He expected laughter. Mocking was something as natural to them as breathing.

He could have handled nearly anything, but panic?

Renatta saved the day for them all. Narrowing her gaze at his face, her lips pushed out in a little pout. “Are you a bear?” Leaning down a little, he was nearly nose to nose with the little girl.

“Would you be afraid of me if I said yes?”

She shook her head and reached her arms up to him. “Up.”

And she got exactly what she wanted. Uberto plucked her up from the ground and set her down on his lap.

When he looked up again, Emiliana had schooled her expression into something softer than it had been, but there was still something ghosting in her eyes.

Daniel set the plate down between them as Maria produced a bottle of wine and a grateful smile for Uberto.

The rest of the meal continued in a jovial mood, but Uberto was convinced that Emiliana’s smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.

The cafe was no place for a discussion, not with the curious ears of Renatta at the table. He would have to be content with waiting until they were back home for him to delve into the issue.

And even that was a stretch, he was rarely content about anything.