What was I supposed to do?
Massimo might have been trying to veer away from some of the traditions in place for his men, but there were some traditions that couldn’t be changed. It didn’t matter that he was thecapo dei capiof the De Luca Famiglia—there were lines even he wouldn’t cross, like interfering in his men’s family matters.
If Dad was successful with his meeting, I didn’t think there was much Valentino could do to stop my impending marriage to any man Dad thought might help him.
I closed my eyes as more tears poured out.
The feeling of helplessness overcame me, familiar and loathsome all at once.
5
ELIO
Isa was backat Valentino’s apartment.
At least this time, Valentino had the good sense to not bring any of his conquests with him. He would do better to just go to the women’s houses from now on.
Isa looked up at us as soon as the doors opened. “Hi,” she said, smiling sheepishly, as if she thought Valentino might be angry she was here again. She should know she had her brother wrapped around her little pinkie.
He brightened and walked over to her, wrapping her in his arms in a big bear hug, and nearly engulfing her whole.
Something uncomfortable shifted inside me. Fuck, but had she always looked so… fragile?
A small ache started around my chest, and I didn’t know what to do about it. Maybe it was because I had watched her grow up, but it felt like something was… off with her, and I didn’t know what it was. Something was different.
Her light-blue eyes didn’t seem as bright today as they usually did, and she didn’t seem to have any color on her face. She still looked beautiful, just… off. And I didn’t know what to make of it. Today, she wore a black turtleneck shirt that molded perfectly to her figure, paired with dark blue jeans.
“I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” she said, her eyes moving briefly over to me before turning back to her brother once more.
“Of course not,” Valentino said. He leaned down and whispered something in her ear. She avoided eye contact with me.
Things hadn’t been the same between us since that night she made her confession. Sometimes, I wished she hadn’t said anything in the first place. But I wasn’t oblivious. I had suspected something months before that, hoping it would go away on its own.
Now… I wasn’t sure how I was feeling or what the fuck I wanted anymore.
Fuck.
When they pulled away, both siblings turned and looked at me.
“Were you guys planning on doing something tonight?” Isa asked, nibbling on her bottom lip.
I shook my head. “Just have a few beers and watch the game.”
Valentino shot me a grateful look. Not that he needed to.
We had planned to come back to Valentino’s apartment to have a few beers and bounce ideas off each other on what to do about the Devil’s Wings MC. They were getting braver, considering one of the grocery stores owned by the famiglia had been ransacked that morning. The store had been a front for us to use food cans to move drugs in and out of the country. Luckily, the damages weren’t substantial, but it still pissed me the fuck off.
That plan was now pushed back. It wasn’t like we would ever discuss business in front of Isa. And this had nothing to do with whether or not we trusted her, and everything to do with the fact that Isa was too innocent to hear anything we mightsay. Valentino certainly thought so, and I wholeheartedly agreed with him.
But that meant there was nothing for me to do here.
I should leave. Make up an excuse and go, letting them have this night to themselves. But there was a part of me that didn’t want to leave, and I didn’t know why that was.
Isa suddenly smiled brightly, and for some reason, I could feel my heart reacting to it. I looked away from her for a moment, my eyes clashing with Valentino’s as she said, “Since you guys don’t have much of a plan, I have an idea on what we can do.”
“You do, huh?” Valentino said dryly, his tone of voice indicating he already didn’t like whatever she had planned.
She nodded. “We go to a bar.”
