It’s true a handful of the mansion’s guards seem very keen to protect the pool area at the moment, and I glare at my most obvious gawkers until they turn away. Alessio said they're his father’s favorites.Favorite perverts maybe.Most of them make my skin crawl.
“He’d have to go after Armando, too, if he chose to make a scene,” Sofia comments, unbothered by the men.
I glance toward my bodyguard and find that Sofia’s right. He is staring very intently… at Gia in her red bikini. She feigns indifference behind those sunglasses she wears but, while I was woozy from booze and distracted with worry over Alessio the night we left the club, there was a strange tension in the car as Armando drove us back. For the second time, I felt like an intruder when I was alone with them.
“Have you heard from Frankie lately?” I ask the girls, wishing she could be here, too.
They both shake their heads and that bothers me. Frankie replies to texts but several hours after they’re sent. I want to know what’s happening in Reno, but I suppose I have no choice but to wait until we reunite in New York for the wedding to question her.
I would beg Alessio to see if she could come stay here with us, but he’s been working so much lately. I feel like we barely see one another and, when we are together, we don’t seem to do much talking. Not that I’m complaining.
“Per favore, may I?” a quiet voice asks from behind us.
“Of course, you may join us, Matilde,” I reply, dragging another chair over.
Her English has made leaps and bounds since she’s been a guest at the mansion. The exchange student is terrified of Alessio’s father (and who can blame her?) so she mostly stays hidden out of sight. However, it was discovered after her rescue that she’s not just any orphan trapped on foreign soil. Her father was a soldier for the Cosa Nostra in Sicily and, therefore, it was decided she would be placed under the Trio’s protection for however long she remains in the States. She’s shy – Alessio’s taken to calling herTopolinaor Little Mouse – but I’m gladshe felt brave enough to join us by the pool today.
“You forgot the comic book,” Valdo says reproachfully to Matilde, having followed her outside.
“Scusa,Valdo,” she apologizes earnestly, and he passes over one of his treasured comics he’s convinced is what’s helping her learn English so well, but I can hear the amusement in her tone. He’s been following her around like a puppy the past week.
A boy of nine with his first crush Valdo may be but he soon takes note of the abundance of guards standing around. “Don’t you have better things to do? Should I ask my father to make you busy?” he barks like a little Roman emperor.
Sofia, Gia and I bite back laughter as all but Armando scurry away. “It’s right that they show him respect,” Armando comments, strolling toward us.
Gia adjusts her bikini top, concurring with his opinion. “Yes, Valdo is technically Alessio’s heir until you have a son, Cat.”
A son with Alessio to be brought up in this harsh world? I’m glad he’s so adamant about birth control for now. And, how strange to think that someday sweet Valdo will be as hardened as the men we live amongst.
Once Armando has walked away and Valdo’s decided to demonstrate his diving skills for us, Matilde speaks again. “He’s not happy about the Capo’s plans for me.”
“What plans?”
“She’s to fly to Chicago with me tomorrow,” Gia answers. “Father informed us this morning.”
“Why?” Does Alessio know this? He’s generally privy to his father’s plans before anyone else. Why hasn’t he told me?
“She’s going to the Catholic school you attended to finish high school there.”
I frown, not liking that she’s leaving so soon. She just got here. But Matilde nods, giving me a smile. “I will finish school and help your mama care for your niece and nephew, thedolce bambini.”
“For Nico’s children?” I knew Nico wanted a nanny instead of another wife and she would have to be someone from our world but Matilde? She’s not even eighteen yet. I pictured him hiring some experienced older woman, a grandmotherly type, someone who would bounce them on her knee and bake them treats someday.
“I thought Don Vicini might place you with one of the New York families. Most of them are Sicilian, too.” Matilde shrugs and I suppose no men there are lacking in caregivers for their children. “Are you interested in childcare as a career?” I probe. Having any sort of career was never even an option for me. I’m suddenly feeling… jealous.
“I don't know, but I will be safe under your brother’s protection, no?”
“Yes, of course. Nico will see no harm comes to you, and no man would dream of dishonoring you under his roof,” I assure her. But I’m irrationally annoyed with both my husband and my brother for being part of these decisions for my new friend while no one informs me.
“Is your wedding dress ready?” Matilde asks Sofia, picking up on my irritation and wishing to change the subject.
Sofia nods but doesn’t gush over the one-of-a-kind designer gown she was once so excited to wear. She’s been very quiet for the most part lately. Ever since the night her father threw a knife at her mother during dinner, she doesn’t speak of ending her wedding plans with Carlo, but I have to wonder if she’s as resigned to her fate as she pretends.
What choice do we have?
No matter how much I’ve come to care for him, Alessio may forever keep me at a certain distance, the bride he was given in place of a brother. I know I should be grateful that our marriage is not the horror I once imagined, but the heart can’t help its longings.
Without warning, Valdo dashes toward us with an enormous water gun. As our shrieking subsides, Gia tells her little brother she’s going to drown him and a chase begins. Armando tries to run interference and gets pushed into the pool for his trouble while fully dressed. The other guards hurry back outside with the noise and remain to watch the show as Gia and Valdo team up to take down Armando. The bodyguard isn’t remotely bothered. In the blink of an eye, he’s got both of them subdued in the water where neither can escape. He holds onto Gia well after he’s released Valdo until the two of them slip inside to dry off.
