As the two of them scurried off, Angel grabbed my hand and pulled me to him, kissing my neck. "By the way, yes, you're my girl," he said.
That made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Before I could respond, he tugged me in the direction his siblings had gone.
***
Shopping with Angel's family was a blast. Angel told me they usually split up and went to different stores, but because of Adamo, Dom had increased security and kept us all together at one huge department store that had everything. Which, I thought was more fun since Angel's family was everywhere. After the shopping was done, several of us came to his parents' house and wrapped presents. Then we handed them off to a service to deliver. Angel, Bones, and I lingered there, drinking wine while the kids had hot chocolate, long after everyone else had left.
I was on my third glass of wine when Dom came hurrying in, looking frantic.
Annetta bolted to her feet. "What's happened?"
"Dante's car blew up," Dom said, wrapping his arms around her. "He's okay. Conscious. Our guys are on the way to escort him to the hospital."
Angel jumped to his feet. "Do we know anything else?"
Dom looked at me, and I didn't think he'd answer, but he nodded. "The girl he was seeing... the one you told him to stay away from..." He shook his head. "She was with him. She didn't make it."
Annetta sucked in a breath, bringing her hands to her mouth. "Who did this?" she asked.
"I have a pretty good idea, but Iwillget to the bottom of it," Dom promised. "I'm gonna meet Dante at the hospital."
"I'm going with you," Annetta announced, pushing away from him and heading toward the hall closet.
"Where are Sonia and Sofia?" Dom asked.
"The girls are with their cousins at Mike and Zeta's." Annetta whipped out her cell phone. "I'll call and let them know what's going on."
"Tell Mike to put his security on alert. Call in anyone he can. What about the twins? We can't take them with us to the hospital."
"Nonna will be here. And Markie can stay as well." Eyes pleading, Annetta pulled her gaze from her phone to focus on me. "Please?"
"Yes. Of course. You guys go take care of Dante."
I'd met Dante while we were out shopping. He looked like a younger version of Angel, and I couldn't imagine what he was going through, knowing his girlfriend had died.
"Thank you," Annetta hugged me.
"We'll leave half of the security team," Dom said, dialing his phone. "I don't know what these bastards have planned, and we can't let them catch us with our pants down."
Angel kissed my forehead, squeezing me close to him. "Thank you for this. We won't be long."
"Be careful." I squeezed him back.
"Always, baby."
With that, he followed his father out of the house with Bones and Annetta right behind them. Wondering what was going on, I turned to Nonna.
"They'll be fine," she assured me. "Dom's handled a lot worse. He knows what he's doing."
Apparently this was a normal occurrence. No big deal.
Right.
Trying not to let that fact rattle me, I went to check on the twins. They were building a Lego castle in their room, so I sat on the floor and joined them. After a while, Nonna came in and sat on the bed.
My head hurt, and my vision was a little blurry, making it difficult to focus on the blocks. The blurred vision and headaches had been increasing in frequency and intensity. The literature I'd received from the doctor had told me to expect it, but it still sucked. Giving up on the Lego building, I sat back and watched them.
"This section needs to be pink, because it's the princess's room," Luciana announced, placing a rose-colored wall. "This next area will be blue for the prince. They're going to get married." She glanced up at me. "Are you and Angel going to get married?"
