He offered me his arm, but I took his hand. My soul and his just as entangled as our fingers.
After our night out, I seemed to be pulling from my husband’s strength, as tangled as ever. I had walked on grounds that I had never been free enough to walk on without someone directing my steps before. It sent a rush of power through me, and as we prepared to leave for Sicily, I breathed easier knowing that as long as my husband was beside me, I could conquer all fears and be the queen of my own life.
Chapter 36
Matteo
The Sromboli volcano was earning its moniker “the lighthouse of the Mediterranean” as it erupted during the night. Nazzareno was flying us to Sicily, and even though we were nowhere close to getting affected by it, it was visible from the plane.
“Why is it called that?” Stella whispered from beside me as she peered out the window.
“The eruptions look like a flashing light to sailors,” I said. “In Greek mythology, Aeolus is the god of the winds, and he supposedly lived in an island called Aeolia inThe Odyssey, but it’s thought to be Stromboli. It’s part of the Aeolian Islands. Aeolus kept the winds in a cave in the island, and he’d release them to help or take out ships.”
“That’s really cool.” Stella yawned. “How do you know all of this stuff?”
“Mamma. She used to travel a lot for the ballet, and she’d read.”
“That’s kind of like me.” She smiled. “I couldn’t read like that, but I did read the dictionarya lot.I wasn’t traveling, but it kept my mind busy during the hardest nights.”
I kissed her on the head, keeping her glued to my side, and not long after, we landed and drove to Modica, where Mac and Mari had a villa on Mac’s grandfather’s property. His grandfather passed years ago, but the family still maintained the property.
As we drove up the long driveway, citrus groves lined each side, lit up by bulb lights. The property was tucked behind the thickets of trees, protected by a stone fence. It was strong enough to keep intrusions out, but it didn’t give the impression of being imprisoned either. Mac had created a perfect balance.
“This is so pretty!” Stella said, admiring all the lights. “What grows on those trees? Lemons? Oranges?”
“Lemons and blood oranges,” I said.
“I can’t wait to see it in the daytime!”
The gates opened, and Stella’s eyes were either wide, taking it all in, or narrowed, trying to see better. We parked and I took her hand, men moving all around us. Mac and Mari had a villa, but there was what seemed like a village of them located in the back. Saverio and my sister had one. Like a resort, a bunch of the villas were reserved for guests.
Saverio and Mia met us at their villa. Saverio handed me the keys to our villa and told me how to get there.
Stella had gone to see Graziana, since the boys were already asleep. My sister was dancing with my new niece, holding her tight to her chest, moving to the beat of the fast song. She wasn’t moving hard, but enough that Graziana felt it. Stella was standing not far from my sister, laughing, dancing a little, and singing.
Saverio looked at me and grinned. “Mia ate something that didn’t seem to agree with baby girl. She’s gassy, and the only way she settles is when Mia dances with her.”
Mia must have heard what he’d said wrong, because she stopped dancing, looked at us with wide eyes, and said, “Am not!”
“I wasn’t talking about you, Mia,” Saverio said, putting emphasis on her name.Miameantmine, and that was how Rio had said it. With a claim that was his and his alone.
Mia grinned at Rio in a way that told me she’d melted for him. Then we watched as our women talked, Mia and Stella gazing at Graziana. She was a beautiful baby. She looked a lot like my sister at that age, but we all had a feeling she was going to have blue eyes like Mac, Saverio’s old man.
Rio squeezed my shoulder. “You’ll be next.”
“God willing,” I said.
He nodded, then became serious. “I’m glad Paris worked out, but while you were gone, we got an update from Lev. He said his people are not happy with the drug. They want it out of Russia.”
“It needs to be cleaned up.”
“I fucking agree. That’s some bad shit.” Saverio had been given some of it, so he knew firsthand what it felt like to have it in his system. It was something he said he’d never forget, even though the drug played wild tricks with his mind.
Stella had it in her system when we found her. They must have given it to her to keep her quiet while they transported her from one place to another when we were looking for her. Just the thought of that shit in my wife made my arms stiffen, though my blood was rushing hot through my veins.
“Your grandfather is giving you time,” Saverio said. “He said every man deserves that, but there’s a lot of shit going on right now, Teo. The war on the dangerous psychedelics, the Russians, Régine and her French army, and what’s going on within our family.”
“We keep picking up shit to clean,” I said. “Word on Massimo?”
