“I’m so sorry.” Her hand rubbed a comforting path up and down my back. “Hopefully someone took him in.”
“They’d be lucky to have him. He was such a good b-boy.” A sob burst free before I could stop it.
“Mrs. Bellini?” A voice to our right had both our heads turning to the side to find a sales associate holding out a box of tissues.
“Thank you,” I whispered, voice hoarse, as I pulled a few of the paper handkerchiefs from the slot at the top of the container.
“It’s my pleasure.” The man ducked his head. “Can I get you a glass of water?”
Giving him a watery smile, I politely declined when I saw the velvet box in his other hand—Bianca’s gift. The sooner we concluded our business here, the sooner I could go home and curl up in bed.
“Mrs. Bellini”—this time, he spoke to Summer—“I have the locket you commissioned. Would you like to take a look to make sure everything is exactly as you requested?”
“Yes, please,” Summer replied.
The box was placed atop the nearest glass case and cracked open to reveal a heart-shaped gold locket hanging on a matching chain.
Summer dragged a fingertip over the tiara engraved on the smooth surface, her lips curving into a soft smile. “Matteo calls her his princess in Italian,” she explained.
I hummed. “He started doing that the day she was born. I remember being completely floored because I could feel the love radiating from him as he stared down at his baby girl. It was such a sharp contrast to all I’d ever known of mafia men, who only cared about male heirs. My own father hadn’t thought twice about selling me off to the Bellinis, but already I could tell Matteo would never do that to his daughter.”
Laughter spilled from her lips as she agreed, “If his girls never marry, he’ll die a happy man.”
“Sometimes I wonder how one brother got all the compassion, while the other . . .” I sighed, not having the strength to finish that sentence.
My sister-in-law’s head dropped onto my shoulder. “I wish there was something I could do.”
“You’re already doing it, letting me use you as a sounding board. I’d go insane if I was forced to keep all these thoughts inside my head.”
“Doesn’t feel like nearly enough with all you’re going through.”
With my arm looped around her back, I gave her a gentle squeeze. “It’s more than anyone has ever done for me before.”
Peeking over at me, she frowned. “That makes me really sad, Rory.”
I shrugged. “That’s the hand life dealt me. I’m used to it.”
“Let me check one more thing on the locket before I have them box it up, and then we can get out of here.”
She went back to examining the piece of jewelry, popping the clasp and prying it open. I gasped when I saw the two photographs inside—one of Allegra, whose beauty would forever be frozen in time at the young age of twenty-four, the other of Summer.
The woman by my side remarked, “When I first came into Bianca’s life, it had been less than a year since Allegra’s passing, and our sweet girl missed her mother terribly. But as the years roll on, she remembers less and less about her mamma. With this gift, she can keep a piece of the woman who brought her into this world close to her heart, while being reminded that I will love her as my own until my dying day.”
I was in complete and total awe of my sister-in-law. “She’s so lucky to have you, Summer. Serafina and Aurora too.”
Misty-eyed at the thought of her daughters, she replied, “I’m the lucky one.” Discreetly dabbing at tears glistening on her cheeks, Summer turned to the sales associate hovering nearby. “It’s perfect. We’re ready for it to be boxed up.”
“Excellent.” He closed the locket before snapping the velvet box shut. “I’ll be right back.”
Summer bumped my shoulder with a grin. “What do you say to ice cream before we head home? Allie’s got me hooked on this cute little place around the corner from the hospital where she works that has all kinds of unique flavors.”
“You know what, that actually sounds gre—”
My words were cut off by the sound of shattering glass, a split second before a forceful blast knocked me off my feet.
With the wind knocked from my lungs, I opened and closed my mouth in a futile attempt to draw in air, while my brain struggled to process the scene before me through eyes that couldn’t seem to focus.
From what I could tell, the large showroom was cast in shades of orange and black. Was that smoke? And why couldn’t I hear anything? What the hell happened?
