“Are you seriously talking to cats now?” Matteo gives me a look that says he thinks I’m nuts, but I ignore him. We have bigger problems than a grumpy cat.
45
Chiara
Fina hurries over the moment Kane walks out of the kitchen. I watch him leave with trepidation. He saved me today. If not for his superior driving skills and cool head, I’d probably be dead or locked up in some nutjob’s basement.
I may have joked about the dangers of being a mafia wife, but until today, I hadn’t truly considered Angelo has enemies. Lots of enemies. Probably more than even he knows thanks to his less-than-winning personality.
Hell, I want to shoot him in the head most days, and I’m his wife.
“Are you okay,cara?” Fina’s sweet voice cuts through my mental meltdown, and I force a smile.
“Yeah. Just a bit nauseous after being thrown around in the car.”
To my surprise she hugs me, and once the shock wears off, tears come.
“Whoever was behind this will pay,” she tells me in a voice that makes me question everything I know about this woman. Fina issweet and softly spoken, but I’m beginning to realize she has a titanium spine.
I sniff and wipe my tears away with my sleeve.
“God forbid Angelo loses his precious wife,” I joke.
Fina frowns as she steps back. “I know you won’t believe me, but he truly does care about you.”
I’m about to ask her if she’s been smoking Luka’s weed when I hear a high-pitched yap followed by a volley of barks.
“Have we adopted a dog?” Fina’s eyes light up and she bounces on the spot.
“Not exactly!”
“So what then?” The shock of being in a near-accident recedes as my brain tries to work out what Fina is saying.
“Come with me.” She grabs my hand and tugs me through the house and outside. One of the guards, I think his name is Leroy, stands on the lawn with a small dog attached to a leash. The dog goes nuts when it sees me.
I stop dead in shock, stunned into silence.
Am I seeing things?
Is this my imagination playing tricks on me?
“Coco?” The minute I say her name, the dog yanks the leash from Leroy’s hand and tears across the grass. She leaps into my arms, and I almost fall backward as she licks my face, her small body wiggling in excitement.
I don’t realize I’m crying until Fina hands me a tissue.
“How?” My tears soak the tissue in seconds. I can’t stop sobbing as all my emotions bubble to the surface: loss, rage, and fear for what the future holds.
“Your old housekeeper had her. Vivian gave her Coco and told her to drop her off at the shelter, but the woman was so upset by what happened, she took Coco, packed her bags, and quit that same day.”
Maggie was one of the few staff members who stayed after my father died. Most left, unable to stomach Vivian’s rages and ill-treatment of them. She was always kind to me.
I sit on the grass with my dog in my arms as she licks every available millimeter of skin she can reach, her entire body convulsing with happiness. It takes ages for both of us to calm down. All the while, Fina stands and watches, a smile on her face.
Felix appears at the patio door, and from the way his tail is puffed up, he’s not amused.
“You’re my sweet baby too,” I tell him through my tears. Coco goes still and the two animals eyeball each other. I place Coco on the grass with the leash wrapped around my wrist to stop her from chasing the cat. She never bothered with cats in the past, but who knows how she’ll react to Felix.
Felix stalks over after a minute, making it clear he’s not intimidated by my small dog. To be fair, they’re almost the same size.
