Eight
Luca
It’d be impossible for me to forget Nova’s birthday.Especially since she’s been raving about it for the past week.
Is she excited?
Yes.
I think it has more to do with her becoming an adult than anything else.She’s been yammering on about colleges and how she’s been accepted into Evergreen University next semester.
I can’t say I’m surprised, given the fact that she’s on campus all the fricking time.It’s a good thing we get along, or I’d be shoving her out the door and tattling on her for showing up.
There’s no way Moreno and Paige know she spends so much time here.There’s zero chance they’d want her hanging around other college-aged boys.
As far as they know, she’s never been on a date.
I know better.
Nova can keep a secret.
Turns out, so can I.
Truth is, I get along better with Moreno than my own father, which doesn’t say much, considering Moreno isn’t the least bit friendly or warm.I suppose that’s what you get when you house the mafia together under one roof and then try to raise a family.
The answer: fucked-up kids.
I’ve avoided going home.At any opportunity, I’ve stayed on campus, but Nova is having her eighteenth birthday party at the house and hearing Harper tell me she’s going, all I can think isthis is a bad idea.
I’ve tried texting Nova and suggesting she change the location.She can crash here for her birthday, let the girls spend the night on the living room floor or couch.
The response I got was a crying laughing emoji.
Nova is as stubborn as her father.
Which means I’m packing a bag for the weekend before driving home, the one place I swore I wouldn’t return to, no matter what.
Ashton knocks on the open bedroom door as I stuff the last of a few items into my duffel bag.“You ready?”he asks.
He’s not from the area.He grew up in Chicago, part of an extension of the family if you will, not blood but brothers, nevertheless.Mafia is always family, either they love you or they kill you.
Turns out, our families get along well enough not to kill one another.It helps that we grew up in different parts of the country.There aren’t territorial disagreements between brothers.
“Yeah, let’s go.”I’m not thrilled with traveling back to the compound where I grew up, but Nova is having her party, and the truth is Harper is going to be there, and someone has to keep an eye on her.
We make our way to the compound, and Ashton is quiet.He’s been here once before, when we were just kids.It was the first time we met.I wonder if he even remembers it; we were little.
I don’t see Nova’s car outside, and I’m not sure how Harper intends to get here.I probably should have offered her a ride, but it’s not like I want to encourage her to come to Nova’s party.
I’m fine with Nova and Harper hanging out.It’s great they’re becoming friends.What isn’t so hot is visiting this place with Harper.
She doesn’t have the slightest clue about our family, and I don’t intend to tell her that my father runs the mafia.There’s no reason for her to know the kind of man he is, how he orders his men to kill his enemies and steal from them.He’s not a good guy.
Mom goes along with it only because she swears her family is no better, which is saying something.I’ve never met them.
Hard to believe she came from an opposing mafia family, but I’ve done a little research and investigating when I was in middle school, and she’s not lying.I thought maybe Dad had all of them killed, but they’re still around, causing mayhem and murders of their own.
“Looks like we’re here early,” Ashton says, noticing the same thing that I do; Nova’s car isn’t outside, and the front entrance is pretty sparce.If she were having friends over, I’d expect a few more vehicles out front.
