I swear under my breath, but I can’t fight the smile on my face.
“It’s not a bad thing.” Sal shrugs. “Your new home needs it after getting rid of all of those animals. Sofia is simply replacing those things for you.”
“I’m just happy there’s only one and Aurora can’t buy one to match,” Elio says.
Sofia looks at me, her smile making her brown eyes crinkle as she holds the damn thing up like a trophy before purchasing it.
There’s something so wholesome about all of this that it feels like I’ve entered an alternate reality.
Sal shakes his head. “I can’t wrap my head around how you two are getting along this well after everything that went down.”
“Me neither.”
We step closer towards a white plaster wall as a large group of sunburned tourists pass by.
“Any news on the package that Dante sent?” Sal keeps his voice low and holds up one of his hands, fluttering his fingers near my face.
“Right.” I sigh. “I still haven’t dealt with that yet.”
And to say it’s making me nervous is an understatement because I promised Sofia that I’d sort out the issues with her family yesterday, but she has no ideahow muchneeds to be sorted. If I could go back in time and beat the shit out of my stupid, violent self that hatched this plan, I would.
Elio laughs without humor. “That’s a huge problem. They’re probably getting shot down by the guards outside the castle walls as we buy trinkets and go on wine tastings.”
“I know,” I hiss. “But I’ll fix it.”
“Do you think we can be allied with them, eventually?” Sal asks.
Elio cuts in before I can open my mouth. “What good is being allied with them? Their net worth is a fraction of ours. One of the least influential crime families in the States.”
“Enough.” I point my finger in his face. “If I hear you speak ill of her family one more time…”
“Sorry, boss, I…” he trails off and looks towards Sofia and Aurora, who have noticed our minor altercation.
“Forget about it.” I force my face to relax. “I don’t want to ruin the trip, but remember your fucking place.”
Elio puts his hands in his pockets as a way of pretending not to look shaken up and wanders away from me and Sal as our group continues to meander around the island.
“That was well done,” Sal keeps his voice low.
I raise my eyebrows, unable to tell if he’s patronizing me or not.
He continues on, “Putting him in his place without traumatizing the women or the poor people around us. What do you think Marco would have done? Ruined the entire fucking trip.”
Sal walks away as Sofia hesitantly approaches me, sensing the serious conversation. She hands me yet another bag to carry. “Hopefully, you don’t mind.”
“What? Carrying things for you?” With the information she told me yesterday—her being late—I’d carry a paper clip if she asked me to, even though I know that’s overkill. I have a staff member fetching a pregnancy test for her to take tonight because the anticipation is killing me so much.
“No, that I’m buying so many things.”
I raise an eyebrow at her. She could buy out an entire shop and it wouldn’t make a dent in my finances.
She rolls her eyes. “I know I’m notspendingtoo much, but… you don’t seem like a souvenir type of person.”
“I’m not, but if it makes you happy, who cares. I’ll stare at an ugly donkey in the sitting room. I don’t give a shit.”
“Actually, I think I’ll put him in the bedroom. Maybe in a place you can see it when you’re standing at the edge of the bed.” She winks at me.
“Now that is a problem.” I squeeze her side. “Do you not want this little one to have a sibling?”
