With enough prodding, we get her to spill, and the room is full of laughter over her period’s inconvenient timing. I realize once more how much I love these girls. Leaving them would be very hard.
“It’s selfish of me, but I wish we could all stay together here like this for longer,” Cat sighs, voicing my thoughts.
“I’d gladly stay if Uncle Silvio would allow it. I hate being at Uncle Enzo’s with Rocco lurking around.” Someday, I fear Rocco will find the courage to cross a line, and I’ll be the one that suffers for it.
The four of us make the best of our time chatting companionably until my Aunt Bibi comes in to spoil the fun. Shooing us off so Sofia can get her beauty rest, she manages to upset Gia. It’s not like Carlo is going to call off the engagement over puffy eyes or a bad hair day. Only death ends a marriage in the Trio and marriage pacts arepractically held to the same standard. They are bound by oath and honor to wed now. Only a fool would attempt to come between them.
Tonight, due to the security debacle at the wedding – which was Rocco’s fault, naturally – the Seconda Notte is being held here at the mansion, a break from tradition and an awkward one. The men will meet to talk business in the large guest house past the pool, but afterwards, girls from Club Oasis will be available to amuse them. Will Alessio really fuck some random woman with his bride on the same piece of property? God, I hope he’s got more sense than that.
Heading down to my bedroom alone, I reflect on the men in my life and my powerlessness yet again. “Fucking pigs.”
“Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”
Startled, I whirl around to face whoever spoke, balling up my fists. Naturally, it’shim.
7
Francesca
“Why are you up here?”
“You didn’t stay under the table like I told you to yesterday. Time to pay for that.” Carlo slaps his thigh with intent, and my eyes boggle. My traitorous nipples tighten, too.
“You can’t punish me for that! I had to protect Valdo! And we went right back under the table. You shouldn’t talk like that to me either. I’m not yours to… discipline.” I nervously lick my lips, and Carlo’s dark eyes grow darker. “Valdo may think he’s days away from becoming a Made Man, but he’s still a little boy. I had to convince him to stay close to me.”
Carlo’s smirk melts into something infinitely more dangerous, that flash of softness that makes my heart speed up. “What did you say to convince him?”
“I said I was frightened, and he promised to protect me.”
“You’re very clever, aren’t you?”
“Does cleverness in a woman intimidate you?”
He smirks, stepping closer, and I can’t seem to think straight. When he raises his hand though, I flinch out of habit. “Tell me who makes you react this way.” His voice is controlled yet something ferocious lingers at its edge.
“No one now. Old habits die hard.”
Slowly, he raises his hand again and braces it on the wall beside my shoulder. If he were to lean forward, we could kiss.What a crazy thought! Think of Sofia!
“Why are you really up here?” I ask, shaking off the horrible urge to ask for that cursed kiss.
“I wish to know more about whatyouwant. Do you wish to become a pop diva?”
My dreams of fame sound childish phrased that way. “I want to be a singer-songwriter. I want a normal life.”
“No one born into our world leaves except through death or by choosing to become a traitor. You know this and choosing the latter leads to the former.”
He took my thoughtless words yesterday more seriously than I hoped. “I have no desire to betray the Trio. Too many people I care about would be hurt.”
“Your father chose that path. He hurt people, including those he should’ve protected. Am I to believe you wouldn’t do the same? That you, too, wouldn’t send an old blind man to his grave if it meant getting what you want?”
He is cruel to bring up Beppe. The memory of his serene smile on his crinkly old face when I’d sing his favorite songs still breaks me to this day.
“Why do you look like you're going to cry? I don’t recall you attending his funeral.”
“Because I wasn’t allowed to go! No one would’ve wanted me there! That doesn’t change the fact it broke my heart when I learned of his death!”
I hate crying when anyone can see me. Even when Da hit me, I tried not to cry. Not once in all the times I’ve been pointed at, whispered about, stared at with disdain the past three years, have I shown them they could hurt me. Why this man?
