Harper texts back after a few minutes, asking for the address and saying she’ll come over a little later. Telling myself it will be fine, I message the concierge in the lobby that I’m expecting another guest before turning my attention back to the ones present.
“Why didn’t Alessio bring Armando?” I ask Gia and Cat as we settle on the sofa. My mom is in the kitchen chatting with Dinora and Bianca, Anna and Giulia are playing around with my piano.
Gia answers. “He caught us kissing at his birthday party before we left Vegas. It was nothing. Alessio’s just being a pain in the ass about it.”
My eyebrows shoot skyward at Gia’s casual admittance of infidelity, and Aurora chokes on her bite. “I’m sorry. Should I go join the girls or…”
“Are you planning to tell my husband about it?” Gia asks her, sharply.
“No! What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, right?”
Gia cracks a smile. “I like her. You can stay.” I give Aurora a reassuring smile to second Gia’s words. We’re all close in age, and I want us to get along.
Since it’s clear Gia doesn’t want to keep discussing Armando and the kiss that ‘was nothing,’ we talk about the reception last night. Of course, the sheets come up. “Silvio insisted on seeing ours,” Cat says, shuddering at the mention of my vile deceased uncle.
“Did you have to deal with that when you married?” I ask Aurora.
“No, once Faro and I were free to marry, our ceremony was very subdued.”
“I doubt this Seconda will be subdued,” Gia says. “Ritchie was pissed Carlo didn’t invite the men from Chicago and Vegas.”
“But it’s at Red Hook,” Aurora replies. We all turn toward her with the same blank expressions. “You know about Red Hook, right?”
We shake our heads. “What don’t we know?” I ask, an eerie sense of foreboding making my pulse speed up.
“It's the dockside warehouse the Trio owns in that section of Brooklyn. I’ve been to it… once,” Aurora whispers, looking lost in her memories. “They often use it to host inductions but also Tribunals and bloody statements.”
“That doesn’t sound like a place where they go for cards and hookers.” I nod in agreement at Cat’s words, wondering how messed up it is that I’m relieved at the thought of my husband spending his evening at a place drenched in violence rather than around prostitutes.
“It’s not. For Carlo to insist on the New York men being present without inviting men from outside his territory, he’s planning something specific. Faro thinks it's because of what happened with Roberto last night.”
I recall Carlo’s words from the storage room –“Anyone who wishes you harm will die screaming.”Despite my sick satisfaction over Carlodefending me against Roberto’s gross words, I don’t want to be responsible for more violence.
“It’s just like our men to get off on bloodshed if they can’t have sex,” Gia mutters, pouring more wine.
Cat nods, glancing toward the terrace where her husband paces while touching her tooth necklace. “Alessio would prefer a night of bloodshed to cards and hookers.”
“I hope they’ll be careful,” Aurora says, wrapping her cardigan around her tighter. “The last time Faro attended a meeting this big there, it was for the public execution of a traitor.”
I shiver, thinking of Ronan, and jump when Giulia taps my shoulder.“Want to dance?”she signs, smiling innocently.
“Yes,” I say, nodding. I don’t want her or Bianca or Anna to know what their brothers are up to tonight. Someday, they will but not yet.
***
Two hours later, Mom is laughing loudly at the dirty jokes Dinora tells her. Caterina, Gia and Aurora are playing a game of charades with the Vicini sisters, all of them having a good time, when a notification pops up on my phone from the lobby. I’d forgotten about Harper coming over. I give the okay for them to send her up.
As soon as the elevator beeps, Alessio and the Vicini guard step inside. “It’s just a friend of mine from school!” I shriek at them before hurrying over to greet Harper in the foyer.
The Vicini guard steps back outside, but my family and friends stare at the new arrival with curiosity and, in Alessio and Gia’s cases, wariness.
“Harper, hi!” I say, a little too brightly. “Come and have something to drink.” Her eyes are huge as she takes in Alessio. I forget sometimes how intimidating-looking my cousin is to others.
I wish I could say the awkwardness soon dissipates, but it doesn’t. Harper nurses one drink, her words friendly while her eyes constantly track Alessio’s movements. She asks Caterina and Gia a few prying questions. She mostly ignores Aurora for some reason.
When she asks to use the restroom, Gia grasps my hand the second she’s out of sight. “Make sure she doesn’t lose her way.”
“She’s just a girl like us.”
