The very last thing I’ll be doing is turning it down.
“Antonio is right, Mom.” I pull her into a hug because she’s genuinely worried. “This is my job now. Sometimes, I’ll be working behind a computer gathering intel, and other times I’ll be out in the field.”
“I want to support you, Gia.” Mom clasps my cheeks. “I’m so proud of you, and I want you to be happy, but this is not the life I would’ve chosen for you.”
“Frankie, it’s done now.” Dad steps into the room, trying to mask the concern from his handsome face. “There’s no point making her nervous before the meeting.”
“Don’t bullshit a bullshitter, Rico.” Mom turns and glares at her husband. “You hate this every bit as much as me.”
“Yes, my love.” Dad reels Mom into his arms. “But the difference is I’ve accepted it.” He brushes her long blonde hair back off her face.
“We never should have let her take those Krav Maga lessons as a kid. I bet that’s where it started.”
I roll my eyes as Antonio grins, and Dad hugs Mom to his chest, smiling adoringly at her. “It’s in her blood, darling.”
“If you want to blame anyone, blame yourself,” I tease. “You’re the one who married amafioso.”
“And I’d do it all over again because your father makes me incredibly happy, and he’s given me the best life.” Mom beams at Dad as he swoops in and kisses her deeply and passionately.
My heart swells behind my chest as I watch my parents. The way they love one another is couple goals for sure. Growing up, we were always surrounded by love. The one they share for each other and us. I want that too. To be the center of someone’s universe and for our family life to be filled with laughter and love and happy times. I had the best childhood, with the best support system, and I know I’m luckier than most.
“Ahem.” Antonio clears his throat. “Your children are in the room, and it’s far too early for all this mushy touchy-feely stuff.”
Our parents break their lip-lock but not their embrace. “Our children are grown-up and doing all the things we do and more.” Mom waggles her brows at Antonio, and I wonder if she’s remembering the time she busted him nailing Sorella Caprese in the ass.
Mom freaked out, not just at the act, because Antonio was only sixteen at the time and Sorella was twenty-one. I went to school with her younger sister, and she’s every bit the bitch her older sister is rumored to be. Both women should have awards for bedding made men. I’m not throwing shade, just stating facts. Apparently, Sorella is limiting her fuck buddies to one these days in the hopes Joshua will propose to her.
What a dumb bitch.
No made man worth his salt hitches himself to a woman who has fucked her way throughmafiosocircles. Especially not a don. And especially not this don. Joshua is as anti-love and anti-marriage as Caleb is now. That bitch Bettina really did a number on him.
I was fourteen when it all went down, and I remember how broken Joshua was. Until he reinvented himself as a cold, emotionless bastard whose only commitment to women is fucking them like they’re a dying breed.
I can’t say I really blame him, but it’s sad. It’s no way to live your life.
I know Joshua mostly because our moms are best friends, but he works closely with Fiero now, so we sometimes see him at Maltese events. But I can’t say I know him or his twin well. We have only ever spoken in passing. In the past, it was because of the age gap, but in recent years, I’m not sure why. He probably still thinks of me as a kid the same way Caleb thinks of Elisa.
“Let’s not go there, Mom. I’m pretty sure Dad would make me wear a chastity belt if he knew the stuff I got up to at college.” And in Nepal, but I’m not mentioning what went down while I was training with a bunch of stupidly hot yet irritating made men.
What happened in Nepal stays in Nepal is my mantra these days.
“Gia Maria Estella Bianchi! That had better be a joke!” There is no trace of humor on Dad’s face, and I probably shouldn’t add to his stress when he’s already worried about my assignment.
“Relax, Papa. I was exaggerating. You make it too easy to wind you up.”
“You will give me gray hairs,tesoro.”
“Hate to break it to you, old man, but you’ve already got some.” Dad and Antonio share the same dark-brown locks but not the gray strands that have recently appeared in Dad’s hair.
Mom glides her hand up Dad’s chest. “I like the silver streaks. You look like a distinguished gentleman.”
“You’ve still got it, Dad,” I joke, waggling my brows before I spot the time on my cell and screech. “Everyone out. I need to get ready!” I start running around the room in a fluster as the others leave.
“Wear the pants suit,” Antonio says, poking his head through the door. “Casual or combat isn’t appropriate, and the dress will only draw attention to your tits. You want them to see you as a professional, so dress the part.”
Nerves fire at me from all angles as I sit outside the conference room at Commission Central, waiting to be called. Discreetly, I wipe my clammy palms down the front of my red pants, hoping it doesn’t leave a mark. I managed to pull myself together in record time, and I made it here with seconds to spare. My red pants suit conveys business in a sexily understated way. My makeup is on point. Enough to make the best of my features but not so much I look caked in the stuff.
My cell vibrates in my purse, and I take it out, blowing air out of my mouth when I see it’s my bestie. She is probably calling to wish me luck. While Elisa didn’t want me to sign up for the program, as soon as I committed to it, she was fully supportive. She might worry, but she wants me to be happy. And like me, she enjoys the fact I’m one of the women steering a new path within our world and opening previously closed doors.
