Shoot. She already told him.
“You’re free to join us if you like.”
“Us?”
He left without another word.
Great.
I splashed some water on my face and headed outside. My room was down the hall from everything. The whole floor was an open area where the kitchen, dining table and lounge mingled together.
Arancia was serving lunch in a fucking couture dress, Tino already at the table. I walked to his right side and reached to pull out a chair. His hands were faster, pulling it out for me.
“Thank you, Tino,” I said.
Arancia set a plate for me and served us all soup before she sat across from me. I grabbed a spoon and started. As much as I hated to admit it, the soup was delicious like all her cooking.
Tino said something to her in Italian, probably complementing the food, and squeezed her hand. A lump rose to my throat. I barely managed to push the spoonful in my mouth down.
“Did you talk to Nicky or Leo while you were gone?” I asked, mostly to interrupt, the pitch of my voice higher than I intended it to be.
“Yes. They’re fine. Happy that you are, too.”
“Can I talk to them?”
He took his time savoring another spoon of the soup he liked so much. “No.”
“Why not? You have a phone we can use to call them.”
“For your safety, nobody knows where we are, not even Leo or Nicole. The Lanzas don’t even know you’re alive, and it has to stay that way until it’s all sorted out. They want you dead, Angelina. Calling now might risk everything.”
“So what? I’ll just stay here indefinitely without even talking to them?”
“It’s better than being dead, isn’t it?”
The lump in my throat grew to block even the air in. I dropped my spoon and excused myself to cry alone in my room.
Was I doomed to live in fear my whole life? Fear of my father, fear of my stalker, fear of the Mafia? When would it ever stop? When would I ever start living?
His footsteps came up behind me as I was lying down, sniffling in bed. “You need to eat. Isn’t it enough what you’ve done at breakfast?”
“Sorry about this morning, and I’ll apologize to your mistress later, but right now I’ve lost my appetite.”
“My mistress?”
I rolled my eyes as I shifted up and met his gaze. “Si, si. I’m not stupid.”
He chuckled, and I noticed the tray in his hand. He sat beside me and set it down. Then he placed a napkin on my lap, filled a spoon with soup and moved it to my mouth. “Open up.”
“Thank you, Tino, but I seriously don’t—”
He pushed the spoon into my mouth. “What did I say before?”
I almost choked on the food, but I managed to swallow. He cleaned up my mouth and scooped another spoonful of soup. I ate. I finished the whole thing. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like that he was here with me instead of eating with her. I’d be lying some more if I said that deep down I didn’t like that he was feeding me himself.
He wiped my mouth again and stood. “Arancia will be back for the tray and to give you your meds.” Just like that, he was leaving again.
“How does Leo feel about having your mistress taking care of your daughter-in-law?” I was playing with fire, but I didn’t care. I was tired of being ignored. I was tired of everything. “He’s very fond of his mother. He won’t like it.”
