"He is. They don't go anywhere without the other." He smiled and shook his head. "It'll be good to see him." He smiled at the thought of his father being here. The affection in his voice was clear.
"The Cardonés are making a move tonight. Antonio, round everyone up." The man nodded and left the room, already pulling out his phone.
"Your family is arriving today." I pouted. Yes, I was pouting. Tell me what you would do if you found out your father wanted to kill you for making him a wealthy man.
"Just because my family shows up doesn't mean my work stops, baby. We will figure this out. Having Lorenzo here might be helpful, even if he doesn't come with us, at least I know he'll be here watching the house." I wondered if nights like this made him miss his own father even more than he usually did.
He didn't talk about him very often, but knowing his father was murdered in front of him, I didn't press the issue. I'd heard stories about Constantine Venosa, how he was ruthless but kind. Which was a rare trait in this life, but one Nico had inherited. The resemblance between the father and son was uncanny, and I wished I'd been able to know him. To see where Nico got his strength and his sense of honour.
"I'm going to get ready for their arrival." I stood at the same time as Nico. He cleared the space between us in a few quick steps. His hands rest on my hips and pull me to him, and he slips them around me. Being wrapped in his arms made me feel safe and like no one could get to me as he engulfed me. His heart beat steadily against my cheek.
"I'll keep you safe," he whispered into my ear. And for the first time in my life, I believed someone when they said it.
CHAPTER 25
EMILIA
Standing at the window,I didn't care that the cold was seeping through the glass. The compound was bathed in moonlight, snow falling in fat, lazy flakes that caught the security lights. My eyes were locked on the taillights of vehicles leaving the compound, red beacons disappearing into the December night. "You can't stand there all night." Cecilia walked up behind me and put her hands on my shoulders. "You'll make yourself crazy waiting." She turned me from the window, and I nodded.
It was something I'd never seen my mother do. She was more or less indifferent to my father, but I would have been, too, if I'd been treated the way she had been.
"Okay. This tree is pathetic," Trixie said as she set a large cardboard box on the coffee table. The massive evergreen in the corner was bare, with naked branches waiting to be dressed. "These were still in the basement, and we've got nothing but time." She put her hands on her hips and looked at her mother and me.
"Where's Loz? There's more boxes down there." She looked around and walked out of the room looking for him.
"I really should warn him so he can hide," Cecilia chuckled as she opened the box and pulled out a stack of stockings. The scent of cedar and old fabric filled the air. "So many people are gone," she sighed.
She set them aside, and I watched her eyes fill with tears as she looked at them again. "Just because they're gone doesn't mean we forget them. What if we hang them on the stairs?" I reached out and took the one off the top. The velvet was soft, well-worn.
The name on the top read Constantine. Nico's father. Without another thought, I grabbed the hook, walked to the stairs, and hung it up. "Could you tell me about them as we hang them?"
Cecilia moved to my side, the firelight casting shadows across her face. "Nico looks like his father; sometimes it's uncanny." The corners of her mouth turned up. "We married the day week we met.”
"What?" I couldn't even hide my shock.
"Time was of the essence, because my family was after me. So I do know a little of what you're going through." She put her arm around my shoulders. I listened to her story as I grabbed the next stocking with Dante written on it.
Handing it to Cecilia, she ran her hand over the name. "Nico's grandfather, my father-in-law." Her eyes glistened again as she hung it. "He was fierce, but frail when I met him. Cancer was wracking his body, but you could tell even though Constantine was technically the don, he was still running the family."
Time passed quickly as I ran up and down the stairs hanging the stockings and listening to her tell stories. While I'd never meet any of these people in person, I felt like I knew who they were thanks to Cecilia. The house was beginning to feel like Christmas, the stockings creating a memorial of love and loss.
"Mom, that looks amazing," Trixie said as she walked back into the room with another box. Garland spilled over the edges, silver tinsel catching the light. She set it down and put her arm around her mother.
"Lorenzo, would you like to hang Aria's?" Cecilia held out the final stocking to the man she loved. He nodded but didn't say anything. Standing in front of it, I saw him reach up and wipe a tear from his eye.
"You're missed, darling." He said as he pressed his hand to the red stocking. "What's next?" He asked as he cleared his throat.
We all took turns hanging stockings for everyone in our home. I hung Nico's and stood staring at it, my fingers tracing the embroidered letters. "Hang this one next to his." I was handed a stocking and hung it before noticing the name.
"You have one for me?" I asked my words breathless.
"Of course, you're part of this family." Trixie flung her arm around me. "Look, I get your family kind of sucks, but you'll always have a place for you here. And we've decided if you divorce Nico, we're keeping you and kicking him out." She added as seriously as could be.
A bubble of laughter worked its way out of me, and I hugged the woman who'd quickly become my best friend and confidant.
With the main floor looking like Christmas had thrown up on it, we smiled and happily drank our spiked hot cocoa as the fire blazed before us, the snapping and popping the only sounds in the room. The tree was now covered in ornaments, gold and silver and red, lights twinkling like stars. Garland draped the mantle, stockings lined the stairs, and candles flickered on every surface. It was magical, warm, everything Christmas should be. This evening had done the trick of occupying my mind, but now in the quiet, I glanced at the windows every few seconds.
"Love take me to bed," Cecilia said, patting Lorenzo's leg.
