Page 53 of Tailored for You

“Not in a few weeks. She gets moody.” That was Marcello’s way of saying she did something stupid again and he had to put his foot down.

Giulia was his sister, though it was a secret for most of Giulia’s life. She lived with their mother’s side of the family, hidden away so no one, especially Marcello’s father, could use her like she was a piece of property to be sold.

When she was twenty-one, fresh out of college, Marcello gave her a job. She wanted nothing to do with the Cosa Nostra; she hated everything the brotherhood stood for, but wanted to be closer to Marcello, so she said. It spiraled from there. She became more entitled the longer she worked at Panorama. Then it all got blown to hell when Adrienne showed up.

One outburst and she showed everyone exactly who she was, undoing everything Marcello had done for her in the process.

There was animosity there, so I kept tabs on her to make sure nothing she did could be traced back to us.

“So, we want the details,” Rafael said, clearing the paper off the table.

“Details on what?”

“Adrienne said Serena and her daughter were living with you. That something happened.” Marcello looked at me like I was missing a few screws. “What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything. A group of thugs broke into her studio. I was passing by, noticed, and saved her.” I gave them the shortest version possible.

“Who did you hire to do that?” Rafael asked. “I might be in need of their services.”

“Passing by? Do you expect me to believe that you were conveniently in the area when she was in danger and came to her rescue like some superhero?” Marcello rolled his eyes.

“Yes. Like I do every night. I passed by her place. And one of the guys I kept on her building notified me of the break-in. Lucky I was only a few blocks away.” I turned to Rafael. “I didn’t pay them to scare her, so she’d come live with me. What is wrong with your brain?” I pointed to my skull to help drive my point home.

“It’s a good plan,” Marcello agreed. “I wish I had thought of something like that when I was dealing with Adrienne.”

“Why would you think sending people to break into the home of your future wife, who is an assassin, was a good idea? She’d kill the first two and torture the third for fun because they interrupted her beauty sleep.” Rafael gave Marcello an incredulous look. I snickered at him.

“That’s true.” Marcello sighed. “Anyway, is that what Adrienne was muttering to herself about? I heard Serena and break-in, but nothing else, and you didn’t call me.”

“What are we? Old men gossiping over Scopa?” I said. “I was a little busy making sure everything was perfect, so they’d stay.”

“They will,” Rafael said, putting a hand on my shoulder. “You’re thoughtful.”

“Smart,” Marcello added.

“Detail oriented.”

“Adaptable.”

“Willing to kill anyone who touches either of them.”

“Please stop. You're inflating my ego,” I deadpanned, interrupting their list of what they thought were my good qualities.

“Let’s get out of here and eat at La Luna. I have to see Martina, or she might skin me alive,” Marcello said and headed to the door. Rafael and I followed, so his mother-in-law didn’t kill him for not stopping by to say hi while he was in town.

CHAPTER 17

Enzo

I watched, slack-jawed and a little afraid, as Harper inhaled the snack Martina made for her. Normally, Harper spoke a thousand miles a minute, but with Martina’s food, it was crickets.

It was a sandwich, peanut butter and white marshmallow fluff, and some other kid-friendly food I had never seen before.

“Remind me never to let her get too hungry,” Donovan muttered. “She might take a finger off.”

“I like chicken fingers,” Harper said, finally coming up for air. “And French fries. They’re so yummy.”

I nodded, watching as Harper shoved so much food in her mouth that her cheeks were puffed with it. Donovan maneuvered the car through the city, honking periodically when someone seemingly forgot how to drive, until we hit the highway.