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“I didn’t want to. Are you worried your art won’t be as good as his?” I raised my eyebrows at him. “Because I’m putting my trust in you, and these tattoos are very important to me.”
He swallowed. “It’s going to be my best work.”
I stretched out on the chair and held out my forearm to him. “Let’s start with the letter.” The tattoo for Battista would be simple. A red B over my wrist because he was my blood. I’d wanted to pick a tattoo with a deeper meaning like I’d done for Aurora, but I simply didn’t know him well enough. I hoped if I’d ever get the chance to do so I could add more detail to the tattoo. For now, I’d carry his initial with me as a constant reminder that Aurora wasn’t the only one who needed me to face my demons and shackle them. After less than an hour, the red B decorated my skin. The moment the tattooist touched the needle to my chest, I closed my eyes, allowed the burn to invade my body. It felt as if it almost touched my heart, as if the ink buried itself deeply enough to reach that part of me, just as Aurora had done.
After three hours, the hum of the needle died down for the last time. I opened my eyes and stared at the tattooist.
His forehead was sweaty, probably not just because he’d worked three hours straight.
He grabbed the mirror from his workstation and held it out to me so I could see his work. The black of the night sky over my heart made it look like there was only a black hole in my rib cage, which was fitting, but it was illuminated by meandering light strokes in green and turquoise.
I gave a terse nod. It was how I’d imagined it. I swung my legs off the chair and got up.
“You did good,” I said. I wanted to leave, felt the need to be alone with the strange sensations this manifestation of Aurora on my body created.
I grabbed my shirt and put it on, then on my way out, I tossed a wad of cash onto the reception desk, way too much for his work, and then again, not. I didn’t wait for him to count it.
My heart pounded in my chest, and I felt restless, hunted. I had expected a reaction to the tattoo, which was one of the reasons I hadn’t picked Nino for the tattoo. He would have seen something in my eyes or face, something I didn’t want to share with the people who knew me. I could only imagine what Alessio and Massimo would say if they saw the tattoo. Know-it-all Massimo would put two and two together. He definitely knew what the tattoo showed. Aurora borealis.
Aurora.
The fucking light in my life.
“I have a fucking bad feeling,” I muttered.
Nino narrowed his eyes in thought. “You think he knows about the party incident?”
“Fuck if I know. He sounded pissed.”
“Maybe we should tell him that we’ve known about the incident for a while,” Savio suggested with a shrug. “Better than keeping up the lie and having it explode in our faces later.” He let out a chuckle. “Who would have thought that Nevio would be the one to cause a sex scandal. It should have been me.”
“You could still cause one, but Gemma would rip you a new one, and I’d help her,” I said. I’d never thought Savio could be faithful at all, but Gemma seemed to be what he needed.
“The only sex scandal I’m up for is being caught having sex in public with Gemma.”
“How about we return to the matter at hand?” Nino asked.
I gave a terse nod. “Tell your sons to get their asses over here. Maybe they know more. Or have heard from Nevio. Serafina is starting to worry, and I’m getting pissed.”
“You weren’t before?” Savio asked with a cocked eyebrow.
I didn’t remember the last time I wasn’t pissed at Nevio. He had an uncanny talent to cause trouble. I really hoped it would grow out of him soon. He needed to be more responsible if he wanted to become Capo one day.
Massimo and Alessio entered the room after Nino a few minutes later, both with unreadable expressions. I wasn’t kidding myself into believing that their loyalty to me trumped their loyalty to Nevio. These three were usually attached by the hip.
“What’s going on?” Massimo asked, glancing from Nino to me.
“Nevio is in trouble, and so by proxy, you two are probably as well,” Savio said.
Alessio and Massimo exchanged a look, one I couldn’t decipher.
“We suspect that Fabiano found out about the party incident,” Nino said, eyeing his son closely. “Or is there something else that might upset Fabiano?”
“I’m pretty sure nothing could upset Fabiano more than Nevio taking Aurora’s innocence. Isn’t that enough?” Alessio asked with a sarcastic laugh.
Nevio always found ways to make an already bad situation worse. He lived for mayhem.
“So you two are unaware of further developments that might cause us trouble?”
