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“It’ll heal faster.”
Nino gave me a condescending look. Nobody could pull it off quite like him. “Your body is still bound to the rules of biology, even if your mind breaks the confines on occasion.”
I laughed. Nino still landed the best punches, and I didn’t mean with his fists.
My confrontation with Nevio had only hardened my resolve to leave Las Vegas as soon as possible. I didn’t even care about missing my prom. I’d never been excited to go in the first place. Nobody had dared to ask me or Carlotta to the dance. A foolish part of me had waited for Nevio to do it. Now that dream had gone out the window. Even if he did ask, I’d say no and perhaps throw another heavy object at him. Hurting him had been oddly satisfying.
I searched for Mom and found her in her office, bent over some folders. She looked up when I stepped in. “Did you talk to Aria?”
I knew she said she’d do it, and Mom usually kept her word.
Mom gave me an amused look. “Of course I did. I was actually about to come to your room and talk to you about it before you barged in without knocking.”
“Sorry,” I said, walking over to Mom’s desk. “And? What did she say?”
Mom leaned back in her chair. A few strands had fallen from her ponytail and messily framed her freckled face. She must have run her fingers through it in agitation. I hoped that wasn’t about the call. “She was very positive about it. Aria thinks it would be great to become closer as a family, and she’d love to have a girl under her roof again. If this works out, I see plenty of shopping trips in your future.”
Neither Mom nor I were big shopping queens. We only went shopping when we needed something and were always quick about it. But I’d bear hours of shopping if this meant going to New York. “So she said yes?”
“Aria said yes.”
“And what do you say?” I asked as I perched on the edge of Mom’s desk with a small pleading smile.
“I’m still worried about why you want to go, but I also feel like you’re old enough to spread your wings a little. It’ll do you good to be away from Las Vegas, even if New York’s rules won’t allow you much freedom either.”
I wasn’t concerned about my level of freedom. I was used to being guarded at all times. “Thanks, Mom.”
Mom made a move with her hand that suggested I needed to slow down. “Aria still needs to talk to Luca about this. She was confident that he’d agree as you aren’t a safety concern even by his strict views.”
I huffed, but of course, he had a point. If one of the guys had asked to spend a few months in New York like Adamo had done many years ago, the answer would probably be no right now.
“And then there’s Dad,” Mom said, pursing her lips. She pushed off her chair and touched my shoulder. “I think we can agree that he’ll be the hardest nut to crack. But we should have a good chance if we both talk to him. You should talk to him first, and then I’ll join in and share my opinion.”
“What should I say?”
“Don’t say you want to spread your wings or enjoy freedom or anything of the sort. And don’t say anything about wanting to leave Vegas either. He’ll try to find the source for why you want to leave rather than let you go, and I assume that’s not something you want.”
“No,” I said quickly. Even if I’d threatened Nevio with telling Dad, that was the absolute last thing I would do.
“How about you talk to him now, and during dinner it’s my turn?”
I gave Mom a peck and walked out. Since Dad wasn’t away for work, that meant he was usually working out.
I found Dad downstairs in our gym, doing stretches. “Dad, I need to talk to you.”
Dad looked up from the mat, his eyes narrowing in instant concern. I had made sure to make my voice light and my face matter-of-fact, but Dad had a nerve-racking ability to read people. It made keeping secrets in this house an arduous task. “All right.” He pushed to his feet and walked over to the bench. “This sounds serious.”
It was, on many levels. I sank down beside him and gave him a hesitant smile. Seeing his worried expression, my hopes for an easy “yes” dwindled.
I cleared my throat. “I want to spend the summer in New York with Aunt Aria.”
His expression fell. “What happened?” The hard edge of his voice told me he was ready to go on a vendetta.
I crossed my legs casually and rolled my eyes. If I gave anything away, this would take a really bad turn. “Nothing. I just need a change of scenery.”
Dad squeezed my shoulder, his blue eyes practically X-raying me. “Aurora, I need to know if anything happened. Whenever you talked about this summer, you planned to spend it with Carlotta and babysit Roman for a couple of weeks. You never mentioned New York. What about the summer courses you need in preparation for your nursing program?”
My pulse sped up like it always did when I was put on the spot. I gave a shrug. “I changed my mind. I want to spend some time with the other part of our family. I’ll have to spend the rest of my life in Vegas, so I want to use this chance to see something new. I also want to do longer internships before I commit to the nursing program. It’s a responsible job, and I want to ensure I’m up for it before taking someone else’s spot in the program. I could intern with the Famiglia doc while living in New York.”
