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22
We settled into our wicked ways. Hugo wasn’t pleased with the sneaking around; he kept saying that he wasn’t an adolescent or a traitor, but every day, he found a way for us to have our time together. He even found a safe hotel near my mother’s house for the weekends I spent there.
To be honest, all the secrecy was starting to be too much for me too. I had to come up with so many damn reasons to leave the house. If it would have been up to me, I would have come clean to Gino. What was the worst that could have happened? Hugo, on the other hand, said it loud and clear that this was an affair, and affairs needed to be kept buried. In the end, I had to agree that his way was best because even if my brother couldn’t divorce me, and no matter how mad he’d be, Gino would never hurt me. I didn’t have that guarantee when it came to Hugo. Now wasn’t the time, not when Gino was stressed with his own love life since Muse hadn’t decided the date of their wedding yet.
In three and a half months, I’d be eighteen, almost a graduate, and maybe ready in his eyes to make my own decisions. That was my deadline: three more months, and I could have Hugo by my side around the clock. Until then, I had to live on crumbs, and I was fucking starving.
With the holidays coming in a matter of days, it became harder and harder to have a few minutes alone with Hugo. The famiglia was busy, and Gino sent him away for a job. I expected it to be a short over-night trip, but it took him five days to come back home, and it was agonizing to have no clue what he was doing and not being able to ask anyone about it.
He came back on the 23rd late in the night, and I only found out because in the morning, he was waiting at the door to take Muse and I to do some shopping. My mother was always coming in town on Christmas Eve to do all the cooking, and she liked to have fresh ingredients. The entire morning, we roamed through the markets, and Hugo was there, carrying our bags. We barely exchanged a handful of words, and he restrained himself to monosyllabic answers. Muse and I were walking hand in hand, and he was behind us. I could feel his eyes fixed on me, and all I wanted was to turn around and kiss the hell out of him, but once again, I had to smolder my desire.
By noon, we arrived back at the Brooklyn townhouse, and while he was looking for something in the glove compartment, Muse led me to the trunk so we could start taking everything inside. Between us, we were able to grab all the bags in one trip, and Hugo caught up to us when we were in the foyer.
“Muse, let me give you a hand with that,” he said, passing by me like I wasn’t even there. I hated how good he was at pretending I hadn’t fallen asleep with his dick inside me a few times.
“It’s ok, Hugo; they’re not that heavy.”
“Come on,” he insisted, “let me carry them.”
“You’ve been on carrying duty all day. Thank you, but it’s Christmas Eve. Take some time off. Go find Gino in his office and have a drink.”
When he saw there was no way to convince her, he nodded and turned to head towards Gino’s downstairs office.
“Hello,” I couldn’t help myself and yelled after him while Muse was calling for the elevator, “I have bags too!”
First, he looked at Muse to check if her back was still turned to us, then smiled.
“Yeah, but you could use the exercise.”
“Jackass.”
He winked, and I stuck my tongue out in his direction. He was mocking me, but at least I knew he was in a playful mood. I wanted to use that to my advantage later.
When the elevator doors opened on the second floor, and we walked into the kitchen, I found my mother sipping wine with Flora Maria. When she saw us coming, her face lit up like the Christmas tree in the living room.
Simona Nucci was a remarkable woman. Philanthrope, socialite, but above all, mother to more children than she gave birth to. Me, all my cousins, Hugo, Roman, my brother, and now Muse, we were all under her protective hen wing. The widow and mother of a mafia boss, she never got to spoil the men in her life like she’d have liked to. God knew Gino loved his mama, but he’d never let her get too involved in his life.
“Ah, the girls are home. All my children under one roof, just like when you were little.”
She loved to have us all under her eye.
“Mom, we’re under the same roof most of the time.”
“Catherinelle, this is the first Christmas Muse spends with us,” she admonished me. “Please, let’s show her the warm embrace of the family.”
This was Muse’s first year without her brother. My mom didn’t say it, but I knew she had that in mind. For Muse, it was the hardest of the holidays.
“I embrace her every day, mother. Hey, here’s an idea. Since everyone is coming around for dinner tomorrow, maybe we can find her a boyfriend that actually deserves her.” I shrugged, joking.
My mother laughed, and Muse pinched my arm with a smile on her face.
“I’m fine with your brother, Catherinelle. Thank you.”
“But you could do so much better!” I cried, and that was when Gino and his two acolytes walked in.
Gino was in sweatpants and a shirt since he hadn’t left the house all day. Behind him, Roman was in one of his dashing suits, his chestnut hair a stylish mess. Roman was a handsome man; he could steal the eyes of everyone in the room, but not mine. My eyes shifted to the shadow behind him.
It had only been minutes since last I saw Hugo, but my heart started beating faster, and my chest expanded. He was in the background watching over the room. The tight long sleeve shirt he wore stretched over his muscles, and his rugged worn-out jeans made him look even more delicious than usual. When he finally looked up in my direction and our eyes met, I felt pulled to him like metal to a giant magnet, and I had to clutch the countertop to keep my legs from walking his way.
