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“Thanks.” She flashed her toothy grin at him, and I couldn’t help but smile in response. “I wore it special for tonight.” She dipped her head to the side, her two braids moving with the motion. “Did you know I’m sleeping here?”
Lorenzo smiled down at her, and I swore my heart skipped a beat at the action. I’d never seen him look at anyone like that before. I tried to block it from my brain, refusing to keep the memory, but it was near impossible. “I did know.” He glanced over at me, his dark eyes fixating on me. I wasn’t sure what was shining in them, but whatever it was had me backing away a step. “I have Mrs. Larson cooking pizza especially for you,” he told Vida, looking back down at her. “You like pizza, right?”
“Yes! Pizza is my absolute favorite.” She rubbed her stomach and licked her lips. “And garlic bread. I looooove garlic bread.”
“Me too,” Lorenzo said, leaning back on his seat. “Want to know what my favorite is?”
Vida nodded her head so quickly that I winced. “Yeah!”
“Auntie Aida’s pasta.” He rubbed his stomach in the same way Vida had. “It’s the most yummiest pasta ever.”
“I don’t like pasta,” Vida said, screwing up her face. “Pizza is way better.”
Lorenzo chuckled, the sound so carefree it took me by surprise. In fact, the entire conversation was taking me by surprise. Why was he being so nice to Vida? Was it an act? Or was it real? All I knew was that I needed to get as far away from him as possible because I could feel my anger waning.
Anger I needed.
Anger that fueled me.
Anger that meant I made it through each day.
“Come on, Vida,” I said, my voice small. It was only then that I realized there were other people in the office. Mrs. Larson had disappeared at some point and left me alone to face the room full of men. “Uncle Lorenzo is busy, and we have lots of plans.” I tried to make my voice sound excited, but it was hard when everyone’s attention was on me.
“Awww.” Vida pushed out her bottom lip but perked up quickly. “Is the fountain a magic fountain like the gates?” she asked Lorenzo. “There’s money inside it.”
Lorenzo’s gaze met mine, a question in his eyes. I nodded, trying to silently tell him to tell her that it was. He winked at me, and my stomach dipped like I was on a roller coaster. “It is.” He stood, placed Vida’s feet on the floor, then bent down so their faces were at the same level. “Take this.” He pulled a coin out of his pocket and held it out to her. “Make a wish.” She went to take it from him, but he pulled back at the last second. “You can’t tell anyone what you wished for, though.”
“I promise.” She made a cross over her heart.
“Okay.” He let her take it from his hold and leaned forward, whispering something to her, then pulled back. “Have fun.”
She spun around and ran over to me, but I didn’t look at her. I was too preoccupied, staring at Lorenzo. He was showing a different side of himself. A side I hadn’t seen.
“Come on, Auntie Aida.” Vida grabbed my hand, pulling me away. “Let’s go make our wishes.”
“Our wishes?” I asked, letting her pull me back through the foyer and outside to the fountain.
“Here.” She handed me a coin, grinning up at me. “Uncle Lorenzo gave me one for you too.”
I turned back to face the mansion at her words, spotting Lorenzo standing in his office doorway, his dark eyes focused on us. He nodded, silently trying to tell me something, but I had no idea what it was. I could feel him breaking me down, and it didn’t matter how quickly I was replacing the bricks, building the walls around my heart, because he was tearing them down twice as fast.
“Done!” Vida shouted, clapping her hands. “Now, you.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, said my wish silently in my head, then dropped the coin into the fountain. The only time I’d made a wish was when I blew the candles out on my birthday cake, but there was something about this wish that had me hoping it would come true. Maybe it was magic, or maybe it was hope, but part of me believed in a higher purpose. Everything happened for a reason, right? I clung to that thought as I gripped Vida’s hand and led her back into the mansion.
LORENZO
“Confirm the meeting,” I told Christian as I stood. It had been hours since Vida had come into my office with her toothy grin flashed my way. I hadn’t known Vida was staying overnight, not until Mateo had called me from outside her family’s store. I’d told Mrs. Larson to come straight to my office when they arrived, but I hadn’t expected the whirlwind that was Vida to be with her.
I was trying to take Sofia’s advice and show Aida who I really was. I didn’t want to admit that it was hard, but it was. How was I meant to show her a side of me that I wasn’t even sure was there anymore? How was I meant to do a one-eighty and get her to believe it was me?
“For Thursday?” he asked, typing
away on his cell. I made a sound of agreement in the back of my throat as we walked to the door. The sound of laughter filled the air as soon as I opened it. Part of me wanted to stay hidden in my office. At least in here, I could be who I wanted to be. I could be the violent Mafia boss, the man who didn’t take any shit from anyone. But out there, I’d have to be the man Aida deserved. The man she should have been able to marry.
I stood in my office doorway as Christian left, stopping to say bye to Aida and Vida as he went. But I couldn’t move. I was stuck to the spot, wondering if it would have been easier to let things be what they were. Part of me said to let her go. To set her up in her own apartment like I’d planned to do originally. But deep down, I knew I couldn’t. I couldn’t watch her live her life without me in it.
Taking her to my room that day had changed everything. I hadn’t been prepared for it—hadn’t seen it coming—but now it was here, and I couldn’t back down.
