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Brad was all about himself, the typical high school jock who hadn’t changed one bit even though he’d been in college for a couple of years. I smiled at him as he stood and offered his hand, and this time I took it, knowing there was no reason to be nervous around him because I wouldn’t be going out with him again.
He pulled me closer to him as we made it to his truck, and once we were both inside, he asked, “Wanna go somewhere else and continue this?” Did he not realize how bad this date had gone?
My face reddened as I stared at him, wondering how to politely say no. Just as I opened my mouth, my cell beeped, saving me. I pulled it out of my purse, unbelievably grateful for the interruption.
Noemi: You need to get home right now.
I frowned at the message and typed a reply.
Aida: Why? Is everything okay?
I waited several seconds, staring at my screen as I bit down on my bottom lip, but when the read signal didn’t show up, I turned to face Brad. “My sister said I need to get home.” I showed him my phone, trying to prove that she had messaged me and that this wasn’t some kind of ploy to get away from him. I was glad I’d be getting away from him, though.
“Okay.” He smiled, but this time it didn’t quite reach his eyes, not like it had throughout the night. My stomach dropped, and I winced. I hated letting people down, and I wouldn’t be able to think of anything else but how I’d technically bailed on our night. Although a quick look at the time said it was already 10:30 p.m., so I hadn’t really bailed. Right?
The truck was silent save for the low singing on the radio. He’d talked nonstop, and now he wasn’t saying a word. I wasn’t sure which one I liked less…no, I did—definitely the silence. I couldn’t stand when there was no noise. It made me want to fill it with useless chatter and information, but more than that, it made my ears ring, almost as if the silence was so loud it was deafening me.
Brad pulled the truck to a stop a couple of cars down from the store, and relief flowed through me. It would only be seconds until I was out of the truck. I grabbed my purse off my lap and looked ahead. What the…
Two blacked-out SUVs took up the spaces directly in front of the store. It wouldn’t have bothered me if the store was open, but it was nearly 11 p.m. now, so why were they parked there?
I stared up at the apartment, seeing all of the lights on. Had they waited up for me? Were they watching me right now? My eyes widened. Had something bad happened? Noemi said I needed to get home right now, but my brain hadn’t computed that something seriously wrong could have transpired.
“I had a great time,” Brad said, his voice low. I felt his hand whisper over my knee, and I jumped in response—yet again.
“Sorry.” I laughed it off, trying to be easy breezy, but the lights being on in the apartment had taken over my brain, and all I could think about was my ma looking out of the window and seeing what I was doing. At that thought, I flung the passenger door open and shuffled out of Brad’s car. “Thanks for tonight,” I stumbled out. “Erm…” I hooked my thumb over my shoulder, signaling the store. “I better head inside.”
Brad opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, I slammed the door shut and twirled around. I didn’t turn back to face him as I walked past the SUVs, and it wasn’t until I was at the side door that led straight up to our apartment that I realized a man was standing in front of it—a man I didn’t recognize.
“Aida?” he asked. His face was a weird mixture of rough and smooth and his hair was in a crew cut, as if he didn’t have the patience to style it.
“Y-es.” He nodded, opened the door, and waved for me to go inside. “Who are you?” I asked, unable to keep my curiosity in any longer.
He winked. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
I frowned, not understanding what he meant, but walked by him anyway. My heels clicked on each stair as I made it up to the apartment door at the top. As soon as I opened it, Noemi’s face appeared. Her wide eyes told me something was going down, and when voices from the living room echoed toward us, she yanked me into the bathroom.
“Noemi!” I whisper-shouted. “What are you doing?”
“Shhhhh.” She placed her hand over my mouth, and every bone in my body wanted to fight her off, but several sets of footsteps getting closer had me freezing.
I couldn’t make out anything they were saying, but we both stayed silent as the footsteps disappeared, a door closed, then engines turned on. Several seconds ticked by, but neither of us moved from our position.
“You can come out now, girls,” Ma said from the other side of the door.
Noemi let go of me, pushed the door open, and dragged me out with her. “What the hell was that?” she asked. “Why was he here?”
Ma’s gaze veered to me, then to my dad, who stood a couple of feet to the side. “Let’s go sit down.”
“Why?” I asked, following them because Noemi wasn’t giving me a choice with the strong grip she had on my arm.
“We need to talk,” my dad replied, his voice somber but also shaky.
Neither of them said another word as they sat on one of the sofas and signaled for me and Noemi to sit opposite them. We did as we were told, but when I pulled in a deep breath, the distinct smell of cologne overtook me—a cologne I recognized but couldn’t quite put my finger on where I knew it from.
Ma and Dad looked at each other, and with a nod of Dad’s head, he turned to face us. “You both know of the Beretta family, correct?” Noemi and I nodded because we did—everybody did. “Well, Luca Beretta died recently.” I blinked, trying to figure out where this was going. Why was this so important that Noemi had messaged me to come home right away? “Which means his son, Lorenzo, will be taking over.”
“Okay.” I shuffled to the edge of my seat and leaned my forearms on my thighs. The atmosphere was intense, promising something that I wasn’t sure I was ready for. “What does that have to do with us?”
