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Chapter Twenty-Nine
ARIA
Sorina’s cries fill the house, and I mean the entire house. She has colic, and it is the worst possible thing on this planet. My heart breaks every time I hear her cry, knowing that there’s most likely nothing I can do to soothe her. Most of the time she ends up falling asleep from exhaustion, only to wake up a few hours later repeating the process.
At first I thought I was doing something wrong, winning the ‘worst mother of the year’ award, but her pediatrician told me that this is normal and something that happens with infants sometimes. Over the cries spilling from her mouth I hear my phone ring and bring it to my ear, not even bothering to see who it is. “Hello,?”
“Hey. Jesus, what’re you doing to my niece?” Marcel asks, “Oh, wait. Is it that colic thing? Why hasn’t it cleared up yet?”
“It doesn’t work like that,” I grumble’ the baboon of a man doesn’t understand anything related to children. I don’t think he ever will, not even when he has a child of his own. “Anyway, why are you calling? You never do unless something’s up.”
It’s true. Marcel is always busy these days, as a clan leader should be. Once every two weeks he calls to check in on how the three of us are doing, and every once in a while I’ll open the front door to find some sort of box from an online boutique with a stuffed sun. I know, a sun. Sorina means light in Romanian, and she is the light of mine and Salvatore’s life. I think my brother associates her name with the sun, and that is why I keep getting them. I just pop them in her closet, and when she’s in her crib she loves to turn her head and stare at them on the shelves.
“Want to hear a bit of gossip that I think you might appreciate?” I hear the taunt in his voice. Whatever it is. This has to be good.
“Alright, shoot.”
“Guess who’s being sent to the Ukraine to get back our territory? Well, he’s not being sent. He volunteered this morning at the meeting.”
“Who?” I ask, not sure who’d dare to go to the Ukraine. Rumor has it that there is a thug who runs the streets. The Clans haven’t had territory there in ages because of her. When we moved out, she moved in and took advantage.
“Rhys.”
“....Rhys Albu?” I question, shocked that he of all people would volunteer. He betrayed Mariana years ago. How, I have no idea. I wasn’t privy to that information, but everyone knew that he crossed her and that she’s been disappointed in him ever since. She punished him in a way that is worse than death. She humiliated him and showed the other clans that he brought shame to her.
“Yes, the one and only. He’s volunteered to take back Mariana’s territory,” Marcel chuckles at the last bit, telling me that he knows something.
“Well, spit it out,” I urge him.
“He knows nothing of Vera, and when he finds out I will be laughing my ass off, shoving popcorn in my mouth. Rhys won’t know what hit him.”
Well, just as things start to settle down for a few of us, they’re just starting to get crazy for another.
