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Chicago and the Marchiano mansion were my home now, and that was where I wanted to be.
***
One afternoon, I was on the couches with Debi, with a heap of bridal magazines next to us. Debi had gone slightly overboard—I think she must have got a copy of every bridal magazine in the shop.
We also had a pile of baking magazines. Debi wanted to bake a cake to have after the blessing and she wanted to get some ideas. “How about a red velvet layer cake with chocolate frosting?” suggested Debi, showing me a picture of such a cake.
“That looks gorgeous—I’m up for anything with chocolate.”
I looked up as Marco, Alessio and Camillo walked into the house, back from doing some business. I had just opened a parcel that had been delivered and was pulling out the contents.
“What in God’s name is that?” asked Alessio, as I pulled out an outfit for Mr. Fluffy. It was a red satin waistcoat and matching bow tie.
“It’s an outfit for Mr. Fluffy to wear to the church blessing.”
Camillo grimaced. “You can’t be serious. He’s a dog.”
“Yes, I’m completely serious. Mr. Fluffy loves dressing up and he’ll look perfect. You know, I’m the bride and I should get whatever I want.”
“Bridezilla,” muttered Camillo under his breath but loud enough for everyone to hear.
Marco slapped Camillo around his head. “Hey, she’s right. It’s her wedding, and she gets whatever she wants this time after the almighty shit-show the first time around.”
Camillo rubbed his head with his hand. “Man, you’re already pussy-whipped. But at least she makes you less grumpy than usual.” Camillo laughed as he dodged Marco trying to slap him again.
I had come to realize that Camillo was a bit of a gentle giant around his family, which was at odds with the role he played within the Fratellanza. All Made Men had violence running through their core, but some of them had more of a conscience than others.
I still got the sense that Camillo’s Made Man pride was a little wounded after Mr. Fluffy had bitten him the first time they’d met, but he definitely seemed to be getting over it. Despite his tough guy persona, Camillo was like a big teddy bear around his younger siblings.
Alessio looked at Marco and grinned. “Camillo’s right, you know. You are less grumpy nowadays. Juliana is good for you.”
That sounded a bit like a compliment to me, and it felt good that Alessio was starting to accept me into the family too. My relationship with this family had started in the worst possible way, but everything had changed for the better now.
I went over to the kitchen to make some coffee and Alessio followed as he made for the fridge. I saw him rummaging for a snack. I wondered if this might be a good time to say something to him and I decided to just go ahead before I lost my nerve.
“I’m sorry if Mr. F brings back bad memories for you,” I said cautiously to Alessio. He and I had got off on the wrong foot, what with everything with the church shootout and then Mr. Fluffy arriving unexpectedly.
Alessio regarded me carefully and was silent. My words must have made him realize that Marco had told me about his dog, Comet, and what had happened to their mom. I hoped that I hadn’t said the wrong thing.
“It’s not that so much. I just didn’t want Debi and Danio getting attached to Mr. F. In our world, the fewer people we are close to, the simpler things are for us.”
“Danio is almost sixteen, and he and Debi will be adults before you know it. You can’t protect them forever.”
“You wanna bet? I’ll kill anyone who hurts any of my siblings, especially Debi,” growled Alessio.
“One day Debi will fall in love and that means that she will give her heart to someone, making her vulnerable to getting hurt.”
“You’ve fallen in love with Marco, and you haven’t gotten hurt.”
I was thoughtful for a few seconds. “I’m happy, but that doesn’t mean that falling in love hasn’t hurt me. I’ve lost my family now that I’ve decided to stay here. I mean, I still get to talk to my sister and brother sometimes, but there’s a barrier up between us now, like we’re on different sides of the war. Jake got hurt because of me and Jessica doesn’t really confide in me anymore. I feel like I’ve lost part of my old life and I’m working hard to try and get it back.”
Alessio looked at me. “I’m sorry that you’ve had to go through that, really I am. I consider you family now and I don’t like to see you hurting.”
We sat at the kitchen island in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, just watching my dog run around. “You know what would cheer me up?” I suddenly said to Alessio.
“I get the feeling I’m not going to like what you’re about to say…”
“I think we should get Mr. Fluffy a girlfriend—”
