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Making a beeline for one with the perfect view over the vineyard, I sank into the water, and I haven’t moved since. Every bubble melts away my worries, seeping into my skin and making me whole again.
Soft music plays in the background as I duck my head under the water, soaking my hair. I might be rid of the blood that was staining my skin, but my mind hasn’t healed from it yet.
Lifting my head out of the water, I push my hair back off my face before my hands start rubbing against my shins. I can’t help but do this every time I get blood on me, especially when it’s someone else’s. But as the years go by and I continue to do this, the process slowly shortens.
The first time I killed someone, I was scrubbing at my raw skin for weeks, and now, it’s merely a few hours. It’s relieving to get over it so much quicker but also depressing that I’ve become so accustomed to it that it’s not as painful to handle anymore.
“You’re going to make your skin raw if you keep doing that,” Valentina says from my left, perched on the edge of the hot tub when I turn to look in her direction with a quirked brow.
Her swimsuit has a red floral pattern, complementing her olive skin perfectly as she assesses me. Her brown eyes are just the same as her brothers’, somehow combining the three of them altogether. There’s a hint of Enzo’s mischief, a shimmer of Vito’s curiosity, and a whole heaping of Matteo’s judgment.
“It’s my usual ritual,” I reply with a shrug, relaxing into the bubbles as she looks on across the room. I follow her line of sight, only to find Nonna relaxing on a lounge chair with a book in her hand, and I smile at the sight of her.
It seems like we’ve made a little vacation out of me needing to decompress, and I’m more than willing to admit that I like it.
Valentina clears her throat, drawing my attention back to her as she looks me square in the eyes. “Dare I ask how you ended up at my brothers’ home?”
I consider my answer before I adjust my position so I can see her better. “You know them better than I do, so what do you think happened?”
She cocks her head as she shrugs. “Honestly, I can’t figure it out. Nonna said you’re there under surveillance, and no one iseverthere under surveillance. But she insisted that I come to meet you and stake a claim on you so they wouldn’t end your life if it came to it.”
My eyes widen at her admission, before I glance at the woman enjoying whatever book she’s reading. “That won’t be necessary,” I state, turning back to face her once more, and she chuckles.
“Oh, I know. You can definitely handle yourself, but you intrigue me too. So there is no way in hell my brothers are going to hurt a single hair on your head.” The determination in her tone surprises me, but I don’t say a word in response, which leads to her explaining herself. “Crazy is my middle name, well, given to me by Nonna, so if she labels someone else as crazy too, I know they’re on my level. Besides, it’s definitely a first for me, to meet someone for the first time, especially a woman, covered in blood with a dead man at their feet, and I think it’s fantastic.” Her grin widens, and I’m sure she’s close to clapping too, but she manages to hold herself back.
“I can’t say I’ve ever met anyone under those circumstances either, but I really don’t need you to pity me.”
“Girl, please. There’s not a single ounce of pity here. I’m in fucking awe of you and if I wasn’t trying to help you decompress right now, I would be begging you to come out and have some fun with me.” She’s talking a mile a minute, and I struggle to keep up with her, nodding along the best I can as my nose scrunches in confusion.
“Fun?” A simple three letter word and I have no idea what it fucking means.
She pats my arm lightly as she shakes her head in disbelief at me. “Yeah, like going out dancing, getting drunk, and stumbling home to piss my brothers off. Any of it.Allof it. I like your vibe. Sure you might be a bit closed off, but shit, with my past, I am too.”
A part of me is eager to do all of those things and just be… free. Even if it is for the briefest of moments. But now isn’t the best time for that. Not just that; I know the shit the brothers are dealing with, and something tells me they wouldn’t let us out of their sight anyway.
An invisible connection thrums between us, an understanding that comes so naturally, it’s confusing. Whatever it is, it has me leaning closer as I stare deep into her brown eyes.
“How much do you know about the De Luca business?” She doesn’t shy away from my question as she seems to assess me too.
“Everything.” One word said with such ease and confidence that I know she’s telling the truth, but I still want to hear a little more from her first. Quirking my eyebrow at her, I don’t say anything as she playfully rolls her eyes at me. “For real. I knew nothing when my father was alive, kept as a privileged princess in my tall tower with nothing to do but make myself look pretty.” She rolls her eyes again, but this time, there’s no playfulness to the action. “Then when he passed, Matteo decided that he didn’t like how vulnerable being kept in the dark made me. Now I have my own businesses, my own life, and I know everything. I’ve never felt more a part of my family than I do now.”
My chest warms at her words, my heart and soul begging to feel anything even remotely close to that, but the reality is, I’m my own family now. There’s no one else here but me.
Clearing my throat, I pull myself from my thoughts as I ask her another question. “Do you know why they went to New York?”
“To meet with the Russians about the death of Totem and everything he promised them,” she says with a nod, making my heart rate kick up. I have no idea what I’m fucking saying right now, but I can’t seem to stop it.
“How do you feel about that?” I ask with a gulp, my hands flexing in my lap under the water as I wait for her to reply.
“About what?” Her lips purse as she tries to understand what I’m asking.
“What do you think about everything Totem promised them?” I think I might be sick, but the verbal diarrhea just isn’t stopping.
“I thought it was utter bullshit, all of it.” A bubble of laughter bursts past my lips, and I quickly slam my mouth shut to stop anything else escaping. “What? I did.”
I shake my head, a smile teasing my lips. “And how do you feel about the vengeance they declared on his killer?”
If she has any idea of where I’m heading with this, it doesn’t show on her face as she scoffs. “Please, that man was no good. No. Fucking. Good. If he was, then my brothers wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to keep me as far away from him as possible.”
