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CHAPTER1
ALESSA
Sunlight filters through the embroidered curtains of Carmela’s as I lounge in our favorite corner booth, the leather creaking familiarly beneath me. I fidget with the ruby choker at my throat and my nails tap out a restless beat on the pristine white tablecloth while I wait on my dear cousin. Juno Bianchi may bully her underlings without remorse, but I’ll be damned if I let her keepmewaiting like one of her lackeys.
Right on cue, the carved mahogany doors swing open and Juno breezes in, surrounded by no less than five bodyguards scrambling to clear her path. Gotta admire my cousin’s flair for the dramatic. That linen pantsuit she’s rocking probably cost more than my Maserati.
Then again, so do the rubies dripping from my own lobes and throat. I know, I know, talk about overkill for a weekday lunch. But I have a reputation to uphold and a club to advertise—and subtlety has never been my strong suit.
It’s not Juno’s either, though she’d never admit it. She sweeps through the restaurant, offering the staff a practiced smile that doesn’t reach her cool brown eyes. They bow and scrape like the well-trained monkeys they are. Given her status in the city, my cousin expects doors to open and knees to bend wherever she deems fit. To be fair, I expect the same.
But at least Ipretendto be pleasant to the people serving me.
“Cugina,” I purr as Juno joins me, and I give a dramatic swirl of my silk scarf as I rise to hug and kiss her. “I see you’re keeping the staff on their toes as always.”
Juno’s blood-red lips quirk. “As are you, Alessa. Though I prefer a more subtle touch.”
I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from bursting into laughter. Juno, subtle? She’s about as subtle as a sledgehammer to the face, though in rather a different manner to me. But I swallow the retort on my tongue. Pissing her off this early would make for an even longer lunch, and my appetite is already waning.
I love Juno, I really do. But we grew up in each other’s pockets, always competing for attention in the family, and we’re both very ambitious women. That makes for a little frenemy energy now and then. And this lunch was really asummonsfrom the Bianchi Boss, not a casual lunch-and-chat between cousins.
I must admit I’m a little intrigued to hear what she has to say.
But before we can really sink our claws in, the doors crash open again and a whirlwind of energy comes barreling inside in grease-stained overalls.
“Scusa per il ritardo, bella!” Caitlin O’Sullivan cries, her face flushed as she drops a smacking kiss on Juno’s porcelain cheek, heedless of the furrowed brows following her disheveled appearance from the lunchtime crowd. Her curly red hair is escaping its ponytail, but her blue eyes are bright with joy as she adds another kiss to Juno’s lips.
I hide a wistful smile behind my glass. While Juno grates on my every nerve sometimes, I’m glad for her that she’s found such a true love. I even envy it sometimes.
From time to time I wonder what it would be like to have that kind of relationship, but I’m not built for long-term monogamy. I play the field and sow my wild oats, and that’s the way I like it.
I catch the ghost of a smile playing on Juno’s lips, the frost in her eyes momentarily melting. Only Caitlin can shatter her Ice Queen facade so effortlessly.
Watching their easy intimacy twists something sharp and hungry in my chest. I wonder if I actuallycouldhave that someday. A partner who truly sees me, darkness and all.
And then I shake off the melancholy.
“Your Italian’s coming along,” I tell Caitlin with a grin. “Did we have a rough morning at the garage?”
Caitlin laughs, tucking a grease rag quickly deeper into her overall pocket at the frown from our waiter. “Wouldn’t want to get soft now, would I? Not in this family.”
Her playful tone belies the truth. As both daughter and wife to two powerful Mob Bosses, Caitlin understands better than most how ruthless our world can be beneath the glitz and glamor. For all its secrecy, gossip spreads like wildfire through our ranks, and the marital troubles between Juno and Caitlin last year became a juicy tidbit that everyone still whispers about when they think I can’t hear.
But one glare from me is enough to silence those wagging tongues. Family drama is best kept in the family. And I’m very happy to see them moving past all that now. If Juno hadn’t gotten her head screwed on straight, I would’ve had to knock some sense into her myself. I suppress a smirk at the thought. Then we’dbothend up bruised and bloody. I prefer my family drama without the literal punches these days.
The mental ones cut deep enough.
As if reading my thoughts, Juno’s eyes narrow ever so slightly. I widen my smile and turn my gaze to the waiter sweeping in with our drinks—a rich 2010 Brunello di Montalcino for me and Juno, and a bright Aperol spritz for Caitlin. The familiar scents relax me as we settle in, awaiting our dishes—creamy tortellini carbonara for me, gnocchi pomodoro for Juno, and a hearty lasagna bolognese for Caitlin, who is chattering about the Camaro engine she was rebooting this morning. Rebooting? Is that the word? I’m afraid I don’t pay all that much attention to Caitlin’s car talk, but she’s pretty enough just to watch as she talks.
Between bites, Juno turns the conversation little by little to business, delicately and euphemistically. I’m afraid I also tuneherout as she natters on about discretion and laying low.
Juno means well in her smothering, control-freak way, but her criticisms always grate on me. She forgets I’m not one of her underlings to command and scold as she pleases.
“The Ruby Realm could attract unwanted attention,” Juno says pointedly, dabbing tomato sauce from her lips with a damask napkin. “Too much noise risks exposure for all of us.”
I resist the acerbic reply simmering on my tongue, my exclusive women-only—and mostly lesbians-only—private members’ club being a particular thorn in my cousin’s side. My velvet-swathed refuge remains maddeningly beyond Juno’s manicured grasp, its secrets guarded by sisterhood and silence. Juno is a member, of course, but the Ruby ismybaby.
And I intend to keep it that way.
