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She isn’t used to making decisions as fast as I am. She’s incredibly intelligent, and I don’t doubt her ability to observe, assess, and decide quickly. But I make life altering, life or death decisions that can’t be mistakes all the time. I’ve had days to consider Sinead, and that’s why I know what I want. A week is a luxury. I’ve gotten good at this, and that’s why I’m still alive when guys I grew up with aren’t. I can’t expect that from her. Weeks, months, years are more reasonable.
“Gabriele?”
“Yes,piccolina?”
“Are we there yet?”
She sits up and pushes her hair back.
“We’re three blocks away.”
“I fell asleep fast.”
“Pretty much as soon as the car pulled out.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”
“I didn’t mind,piccolina.”
Well, that’s not putting any distance between us. That’s not slowing things down for her to catch up. She nods as she shifts to look out the window as we pull up to a gated property within a gated community. I feel her stiffen as she sees the man in the little guard hut. He’s in all black with night-vision goggles on. He’s got his rifle slung across his front, hand near the trigger. She sweeps her eyes over to my window and sees a couple men on patrol.
“This is like an embassy or a Miami cocaine dealer’s house in an 80s movie.”
I’m not sure she realizes she said that out loud. It was more of a mutter, but I heard her. She isn’t wrong. Auntie Paola’s security is top-notch, especially since she lives the farthest out. Everyone else lives in Forest Hills. Long story short, Auntie Paola’s and Uncle Cesare’s fathers forced them to get married when Auntie Paola got pregnant at nineteen.
Our last don was Salvatore, Massimo, and Paola’s father. He was a dick. He bought the house for them. Not as a wedding or baby shower gift. It was his way of keeping Uncle Cesare out of family business. Carmine's parents never intended to get serious, and were like oil and water living together. Uncle Cesare's family was the one the Mancinellis dethroned. Bad blood. Lots and lots of bad blood spilled back in the day. Even though Cesare doesn’t live there anymore, she’s kept the house out of nostalgia after raising Carmine there.
Right now, it’s a blessing and a curse. It’s far away from Sinead’s place and tucked away where most people wouldn’t think to look. But that also means we’re isolated, our guard limited to just the men on duty right now. It takes a weight off my shoulders and settles it right in my gut. I don’t want my second mom or Sinead to come to harm. I call her auntie because so does everyone but Carmine. But I’ve called her mom plenty of times, and she loves it. I do too. I may be thirty-one, but I miss my parents. It’s nice having her around.
We pull into a garage, and I put my hand on Sinead’s, stopping her as she reaches for the door handle.
“Wait until the garage door closes, and the engine is off. The driver will turn it off the moment the door hits the ground, but you never get out until he does.”
“In case he needs to back out.”
“Yes. Once you’re inside one of our garages, you can get out on your own. Or the driver can come around if you’d feel better having him there.”
“I can do it. It seems pretentious to have someone open my car door inside a house garage.”
“I don’t care how it looks to anyone. What I care about is you feeling safe and being safe.”
Her shoulders relax for the first time since we arrived. My hand still covers hers. She turns hers over and squeezes it before letting go. She unbuckles her belt and reaches for the door again. I walk around to her side of the car and lead her to the door into the house. It pings softly, letting me know Paola set the alarm and is in bed. I turn it off and point to the stairs. When we get to the second-floor landing, I stop us.
“If you need anything, like a snack, wake me. The alarm has motion detectors inside the house and outside and on all the doors and windows. You’ll set it off if you walk past here.”
I point to a little object sticking out of the wall. Then I point to a matching one at the bottom of the steps.
“Will I set them off coming out of the bedroom? What if I need to go to the bathroom?”
“All the guestrooms have en suites. The first two rooms are mine on the right and Carmine’s on the left. Then there’s a laundry dumbwaiter on my side and a linen closet on Carmine’s. The next three rooms are guest bedrooms. The one at the very end on the left is Cesare’s if he crashes here.”
She just nods. She knows: it’s complicated. I should have that shit tattooed across my face. She whirls around when she hears someone open the garage door into the house. It’s only Pauly bringing in her stuff. I didn’t even think about her bags.
“I’ll get those. Go check out your room and see if there’s anything you need.”
I head back downstairs as she moves down the hallway. Just as I get back up to the landing, my phone pings in my pocket.
Carmine
