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“Declan. He was Donovan’s—”
“I knew Declan very well.”
My brow furrows.
“You were friends with him?”
“I didn’t say that. I said I knew him very well. He ran things for a few months after Donovan died. He made the same mistake his cousin did. He went after a Kutsenko wife.”
I open my mouth, then snap it shut. I’m pretty sure this is one of those things Enzo won’t tell me more about than that. He continues talking, but I know that part of the conversation is over.
“Declan put Kelly in the hospital twice before she left him. Donovan was about fifteen years older than me, and Declan was just under ten years older. I’d known them nearly my entire life. I boxed against Declan a few times, but he didn’t fight fair. I made sure he knew our last match was my decision not his. That was around the time he put Kelly in the hospital a second time, and she left him.”
It shocks me to discover how much Enzo knows about that family, but it shouldn’t. Their lives are all embroiled in one another’s.
“Boss.”
Santo speaks up as we pull through a massive gate with a guard shack. I see the men with rifles. We’re at Salvatore and Sylvia’s.
“What the hell are they all doing here?”
Enzo mutters to himself, but I hear him. I look out the window and see a fleet of black SUVs parked in the driveway.
“Who?”
“Mrs. Russo, you’re about to have a reunion with the O’Rourkes. I’m sure you’ll recognize the Kutsenkos.”
I strain to see, but no one is outside besides the guards.
“How do you know it’s them?”
“There’s enough light for me to see the hub caps. Believe it or not, we all use the same body shop to soup up our vehicles. The only way to tell whose vehicle is whose in a hurry is by the hub caps. The guy makes them custom.”
In a hurry? Does he mean like during a shoot-out? Why would they all be leaving somewhere together in a hurry? It sounds like they can’t stand each other even more than I believed. Enzo’s tone is somewhere between mocking and humorous. Right now, I’m not quite sure which. I don’t press it as he helps me out of the third row after Mario helps my mom out of the second row. He entwines his fingers with mine as we walk to the front door. He doesn’t bother knocking, instead entering a code and pushing the door open. We hear voices, but they go silent the moment we step in.
Nicoletta shoves Carmine and Luca aside as she hurries toward us. Enzo lets go of me to hug his mom. He lifts her off her feet for a moment with his good arm, and I can tell he’s as relieved to make it home and hug her as she is to hug him. When he sets her down with a wince, she releases him immediately and engulfs me in a hug, too. I know my mom is watching us, but I lean into it. It’s comforting because it’s accepting. Massimo’s hugging Enzo, but he soon wraps me in a bear hug when Nicoletta steps away. When he lets go, I turn toward my parents.
“Mom, Dad, this is Nicoletta and Massimo, Enzo’s parents. Mr. and Mrs. Mancinelli, these are my parents, Henry and Maeve.”
Enzo’s mom steps forward to shake hands, but she looks at me and whispers.
“You should call us Lettie and Massi by now.”
As our parents greet each other, Enzo leans forward, so only I can hear.
“Only Papa, Auntie Lotta, and Uncle Dom ever called her that until Olivia married Luca. Pretty much everyone stopped calling my mom Auntie Lettie once we grew up. It’s Auntie Nicoletta now. She likes you more than she likes me.”
I feel his smile as his cheek brushes against mine. His hands rest on my waist just long enough to squeeze before he steps around me. Nicoletta — Lettie — makes the introductions, which is much easier for me since I still don’t know people very well. My stomach tightens when my parents meet Salvatore.
It’s clear my parents are sizing him up as much as he’s sizing up them. Sylvia intervenes and offers us something to eat and drink. Once she’s brought coffee and cookies out, she and Lettie disappear. I hear other women’s voices and realize the entire family gathered, but the women are out of sight since who knows what the hell is going to be said? Luca, Marco, Matteo, Carmine, and Gabriele say nothing after the introductions. All of them except Luca fade into the corners of the room, leaning against the walls. Are they guarding Salvatore and Luca? What do they think my parents are going to do?
It’s on to introductions with the O’Rourkes and Kutsenkos, who’d hung back while my parents met the Mancinellis. My parents know Laura’s in-laws from the wedding and a few other events, but they don’t know them well enough to remember who’s who. I haven’t seen the O’Rourkes in a long time, but I remember them.
It’s really more getting reacquainted than introductions, I suppose. When everyone takes a seat, it’s interesting to see who gets a chair, and who stands behind someone. It’s like a fucking mafia summit. No. The Mancinellis are the Mafia. The others are syndicates. I need to fucking remember that if I’m marrying a member of theCosa Nostra.
Salvatore, Massimo, and Luca sit. Domenico stands behind Massimo. Maks, Aleks, Niko, and Bogdan take up two loveseats with Pasha and Misha standing behind one while Sergei and Anton stand behind the other. Only Dillan and Finn sit, while Sean, Shane, Seamus, and Cormac all stand. Enzo and I also sit on a loveseat while my parents have a sofa to themselves. Salvatore and Sylvia’s living room truly is massive now that I see how many people can fit without it feeling crowded. This home is way more like a castle than a house.
I let my parents and Enzo do the talking as they tell everyone else what happened. This has been the longest fucking two days of my life. I ache everywhere now that I’m sitting down and know that I’m somewhere safe. I glance at a clock on the mantel and realize it’s already the middle of the morning. The crash was hours ago, but it may as well have been weeks with all that’s happened since.
