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“Cool,” Dante says.
But Aurora isn’t done yet. She continues to rummage through her boot, this time pulling out a smaller knife. Then she sets that foot down and lifts the other one onto the chair, drawing out a larger knife and two throwing stars.
“Aurora, why the fuck do you have throwing stars?” Dad asks her.
“So all that other shit’s fine, but it’s the stars that have you concerned?” I question him.
“Enzo gave them to me.” Aurora shrugs.
“Enzo, stop enabling your sister,” Mom tells him.
Aurora drops her foot to the floor, reaches behind her back, and removes a stun gun from God only knows where—I gave her that one.Just when I think she’s finished, she slips a hand under the neckline of her shirt and removes a black leather necklace with the smallest knife I’ve ever seen dangling down the center. She continues to fish inside her shirt before pulling out a plastic bag with two pills inside.
“Whoa, what the fuck are those?” I ask, jumping up and swiping the bag from her hands. I swear to God if my sister is doing drugs, I’m going to find the fucker who gave this shit to her and remove his fucking limbs one by one.
“Cyanide,” Aurora says.
Dad groans while rubbing at his forehead. “Why on earth do you have cyanide, Aurora?” he asks, sounding exasperated with her.
My sister shrugs. “In case I get taken in by the Feds or, you know, the enemy,” she tells him.
Mom gasps, and Dad’s eyes widen. “If you get taken in by the Feds, you fucking call me or Zia Liv. You do not fucking swallow cyanide!” he yells. “And if you ever find yourself facing off with the enemy, you fucking hold on until we get there.”
“Please, anyone who takes her will hand her back within minutes,” Alessandro grumbles.
“Right. I doubt they’d even get five minutes down the road before they realized their mistake,” Liliana agrees with her brother.
“Don’t worry, Dad. The pills aren’t for me. They’re forthem, to slip into their coffee or something when they’re not looking.” Aurora smiles, then adds, “You know, if you all would just let me have a gun, I wouldn’t need any of this.” She gestures to the small arsenal on the table.
“You’re not getting a gun, and all of that, I’m confiscating,” Mom tells her before pointing to me and my brother. “And, you two, stop supplying your sister with weapons.”
“She needs to be able to defend herself,” I say.
Mom glares at me, and I know I’ll be hearing about this later. “I’m not discussing this right now, Lorenzo. We have guests. Now, if we can put all this away and eat lunch, that’d be great.” She sighs.
“I agree.” My grandfather waves his hand and then Antonio comes and picks up the now-overflowing basket of weapons. “Let’s eat.”
“Lola and James will be here tomorrow, and then Lilah is coming on Friday. Which means you all need to tone down your bullshit when they arrive,” Neo says, gesturing to the youngest generation.
Lola is my dad’s aunt. Her husband, James, is a doctor. They live outside of the mafia limelight. So does Lilah, who’s my Zia Maddie’s sister. She married a doctor as well and moved to a small country town in the south.
Everyone starts piling their plates with food. Aurora snickers when Zio Theo reaches for the steak. He looks at her and then puts it back down. “I think she’s ruined steak for me,” he groans.
“What’d you do?” I look to Aurora, who is seated across from me.
“Nothing. I just threatened to spit on his steak because he said you, me, and Enzo would eat all the food,” she says. “I didn’t actually do it.”
I try to hide my laughter and am unsuccessful. “Just eat the steak, Zio Theo. She hasn’t touched it,” I tell him.
“I think I’m gonna stick to veggies today. Lily says it’s the best diet.” Zio Theo sighs. His cousin Lily is the only vegan at the table.
“It is the best,” Lily confirms.
I glance around at my crazy-ass family, and then at Kyla. I know I’ve told her I’ll move to Melbourne, but can I really leave everyone else behind?
Kyla reaches for my hand under the table, and my answer is immediately yes. I can leave for her. I’d do anything for her. I’d miss my family like hell, but for her, I would do it.
I let go of Kyla’s hand and stand from my seat. “I have something to say.” I look at everyone until my gaze lands on Kyla’s dad, who is staring at me with the blankest expression on his face. Completely devoid of emotion. “I asked Kyla to marry me, and she said yes,” I announce quickly, not taking my eyes off Dominic McKinley.
