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The aroma filling the room makes my mouth water.
“Look who I found!” Guilia sings out before practically skipping over to her father’s chair and kissing his cheek. “Good morning, Papa.”
His expression softens when he gazes up at his daughter. “Good morning, Guilia.”
Right away, she asks, “Can I take Emilia shopping for new clothes? She can’t keep wearing mine. She deserves her own things.”
“Could you ever wait your turn?” Dante asks, and for once, he doesn’t seem angry or sullen. He is more like an exasperated older brother who loves his sister.
She blows out a dismissive snort. “Like you ever stop pestering Papa. I’d be twenty-five by the time I got a chance to speak to him.”
I can’t believe it, but I almost wish I could feel I was a part of this. A family I’ve detested for everything they symbolize, yet right now, they seem painfully normal. That is until Dante’s gaze hardens upon meeting mine.
It’s going to take a very long time for him to come around. Rocco, at least, offers a curt nod before turning back to his oldest child, but Dante holds up a hand to take a call coming through on his cell.
Isabella, Luca’s mother, waves us over with enthusiasm, and I realize we’ve never officially met. I can see where Guilia gets her dark beauty from. We’re on our way across the room with Luca leading the way when Dante releases a sharp grunt that plunges the room into silence.
“We’re sure? It’s confirmed?” The sound of his voice sends a chill down my spine, and I look at Luca, but he’s focused on his brother. Guilia’s wide-eyed stare is full of fear, while Isabella sits ramrod straight in her high-backed chair, her face still, masking the terror inside her bones.
Dante rises, ending the call, dropping the phone on the table. “Our terminals,” he grits out through clenched teeth as his face turns red. “Red Hook. Bayonne. Somebody planted explosives. A bunch of guys working down there were killed, and equipment was destroyed.”
Luca’s hand grips mine tighter than before, and his knuckles press into my skin. “Vitali was supposed to give his answer today, wasn’t he?” he asks his father in an ominously quiet voice. “On whether he’d accept your offer.”
Rocco nods slowly, locking eyes with his wife for a moment before sighing sorrowfully. “He’s just given us his answer. He wants to go to war.”
Isabella’s eyes shut tight, her face contorted with pain.
Luca’s eyes hit mine. It feels like a storm of emotions, a turbulent sea of sadness, anger, and fear that wraps its way around my heart.
I don’t have to ask what it means. I already know.
Luca and I only just found each other.
Now, a war might blow us apart.
To be continued….
