‘Dom!’ I shouted, casting a wary glance at Gino. He didn’t know about my cowardice at The Sicilian Kiss, but the way Dom was dangling it in front of him, he was about to. And that would be one more chink in the secret, and one more step towards my eviction. Or worse. ‘Seriously, shut up!’
Dom raised his palms to me. ‘Calm down, tetchy. I’m just kidding around.’
‘What’s going on down here?’ Felice descended the stairs, his loafers padding softly on the stone floors, his grin fixed perfectly in place. Even now he was back to his old impeccably-turned-out self, I would never forget the version of Felice that had cornered me in that alcove, the manic look in his eyes, the thirst in his voice when he spoke to Paulie about Angelo. I would never forget how deeply he despised his role in the family, or how little respect he had for Valentino. He was more dangerous to me now than ever, and no amount of forced pleasantries or blithe indifference on his part was going to change that. ‘A special delivery, and no one thought to call me?’
‘We were picking our favourites,’ said Gino, twirling his own choice in front of him. ‘Didn’t want to get stuck with any duds.’
Felice arched a brow. ‘A delivery this precious from New York is unlikely to have any duds, Giorgino, and if the Di Salvos heard you say as much, they’d have your tongue cut out before lunchtime.’
‘Calm down, Felice.’ Nic was examining a longer, thinner gun now, which had a little tripod stand.
Felice hunkered down and took a gun for himself. I didn’t fail to notice the look of disdain he offered to the one sitting in my lap. It was probably the one he wanted. I clutched it harder, indicating just how sure my choice now was.
Elena swept through the hall a moment later, her pixie-like nose upturned at our huddle. ‘What a mess you all make sitting there like vagabonds,’ she said, eyeing the weapons over Dom’s shoulders. ‘Can’t we act like adults and place these elsewhere?’ She frowned at me. ‘And shouldn’t you be in school, girl?’
‘Valentino wants her chaperoned to and from school,’ said Dom, without looking up at his mother. ‘I’ll get around to it once I’ve chosen my favourite.’
‘Boys and their silly toys.’ Elena rolled her eyes and sashayed off into the kitchen, her heels clacking on the ground as she went, her voice fading. ‘And the Lord gave me five of them. La vita sa essere terribilmente ingiusta …’
‘So she doesn’t want a gun, then,’ I surmised.
‘Mama doesn’t get her hands dirty if she can help it,’ Nic supplied. He was still examining his gun. His lips were puckered in concentration, his brows pulled together.
‘A lot of the girls don’t get their hands dirty,’ said Gino. ‘That’s what makes you so cool, Soph.’
Something fluttered inside me. Oh, God. Was I really this starved of praise and acceptance that this was making me smile? The answer: yes. ‘Thanks, Gino.’
‘Yeah, that’s what makes you different,’ leered Dom. ‘Your extreme readiness to shoot people.’
I balled my fists. He just couldn’t help himself.
Felice was staring at me. Before he could interrogate Dom over that stupid comment, Valentino arrived. The wheels of his chair were almost soundless on the smooth floor, but Luca was with him, and their conversation, low and in Italian, preceded them.
‘Good,’ said Valentino, eyeing the delivery. ‘So the exchange went well?’ he asked Nic.
Nic disengaged from the guns and puffed his chest up. ‘And we have the Di Salvos’ support in New York too.’
‘Well done.’
Nic nodded, pride straightening his spine. ‘No problem.’
I stole a glance at Luca. He was staring at the automatic machine gun in my lap. To say he was frowning would be a colossal understatement.
‘Shouldn’t you be at school?’ he asked me.
‘I’m just waiting for Dom,’ I said.
Dom was rotating two guns in either hand and humming under his breath. They looked exactly the same to me. ‘I’m nearly ready,’ he said, without looking up. ‘Just have to make one last decision … or can I just have both?’ He looked at Valentino hopefully.
‘Obviously not,’ said Valentino.
Luca muttered something to Valentino and then pulled his car keys from his pocket. ‘I’ll take you, Sophie,’ he said. ‘Come on.’
‘Don’t you want to pick your gun, Luca?’ said Nic. ‘Before all the good ones go.’
Luca was halfway to the door. He didn’t bother turning around to answer. ‘A gun is a gun, Nicoli, not a trophy. Just get them out of the way before the others come downstairs. I don’t want Sal and Aldo seeing them.’
Dom started laughing. ‘Geez, I can’t wait for Christmas so you can suck the joy out of that too.’
Luca raised two fingers over his head, and then disappeared into the driveway. I put my gun down and shrugged my bag on to follow him outside.
‘Good luck going to school under that black cloud,’ said Dom sarcastically. ‘At least we’ll all get a break from him.’
‘Grow up.’ Valentino slapped the back of Dom’s head. ‘Just because he doesn’t want to play with guns like they’re toys.’
‘Blatant favouritism,’ Dom muttered.
Nic caught me by my hand, tugging my attention back to him. ‘I’ll save this one for you. Jack won’t know what hit him, Soph.’ He smiled up at me.
I smiled back. ‘Thanks.’
His fingers were pressing into my palm, jolting warmth up my arm. ‘How high is that friend-zone fence now?’
Frustration careened over my gratitude. ‘One hundred feet high, and covered in barbed wire, Nic.’
Dom, who had clearly been listening in, snorted. ‘Keep climbing, bro, and die trying to get over it.’
Nic slammed the butt of his gun into Dom’s arm, and I left them behind me, bickering.
In the driveway, I slid into the front seat of the car and dropped my bag in front of me so I could put my seatbelt on. ‘Thanks for babysitting me,’ I said. ‘I think Dom is finally getting fed up of being my driver.’
Luca started the engine and reversed around the driveway in a wide arc, his hand slid across the back of my chair, his gaze over his shoulder. ‘I’m just sorry I interrupted such a precious bonding moment.’
‘With me and Nic, or me and my new gun?’ I asked the side of his face.
His laugh was short and mirthless. ‘Aren’t they one and the same now?’
I rolled my eyes. ‘Let’s not do this, Luca. We’re never going to agree about this, so why keep going round in circles?’
He wasn’t looking at me, and I wasn’t looking at him. ‘Sometimes I wonder if you make decisions just to piss me off.’
I glared at the road. ‘Sometimes I wonder if you give yourself too much credit in my decision-making.’
‘Do you have a death wish?’
‘I have a revenge wish.’
‘I have a problem with that.’
‘Then evict me.’
‘No.’
‘Then deal with it.’
He ground his fingers around the steering wheel. ‘And you wouldn’t consider taking a step back from the guns,’ he said, ‘and letting me handle it for you?’
‘What do you mean, handle it?’
‘Let me take care of your uncle and Donata.’
‘And what, I just stay at home, looking wistfully out the window as you go forth and massacre my family?’
‘I’d prefer it to the alternative.’
‘Well, that’s not your decision to make,’ I said, carefully. ‘We’re all in this together now, and I don’t plan on failing again when my time comes.’
He set his jaw, a muscle feathering below his cheekbone. He chewed on the silence, and I fell into it, preferring it over the constant need to convince him, to avoid being convinced by him.
We were pulling up outside Cedar Hill High before he spoke to me again. He shut the engine off and turned to face me. My heartbeat immediately kicked into high gear, but I knew
he wasn’t going to kiss me. That side of us was long gone. We were more like adversaries now, with a vague sprinkling of friendship every now and then, when we weren’t arguing.
I raised my eyebrows. ‘Yes?’
‘Sophie.’ His eyes were the purest blue in the morning sunlight, his lips lightly parted so that his breath warmed his words. ‘Can’t this just be enough for you?’
‘W-what?’ I stammered.
‘School,’ he said. ‘Your friends. Normality. Isn’t it enough?’
My face fell. ‘Oh,’ I said, trying to harness myself again. ‘School. Normality.’ I grabbed my school bag, and popped the door open before my embarrassment could swallow me whole. I hopped out and ducked my head inside, towards him, trying very hard not to look at his lips.
‘Look,’ I said. ‘If it makes you feel any better, I haven’t totally disengaged from my old life. I’m doing the most normal high school thing ever tomorrow night. I’m going to the masquerade dance.’
‘The what?’
‘The dance,’ I repeated. ‘You know, Millie’s dance?’ And then I realized I had never once mentioned Millie’s dance to him, because, why would I? We didn’t talk about the light-hearted stuff, the falsities of my second life. ‘Tomorrow,’ I clarified. ‘I’m going. More or less against my will, but Millie was very adamant from the start and I kind of owe her, y’know?’
He was staring at me. It was not in a sexy way.
‘It’s going to be horrible,’ I added, feeling like I needed to play it down, like the idea of me having fun while he was at home helping Valentino with assassination logistics was an unfair one. ‘But I’m going. So there. That’s something normal. Will that tide you over?’
‘This is obviously a joke,’ he said. ‘This is a joke, yes?’
‘What? No.’
His lips parted in surprise. Don’t look at his lips. ‘I don’t believe you.’
‘Why?’ I asked, a familiar flash of irritation taking hold of me. ‘Is the idea of me in a dress at a dance really so shocking to you?’
He tilted his head to one side. ‘You’re actually serious.’
‘No, duh,’ I snapped.
‘No,’ he said firmly. ‘No way.’
‘I wasn’t asking you,’ I pointed out.
‘Well, you’re going to listen to me.’
I grabbed the doorframe. ‘Exsqueeze me?’
He came closer, undaunted. ‘I said there’s no way you’re going out at night unattended to a dance while we’re in the middle of an active blood war.’
My fingers tightened on the doorframe. ‘Do you want me to do normal things or do you want me to shoot guns? Make up your damn mind, you yo-yo.’
He glared at me. ‘You’re not going to that dance while Donata has her soldati out looking for you. She’s put a bounty on all of our heads, and I guarantee you, as a former Marino, yours is the highest.’
If he was trying to scare me into submission, it was working, but I was definitely not going to let him see that. ‘I go to school, don’t I? You’ve always been so insistent about that.’
‘That’s different. It’s the middle of the day, full of witnesses, and we bring you here and pick you up.’
‘There’ll be witnesses at the dance,’ I pointed out. I never imagined I’d be fighting this hard to actually attend the stupid dance, but now I really wanted to go, just to prove to him he couldn’t control me. ‘And I’m going with Millie and Crispin, so it’s not like I’ll be on my own anyway.’
‘And what exactly is a Crispin?’ Luca sounded like he could taste the word in his mouth and didn’t like it one bit.
I rolled my eyes. ‘A Crispin is a person, Luca. He’s Millie’s boyfriend. And the dance is being supervised in the gym. It’s perfectly safe. It’s the same as going to school.’
‘No, it’s not.’
‘Yeah, well.’ I shrugged my bag on to my shoulder. ‘Whatever.’
‘You’re not going, Sophie. I’m serious.’
‘We’ll see.’ I shut the door and flounced up the steps, feeling his glare on the back of my neck.
My phone buzzed.
It’s not happening.
I rolled my eyes. It was so happening. Otherwise Donata Marino would have to get in line behind Millie for my head on a plate. There was no logic in Luca keeping me from the school dance if he was prepared to make me go to school every day. The two were basically the same thing, and it’s not like Donata had the timetable for Cedar Hill High’s social events. Still. Best not cause an all-out civil war with Luca over it. A well-placed emoji should smooth things over. A giggling monkey? No. Too frivolous. Dancing Señorita lady? A definite contender, but perhaps a bit too taunt-y. Something that says ‘I’m not going to listen to you in this instance, but let’s just move on and not be mad about it, OK?’
I don’t respect your authority, remember? ☺
I made my way along the deserted corridors. I was definitely late. Another ping back.
You are such a brat.
Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. I stalled outside my biology class and sent back one more text.
Try and stop me.
I shuffled inside, made my hasty apologies and slid into my seat, glancing surreptitiously at my phone one last time.
Watch me.
At lunchtime, Millie and I convened with sandwich wraps and smoothies outside on the bleachers. I had pushed the argument with Luca right to the back of my mind – into the filing cabinet with all the other ones.
‘Why do we have to do this here?’ I asked Millie, rubbing my arms through my coat. ‘I’m going to freeze.’
‘Well, at least don’t freeze with that frown on your face, cranky-pants. I don’t want anyone else to see these dresses. It would be a huge spoiler.’ She took a swig of her smoothie and nearly spat it out. ‘I hate kale so much. Why do I do this to myself?’
Mine was berry. And it was de-lic-ious. I gulped it down. ‘Because you’re trying to be healthy?’
‘It’s not worth drinking grass over. And my wrap is just feta and lettuce,’ she lamented.
‘At least it won’t get stuck in your braces,’ I pointed out. Millie had just gotten her braces off and we were taking every opportunity to point out how bling-tastic her teeth were now that they weren’t hidden. Millie was beautiful already, but her new smile was an explosion of loveliness. It suited her. Pearly white, straight teeth to go with her long dark hair, a smattering of freckles over porcelain skin, and those shiny blue eyes.
She gnashed her teeth at me, scrunching her nose at the same time. ‘At least I can now eat things in an orderly and timely fashion.’
‘And look amazing all the while,’ I said, ‘not that you weren’t a vision before.’
She slapped my arm playfully. ‘You flatterer, you.’
We sat down and she pulled out two floor-length dresses from her bag and laid them in front of us, side by side.
My eyes grew, and something hitched up in my chest.
Something small and slumbering awoke inside me. A new sensation – or at least one so long forgotten that it felt new. It was a feeling of anticipation … of wanting. I was used to frequent pinches, feelings of anxiety, of fear … but this, this was unexpected. I thought that excitable, girly, teenager part of me was dead and buried, but here was a sliver of it, getting geared up for the Masquerade Ball. Suddenly, I really really wanted to go to the dance.
‘Royal blue or emerald green?’ Millie asked. She was still fluffing them out, showing their shape.
‘They’re amazing.’ I fingered the delicate green material, lifting it up and letting it flow between my fingers. ‘Are you sure? Won’t your mom mind?’
‘No way,’ she said, grinning. ‘She’d give you the moon right now if she could. Pick whichever one you want. I’m wearing a black fishtail one so you can have either of these. They’re pretty tight, but you’re outrageously hot, so it’s fine.’
I slapped her arm playfully. ‘Now who’s the flatterer?
’ A smile caught in my cheeks. I stroked the material, loving the softness beneath my fingertips. And to think, just this morning I was as enthusiastic about the gun in my lap. What was wrong with me?
Which Sophie was I?
‘Hmmm.’ I lifted up both so I could see how they fell.
‘I think the blue one would bring out your eyes,’ Millie pointed out. I swished it around, admiring how the material tumbled like a waterfall. It was Grecian in style, with delicate straps that criss-crossed near the bodice. It was tight around the waist and flowed to the ground in tumbling waves.
‘The material slits halfway up the side so it swishes when you walk.’ Millie made a swish-swish sound and moved her hands in front of me in squiggling lines to demonstrate.
‘I do like to swish,’ I said.
‘Don’t we all?’ said Millie, wistfully. ‘Those Falcone boys are going to drool when they see you.’
All the little butterflies inside me seized up. ‘That reminds me,’ I said, leaving the dress down again, smoothing out the bodice with my fingers, like I was lovingly petting a dog. ‘Luca says I can’t go to the dance.’
‘Huh,’ said Millie, screwing up her nose. ‘I didn’t realize Luca Falcone was your evil stepmother.’
‘What?’ I feigned surprise. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Pretty sure,’ she said, stroking her chin. ‘So, what gives? Do I need to get you a pumpkin? Some helpful kitchen mice? A fairy godmother, perhaps?’
I was wondering how I could conjure a lie that would aptly cover up the fact that I was in the middle of a giant blood war with another Mafia family, reignited by the fact that they all thought I had just murdered a Marino soldato who I was also, conveniently, related to. ‘Luca’s just being protective.’
‘Buy him a kitten and let him protect that. He’s not your guardian.’
‘Yeah, I know,’ I said slowly. ‘I just don’t think he’s going to be pleased about me going. I’m not saying I’m not going to go, I’m just saying he’ll probably try and stop me, that’s all.’
‘Sophie.’ Millie levelled me with a dark look. ‘Luca Falcone does not want to get in the way of me and my dance. He’ll regret it.’
Mafiosa (Blood for Blood #3) Page 14