My confrontation with Nevio had only hardened my resolve to leave Las Vegas as soon as possible. I didn’t even care about missing my prom. I’d never been excited to go in the first place. Nobody had dared to ask me or Carlotta to the dance. A foolish part of me had waited for Nevio to do it. Now that dream had gone out the window. Even if he did ask, I’d say no and perhaps throw another heavy object at him. Hurting him had been oddly satisfying.
I searched for Mom and found her in her office, bent over some folders. She looked up when I stepped in. “Did you talk to Aria?”
I knew she said she’d do it, and Mom usually kept her word.
Mom gave me an amused look. “Of course I did. I was actually about to come to your room and talk to you about it before you barged in without knocking.”
“Sorry,” I said, walking over to Mom’s desk. “And? What did she say?”
Mom leaned back in her chair. A few strands had fallen from her ponytail and messily framed her freckled face. She must have run her fingers through it in agitation. I hoped that wasn’t about the call. “She was very positive about it. Aria thinks it would be great to become closer as a family, and she’d love to have a girl under her roof again. If this works out, I see plenty of shopping trips in your future.”
Neither Mom nor I were big shopping queens. We only went shopping when we needed something and were always quick about it. But I’d bear hours of shopping if this meant going to New York. “So she said yes?”
“Aria said yes.”
“And what do you say?” I asked as I perched on the edge of Mom’s desk with a small pleading smile.
“I’m still worried about why you want to go, but I also feel like you’re old enough to spread your wings a little. It’ll do you good to be away from Las Vegas, even if New York’s rules won’t allow you much freedom either.”
I wasn’t concerned about my level of freedom. I was used to being guarded at all times. “Thanks, Mom.”
Mom made a move with her hand that suggested I needed to slow down. “Aria still needs to talk to Luca about this. She was confident that he’d agree as you aren’t a safety concern even by his strict views.”
I huffed, but of course, he had a point. If one of the guys had asked to spend a few months in New York like Adamo had done many years ago, the answer would probably be no right now.
“And then there’s Dad,” Mom said, pursing her lips. She pushed off her chair and touched my shoulder. “I think we can agree that he’ll be the hardest nut to crack. But we should have a good chance if we both talk to him. You should talk to him first, and then I’ll join in and share my opinion.”
“What should I say?”
“Don’t say you want to spread your wings or enjoy freedom or anything of the sort. And don’t say anything about wanting to leave Vegas either. He’ll try to find the source for why you want to leave rather than let you go, and I assume that’s not something you want.”
“No,” I said quickly. Even if I’d threatened Nevio with telling Dad, that was the absolute last thing I would do.
“How about you talk to him now, and during dinner it’s my turn?”
I gave Mom a peck and walked out. Since Dad wasn’t away for work, that meant he was usually working out.
I found Dad downstairs in our gym, doing stretches. “Dad, I need to talk to you.”
Dad looked up from the mat, his eyes narrowing in instant concern. I had made sure to make my voice light and my face matter-of-fact, but Dad had a nerve-racking ability to read people. It made keeping secrets in this house an arduous task. “All right.” He pushed to his feet and walked over to the bench. “This sounds serious.”
It was, on many levels. I sank down beside him and gave him a hesitant smile. Seeing his worried expression, my hopes for an easy “yes” dwindled.
I cleared my throat. “I want to spend the summer in New York with Aunt Aria.”
His expression fell. “What happened?” The hard edge of his voice told me he was ready to go on a vendetta.
I crossed my legs casually and rolled my eyes. If I gave anything away, this would take a really bad turn. “Nothing. I just need a change of scenery.”
Dad squeezed my shoulder, his blue eyes practically X-raying me. “Aurora, I need to know if anything happened. Whenever you talked about this summer, you planned to spend it with Carlotta and babysit Roman for a couple of weeks. You never mentioned New York. What about the summer courses you need in preparation for your nursing program?”
My pulse sped up like it always did when I was put on the spot. I gave a shrug. “I changed my mind. I want to spend some time with the other part of our family. I’ll have to spend the rest of my life in Vegas, so I want to use this chance to see something new. I also want to do longer internships before I commit to the nursing program. It’s a responsible job, and I want to ensure I’m up for it before taking someone else’s spot in the program. I could intern with the Famiglia doc while living in New York.”
“You sound like living in Las Vegas is punishment.”
It had never felt like that, but now, with the prospect of having to be around Nevio and his future conquests, Las Vegas seemed like a punishment.
“What happened at the party you attended? Is your sudden change of mind regarding the summer related to your spontaneous wish to spend the night at Carlotta’s?”
Dad’s eyes seemed to dig into my brain, trying to extract the information he wanted. Even if I hated lying to him, this truth was too destructible to share. Dad would try to kill Nevio. They would both end up seriously injured, and his connection to the Falcone brothers would be irrevocably damaged. I wouldn’t be responsible for that.
“Dad,” I said with a hint of annoyance. “Have you ever considered that my asking you at the last minute is a tactic so you don’t overanalyze everything?”
Dad scowled. “I’m responsible for your safety, and I’m taking that job very seriously.”
“I know,” I said with a huff. “But with Greta in New York, I’m perfectly safe. I really missed my aunts and cousins during the war and want to spend more time with them. Don’t you miss them?”
Dad’s expression remained stoic. He didn’t like to talk about this. Maybe because he really missed them a lot. “I’ll have to talk to your mother first, but I have a feeling you already did, and you two are going to gang up on me.”
I made an innocent face. “You know Mom is really good at seeing the pros and cons of a situation. She’d never just side with me unless it was really the best option.”
Dad chuckled and tousled my hair as if I were a toddler. “Right. I won’t make a decision before I’ve talked to Luca and then Remo. You being in New York is a potential safety risk that needs to be discussed with the Capo.”
“His own daughter is over there. If she’s safe, I doubt he’ll deem the situation as too risky for me.”
I could tell that Dad seemed to think the same thing and didn’t really like it very much.
Nevio
I stared at the bandage around my wrist. The broken bone limited my range of motion and reminded me of my confrontation with Rory. Not that I needed one.
Ever since our conversation yesterday, my thoughts had revolved around her.
Hearing her recount of what had happened between us at the party left a foul taste in my mouth. I’d really tried to keep my distance from her in the last year. Of course it had to end like this. I was losing control and messing up worse than anticipated.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about what had happened. Was the tight sensation in my chest guilt? I wasn’t familiar enough with the emotion to be one hundred percent sure. What I definitely felt was regret. Though not exactly in the way that I should feel. I regretted that I couldn’t remember anything. Considering how miserable of a fuck I’d delivered, it was probably for the best, but I couldn’t help but want a repeat performance that I would remember and would serve as a better first time for her than the shit show at the party.
Fuck, these thoughts weren’t good. Not good in the slightest. The devil was on my shoulder, giving me ideas I shouldn’t entertain. Aurora wanted space, and I should give it to her. Letting her go to New York? I didn’t think I could accept that.
The door to the former ballet studio ripped open. Dad, followed by Nino, walked in, looking as if I was a traitor he had to deal with.
Nino narrowed his eyes at me as he closed the door.
I leaned back in the chair I’d been occupying for almost an hour while pondering my next move. “What’s wrong?”
Dad pulled up a chair in front of me. “Fabi informed me that Aurora has asked to spend the summer in New York, possibly even longer. My instincts tell me this has something to do with you. Tell me I’m wrong.”
I forced down the flood of emotion his words caused in me. Dad was watching me closely, fury swirling in his eyes. I’d thought Aurora’s mention of New York had been an empty threat to get my attention, but apparently, I was wrong.
“Are you listening to a fucking word I just said? Tell me I’m wrong, and this has nothing to do with you.”
“Why does it have to be me?”
“Because Alessio and Massimo have too much common sense to mess with Fabi’s daughter.”
I almost mentioned Massimo’s interest in Carlotta but gritted my teeth instead. I simply returned Dad’s gaze. Anything I said would only make the situation worse, and it was already fucking bad.
Dad grabbed my shirt and jerked me closer to him, causing my bandaged arm to bang against the armrest. I hissed through my teeth.
Nino cleared his throat. “His ulna is broken.”
“He can stand the pain,” Dad said. He was pissed, really pissed, and I doubted he really knew what had happened, or he would have broken my wrist and every finger too.
I grinned. “I get off on it like you, Dad.”
“Careful.”
“Did Aurora break your ulna?” Nino asked calmly as if the situation wasn’t about to detonate. Considering how pissed both Alessio and Massimo were, I was surprised they hadn’t run to their dad and snitched on me.
“You think she could?”
“If you mean mentally? Most people are capable of violence if given the right incentive, and you’re very adept at bringing people to the brink. From a physical standpoint, she obviously wouldn’t stand a chance against you, but in the right situation, Kiara could injure me.”
I didn’t like the comparison. It lacked a comparable basis, which was really not Nino’s style.
“You would die before you’d ever hurt Kiara.”
Nino motioned to my bandage. “How’s the arm?”
Dad, who’d been listening closely, tugged at my shirt, bringing my attention back to him. “You wouldn’t hurt a member of this family, and I count Fabiano’s family in it.”
Good thing that we weren’t related by blood…
I didn’t miss the slightest hint of uncertainty in his voice, and I had to admit it stung.
Though I had no reason to get my fucking boxers in a bunch. After all, I had hurt Aurora.
“Not on purpose,” I admitted, as honest as I rarely was.
Dad released me and jerked to his feet. He drew in a deep breath through his nose. His rage filled the room. Many people thought I was a carbon copy of Dad, and while physically that might be close to the truth, I was far more unhinged than he was.
“You’ll tell me what you did, or I swear on this family that I’ll get it out of you by whatever means necessary,” he snarled. My gaze dropped to the curved knife at his waist. I’d often wondered how its blade would feel, how I would measure up against Dad’s or Nino’s talent. How would it feel to bathe in my own blood for once?
“I always feared how my genes would come to play in a child, and you surpassed every fear I had.”
My heart briefly throbbed harder, but I simply shrugged in reaction to Dad’s words. I didn’t need reminding that I had inherited every ounce of darkness he harbored.
“Remo,” Nino said.
“You don’t have to side with me. His words don’t hurt me. Nothing does.”
“For you, I hope that one day you’ll see that’s not the case.” Dad turned to the door. “I can’t force the words out of you, but I can talk to Aurora. Her respect for me is too great. She’ll spill your secrets.”
I shoved to my feet. “You’ll stay the fuck away from her.”
“I’m Capo, and you’ll watch your mouth,” he growled.
I tried to stalk to Dad, ready for the next step. Nino gripped my injured arm tightly, and I ground to a halt with a snarl.
“You can spare Aurora a conversation if you tell your father what he wants to know.”
I ripped away from his hold. “It’s not in my nature to spare someone. Right, Dad?” I took a deep breath, my chest heaving. Silence filled the room. Dad and Nino simply looked at me. Fuck. I hated them sometimes. “I fucked Aurora at the last party, all right?”
Neither Nino nor Dad could hide their shock. I wasn’t sure why they were being preachy, especially Dad. He’d kidnapped Mom. My transgression was nowhere near as bad.
I could see a question in Dad’s eyes that stung worse than his knife ever could. I was a monster, and atrocities were dear to my heart, but when it came to Aurora, most of them weren’t on the menu. “I was stinking drunk. I could hardly walk, and I remember only bits and pieces from the night, but Aurora came to me. I didn’t force myself on her.”
“Then why the fuck is she fleeing Las Vegas as if the devil were after her?”
I hadn’t dwelled on the question so far. It was uncomfortable in a way I wasn’t familiar with. “She wanted something else from me, something I can’t give her or anyone.”
“You just wanted to fuck her, and she thought it was more.”
“I didn’t even realize it was her.” I didn’t mention the disgraceful way I ended the night. That was a part of my memories I hadn’t wanted back.
Dad’s lip curled. “This is unacceptable, even for you, son. Do you even realize how bad you fucked up this time?”
“If Fabiano finds out, things are going to get very unpleasant,” Nino said.
I smiled sardonically. That was the understatement of the year. “I guess I have this talent of treating the ladies right from you, Dad. Kidnapping Mom set a very good example for me.”
Dad curled his hands to fists. I could imagine how hard it was for him to control his rage right now. “I should send you away. Aurora shouldn’t have to run from your idiocy.”
“If you send me to New York, you can kiss peace goodbye.”
Dad shook his head, his body stiff with fury. “I don’t have the patience to deal with him today. For what he did, the only punishment that comes to mind…” He turned back to the door and kicked it in. It landed with an earsplitting bang on the small terrace, sending splinters flying everywhere. He stalked away without another word.
Nino released a small sigh.
A couple of minutes later, Kiara poked her head in, her brows drawn together in concern. “What’s the matter?”
“You don’t want to know, trust me,” I muttered.
“He’s right.”
Kiara glanced from Nino to me with pursed lips. “Things have been tense recently.”
“And they have the potential to get far worse, so please don’t try to find out more,” Nino said.
Kiara nodded slowly. But I knew her caring, motherly nature would send her to my room soon. The hopeless optimist in her still thought I needed mental support.
“I assume Dad won’t talk to Fabiano about this?” I asked when Kiara was gone.
Nino shook his head. “Keeping a secret of this proportion might look like betrayal to Fabiano, but telling him might have consequences we don’t even want to consider. We can only hope that Aurora won’t tell him and that the dust settles on the matter.”
I doubted Aurora would spill the beans. She wasn’t like that, even if she’d threatened me with telling her father.
“I assume you know to keep your distance from Aurora until further notice,” Nino said quietly.
“Sure.”
