Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 68628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
I want to leave so badly it hurts.
But that isn't the most important thing on my mind right now. It's just the easiest one to talk about.
The door opens and Sergio walks in.
Eden's face lights up. God, she loves him. I'm glad for her. She deserves that.
What would I do right now if Adriano walked in?
I realize with a bolt of shock…I miss him. And while I'm not totally at peace with everything, it's definitely the most I've ever enjoyed time with a man in my life.
Maybe that's why I want to leave? Because I fear that I might… Oh, fuck. Love him?
Oh. My. God. Love him. I love him. I love his intensity and energy, how he’s unafraid to stand up for what he believes in. I love how he’s courageous and willing to take risks, with a strong moral code that values loyalty and the people he loves.
The people he loves.
He accepts me for who I am and won’t settle for anything but the best for me. Protective to a fault. He’s determined to make a better world for me.
I love him.
I think I’m going to throw up.
"Hello everybody!" Flo sings as she saunters in with a huge tray of mini sandwiches.
Marialena follows with a bottle of wine in each hand, trailed by her brother, Mario, and Eden’s sister, Starla.
"I’ll only drink the sparkling water, I promise," Starla assures Eden. Smiling, she plunks herself down in an overstuffed chair in the corner of the room. Eden and Sergio didn’t want Starla anywhere near the club, but this area’s sectioned off for parties and social gatherings so they’ve compromised, and only when she’s with Timeo.
Timeo enters next, followed by a few more of Sergio's men.
I gave him a critical look. "How many people are coming?"
"I may have told people that Marialena was bringing Rossi family wine," Sergio says.
Mario holds up a tray in his hands. "And I brought cannoli."
The Rossi family wine and cannoli are two of the most popular things in the North End. They sell out on the weekends before lunchtime and take holiday orders months in advance.
Mario walks right over to me. "The newlywed first."
"I actually ate something called ‘cannoli pie’ the other day," Marialena says, handing out wineglasses.
"What the fuck is a cannoli pie?" Mario glares at her, as if she's just suggested that he become a Yankees fan instead of a Red Sox fan. That, my friends, would be the ultimate form of betrayal.
"Well, instead of pie crust, it was literally a cannoli shell. The filling is like the inside of a cannoli, and it’s dusted with powdered sugar. Believe me when I tell you, it was nothing like your cannoli."
Mario guffaws. "As if there was even a chance."
Marialena’s brothers own a variety of bakeries and restaurants in the North End. Ownership has changed hands several times over the years, until now; now they all own everything together. It’s messy sometimes, but it works for them.
I take one of the seats next to Starla; it's quieter in this corner of the room. After my revelation, I'm not feeling up to being my chipper self.
Anyway, I have a date with my husband tonight.
Starla gives me a shy smile. Eden is more reserved where Starla is a bit more outgoing… even rebellious, one might say.
"How's married life?" she says as her pretty eyes light up. When Starla was first brought here by Eden and Sergio, having been rescued from an extremely abusive situation, she was easily frightened and frail. Nonna’s good cooking and nurturing has done wonders for her.
"I never saw myself as a married woman," I say to her, not fully answering the question. "But I suppose if I were going to marry anyone, someone like Adriano would do."
She giggles and covers her mouth with her hand. "Oh my God, you're so bold," she says. "I love that about you!"
I shrug. People have used worse words than that to describe me.
"Married life is still new, too," I tell her. "Our honeymoon was cut short, and we've had to basically hide out here at the club."
"Why?"
"Your guess is as good as mine. Something about ‘danger.’” I make air quotes around the damn word I could happily go the rest of my life without hearing again. “I don't know the details."
I’m not sure how much she knows about why we got married. I would doubt that she knows the full truth, and I'm definitely not going to be the one that tells her that I witnessed Adriano murder someone.
"I see. Well, I'm not an expert on marriage, and I don’t know much about Adriano either, but… I don’t know.” Her eyes grow a little misty. “I kinda like the idea of being with someone who can protect me if I needed it, but who respects me enough to know I could handle myself, too. I like how this family loves—all of them, the Montavios and Rossis. There’s a sort of fearlessness about all of them, isn’t there? Loyalty, too.”