Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80503 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80503 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
A boy is standing inside the front door when I reach the main landing. He’s looking out at the desert with a far-off frown. I watch him in surprise and it takes me a second to realize it’s Karah’s oldest, Emilio. God damn, he looks like a young man now. When did that happen? He glances back and seems startled to see me there. “Uncle Gavino?” he asks. “What are you doing here?”
“I live in this house,” I grunt at him. “Why are you up early, Emilio?”
He shrugs and runs a hand through his dark hair. He’s my oldest nephew, the first born of his generation, and I have a serious soft spot for the kid. He looks so much like his mother, Karah, when she was his age, though his face is sharper and leaner, and he’s got his father’s hair and eyes and size. He’s big already, tall and lanky, and I have a feeling he’s got a bit more growing to do.
“I run most mornings,” he says and I notice that he’s in jogging shorts and a tank top.
“You run?”
“I’m on the cross-country team at school.”
I laugh once. The idea of someone in our family on a cross-country team seems absurd, but that’s only because my siblings and I had such an unusual and awful childhood. It’s better this way.
“You any good?”
“I’m second best on my team.” He shrugs and looks outside again. “We’ve got a kid that might win state this year.”
“Good for you,” I say quietly and walk past him toward the kitchen. “Running’s hard. Not a lot of people have the discipline to do it for fun.”
He perks up. “We’re most sports’ punishment.”
“Builds character. Although you’re too skinny, kid.”
“Runners are skinny.”
I want to say, you’re not a runner, you’re a fighter and a Bruno, but I hold my tongue. I know Karah wouldn’t like it. “Be safe out there.”
He grins at me and heads out the front door.
I pause in the shadows of the hallway. Emilio’s seventeen and in high school, but I had no clue he was on the damn cross-country team. When did this happen? Last thing I remember, he was seven years old, just a little kid when my house was built and I started living out there full-time. Ten years is a while, especially at this age, and a sharp pang of guilt spikes down into my guts.
I’ve missed a lot living alone out in my house.
My family’s been moving on without me and I’ve been too stuck in the past. For the first time in a while, I feel like I’m unstuck. Thanks to Jeanie.
These kids are growing up and soon they’re going to start taking over the family. I need to learn to deal with them, how to live with them, and maybe help them when it’s time for them to take control.
Then again, maybe that won’t ever be an issue. If Casso turns the family legit, these kids won’t need to learn the skills we honed through blood and struggle. They’ll need educations, connections, different abilities. Safer things.
Hell, maybe I’ve been wrong this whole time and Casso’s right.
But it’s too late. The hard drives are with my tech guys for analysis, and whatever they say will determine what happens moving forward.
I head into the kitchen and chat with the chef while she makes me eggs. I grab coffee and accept the plate and sit in the dining room alone, eating and enjoying the quiet. I sit back in my chair and stare around the room, wondering how I found myself here. I’ve been avoiding the main house for so long it’s been like second nature, but now that I’m back, I can slip into my old routines.
It’s Jeanie. She’s giving me the confidence to return to my family. She’s giving me a lot—a new outlook, a new excitement, a new hunger for life. I want her every second she’s around, and I haven’t felt anything like this since Sonia, and even back then there was always a distance between the two of us.
Now I can understand why Sonia always seemed like she was holding back, like she was standing at a remove.
She was a liar. Everything was fake, from beginning to end.
With Jeanie, there’s no distance. I don’t feel that strange tension with her, only a constant longing. I want to crush the distance and leave it obliterated. I want only her, pure and simple.
I finish my eggs, sip my coffee, and I’m about to leave when Romano comes into the room, looking harried. His eyes are red and his hair’s messed up and he’s breathing like he ran back here from the driveway.
I lean back, surprised, and a bad feeling spikes into my guts. “What’s wrong?”
He slumps into the chair at the end of the table. “Haven’t slept all night,” he says and glares at me. “You woke me up with a job, remember?”