“I wouldn’t expect anything like that from you.”
“Good.” His jaw works and he seems frustrated, with himself or with me, I’m not sure. “Go back to your room.”
“Am I being punished?”
“You’re being spared. You’ll know when you’re being punished.” He leans closer. His mouth quirks and I imagine his lips against my throat. “You might even like it.”
“Asshole.” I push past him and go inside.
He knows what I like, and it’s not him, not anything he has, anything he can give me. But this whole encounter did give me an idea: Elise was around ten years ago and she doesn’t seem to have any love for this family.
I wonder if she’d help a lost, trapped girl find her dead brother’s killer.
Chapter 5
Casso
“You can’t leave her up there forever.” Karah gives me a hard look as Antonio shuffles around at her feet, really undercutting her stern demeanor. The little guy burbles and grabs at her feet, trying to play. “Invite her down for dinner at least.”
“Why? So the family can grill her?”
“Pretty much.” Karah smiles sweetly and I’m intensely aware of Nico’s absence. It’s a rare thing to see Karah and Antonio around the house without their guardian angel, or their guardian monster, or their guardian eldritch horror, however you want to look at Nico—but he’s out on business and not available to hover menacingly.
“I’ll spare her and myself the discomfort.”
“Seriously, Casso. You can’t leave her in there forever. She’s got to start feeling like she’s a part of the family, and the longer you wait, the harder it’ll be. Rib off the bandage and get it over with.” Karah scoops up Antonio, kisses him on the cheek, and passes him off to one of the several nannies that are on call day and night. Must be nice to have enough money to employ an entire hospital wing filled with parenting help, though I have to admit Karah rarely utilizes them. She stubbornly thinks that raising her own child is her responsibility. How provincial. Parents need help sometimes and there’s no shame in that. But whatever, I don’t know a damn thing about children.
“I was hoping we could skip this phase and go right to her living most of the time in Tuscany and avoiding everyone as much as she can.”
“You really want a relationship like Elise and Papa? That sounds so depressing. You could have something like me and Nico.”
I give her a hard look. “I’d love to have something like you and Nico, but instead I’m stuck with Olivia. I’ll take what I can get. And you know flaunting your happiness isn’t the most attractive trait, right?”
Karah shakes her head. My sister can be frustratingly pushy sometimes.
“I’m inviting her if you won’t. Everyone except Nico will be there and I want her to feel welcome.”
“But she’s not.”
“Casso.” She throws her hands in the air. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
I smile at Karah and walk to the drink cart nonchalantly. I pour a whiskey, take a sip, and run a hand through my hair, all the while stalling and pissing her off even more. I know this is childish, but we all revert to our old childhood ways when we’re around family, and it’s hard to act like the Don when my sister is pissing me off. She’s about to come over here and kick me in the crotch when I finally speak.
“You don’t know the history between her and me.” An extremely lame thing to say, I’ll admit. But true.
“That’s not an excuse.” She’s exasperated and not trying to hide it as she paces back and forth. “I recall feeling like I was being sold away like cattle not too long ago, and even worse, I remember what it’s like to be married to a man I thought I hated.”
“How’d that turn out?”
“Better than how this is going to if you don’t knock it off.” She sighs and looks at the ceiling. “Just behave, okay?”
“Famous last words.”
But I do my best. Karah storms off to fetch Olivia and I join the others in the dining room. We do family dinner once per week and that’s more than enough, but it’s a good thing even if we all pretend like it’s such a hassle. The Bruno Famiglia has been through a lot lately, and we are only as strong as the bonds that tie us together. Family is important for everyone, but double for a family that’s so deeply intertwined in business, death, politics, money. If we falter, everyone suffers, and I don’t want this family to break apart, not while I’m at the helm.
I feel the edges fraying all around me. Karah’s constantly stressed from being a new parent and from being the wife of a dangerous mobster. Nico’s terrified for his wife and child and afraid his job will hurt them one day. Fynn’s a silent, brooding mess—more than usual, I’m not sure what’s up with that—and Gavino’s normal massive smiles are fewer and further between. My brothers spend more time at the bowling alley playing games and drinking at the bar than they do on the street checking in our businesses, and that’s no good.