Twisted Bonds (The Camorra Chronicles 4)

“Or I could try to teach them a more interesting word …” Savio mused, exchanging a look with Adamo who shook his head with a small laugh.

“If one of my children says pussy, dick or cock as their first word, I’ll send you to Kansas City to help Stefano get his people under control, got it?”

“They could pick it up from someone else.”

Remo raised his eyebrows and Savio smirked.

“Kansas City, Savio.”

He sighed. “There’s really no fun to be had in this house anymore.”

CHAPTER 16

KIARA

“Have you heard?” I asked excitedly as I headed toward Leona. She was sitting on their terrace with a book on her lap. I loved that I could go over to visit her whenever I wanted now that the fence between the houses had been taken down. “Remo asked Serafina to marry him. Well, it wasn’t really a question, but with Remo that was to be expected.”

Leona looked up and nodded with a tight smile. “Yeah, Fabiano mentioned it. When are they going to marry?”

I sank down in the chair beside her, confused by her mood. “May, after the twins’ first birthday. I can’t wait to organize everything. It’ll be amazing. Will you help me?”

Leona nodded again. “Sure.” I caught the hint of uncertainty on her face and paused.

“Everything all right?”

“It’s nothing … I mean it’s ridiculous. I—” She shook her head. “I’m being stupid, ignore me.”

“No,” I said, leaning forward. “Is it because you want Fabiano to ask you to marry him?”

“No…I mean perhaps. We’ve been together for two years, which isn’t long considering normal standards but I know how things are in your world, even in the Camorra, which isn’t that conservative. And Fabiano’s been growing up in the Outfit and that is still very traditional, so I’m wondering what’s holding him back.”

“Maybe he’s just waiting for the right moment.”

Leona stared down at the bracelet adorning her wrist. “What if he realized that he wants an Italian woman? Fabiano is traditional in many aspects, so maybe he decided I wasn’t fit to become his wife, a Scuderi.”

“Now you are being ridiculous,” I scolded gently. “Fabiano loves you. It’s obvious from the way he looks at you. And he even got this mansion for you. Just give it time. He’ll ask you eventually.”

“He got this mansion because he wants to be close to his brothers-by-choice,” Leona said softly.

Brothers-by-choice, that was the perfect term for Fabiano and the Falcones. I gave Leona a reprimanding look. “And because he wants you two to have enough space for each other and a family.”

“You’re probably right, and I really should be focusing on my classes and not worry about getting married.”

I smiled.

Leona stared off into the distance, then smiled. “What about a bridal shower? A hen party where we, for once, get ridiculously drunk and have fun.”

I considered that. “I’ve never partied.”

Leona’s eyes grew wide. “We need to change that.”

“Have you been allowed to go party?”

Leona laughed. “Well, Fabiano was with me every time I went to a club. He’s a great dancer.”

“We could take Serafina to a club, dance, drink, have fun. It would only be us, because Serafina’s friends are in Minneapolis, so…” I stopped. I hadn’t really made friends in Las Vegas, not that I’d tried and I just hadn’t gone out to meet new people. Leona and I loved spending time together, and I had a feeling that soon Serafina would be an important part of our close-knit group.

“You think you can talk Nino and Remo into letting you go party?”

“I don’t think they’d mind, if you disregard the security aspect. That’ll be a problem. They’ll insist we have guards, and they don’t really trust many people around us.”

“It’s not a hen night if one of our men is there.”

“Yeah, maybe Savio and his friend Diego could guard us.”

“That could work. I’ll try to convince Fabiano, and you work your magic on Nino and Remo. Serafina can’t know beforehand!”

I sighed. Convincing both Remo and Nino wouldn’t be easy.

Leona and I talked about the latest series we watched until I finally left so Leona could get a bit more reading in and because I wanted to work on a new piano piece. I went to the bathroom because I had a slight headache. Opening the drawer for pills, I froze when I saw my stash of pregnancy tests. I quickly grabbed something for my headache. We had a bridal shower and a wedding to organize, there wasn’t time to obsess over my troubles. Nino was right, I needed to relax.

After I’d taken a pill, I settled at my piano and began to play, losing myself in the music like always.

A knock sounded, making me jump, and the melody died in a low moan. Adamo stood in front of the French window, a cigarette in his hand. I smiled and motioned for him to come in. After he took a last pull from his cigarette and stomped it out on the ground, he slid open the door and stepped inside.