Bound By Blood Anthology

He nodded, then watched me for a little while. “Seeing you like this makes me happy.”

He bent down and kissed my forehead, then he walked out. I joined him in bed thirty minutes later. The moment I snuggled up beside him, he put away his phone where he’d undoubtedly been reading work emails. I yawned, exhausted.

Romero wrapped his arms around me.

“I always feel safe in your arms.”

He kissed the top of my head. “You are safe. If I could I’d even protect you in your nightmares.”

I looked up. “You do. Knowing you’re by my side does. I rarely have bad dreams and if I do, they have nothing to do with what happened in the past, only about the crime thrillers I sometimes read. You banished every bad memory.”

Romero tightened his hold on me. “I’ll make sure there are only good memories in our future.”

“And even if something bad happens, I know you’re there.”

“Every step of the way.”

I kissed him, then pressed my ear on his chest, listening to his calm heartbeat as I drifted off to sleep.CaraMy stomach was in knots when I knocked at the front door of my former home. I’d moved into Ryan’s place only two months ago but his apartment already felt more like a home than this place ever had. Talia opened the door and gave me a smile which soon turned into a frown. “What’s wrong? You look tense.”

She wasn’t the oblivious girl of the past. At only sixteen, too much had happened to her. If Dad were still alive and saw us now, he wouldn’t recognize us, not even Mom. But she was a good actress so maybe she’d succeed in making him believe a charade.

“Big news to share,” I said.

Talia’s eyes widened. “You’re going to marry.”

I wasn’t even wearing my ring yet. It was hidden in my purse for later. Puzzled, I asked, “How do you know?”

“I expected it any day now. You and Growl live together after all. It was only a matter of time.”

She was right. Living together in our world before marriage was frowned upon, but my life had gone off the right track a while ago, so I wasn’t as obsessed with fitting in anymore. There were more important things, which was why I had wanted to live together with Ryan before marriage. He would have married me months ago, but he’d respected my wish and waited with his official proposal until a week ago. Even though I knew he wanted to marry, his knee-fall and the beautiful ring came as a surprise.

Even if I’d already said yes and would marry him either way, I couldn’t deny that it was important for me to get my family’s approval, and Talia and Mom were pretty much the only close family I had anymore.

“Does Mom suspect something?”

I entered the apartment. Luca allowed Mom and Talia to live in it for free. It was a nice three-bedroom place in Brooklyn, newly renovated and completely furnished, but less than what we had been used to in Las Vegas. Mom was struggling with this fact. She couldn’t accept that the life before Dad’s murder was gone. I hoped one day she’d realize that it could have ended so much worse if Luca hadn’t taken us in and given us a home in the Famiglia. Even if some people looked down on us for our family history, they mostly kept their opinion to themselves because we were related to the Capo.

“You know how she is,” Talia said as she closed the door. “She prefers to ignore unpleasant truths.”

She acted and looked so grown up, I had trouble getting used to it.

I followed my sister into the dining room where Mom was setting the table. She looked up, stressed. “Dinner still takes a few minutes. Without staff, things just don’t work how I’m used to.”

I didn’t mention that we were lucky to have a home and Mom didn’t really have anything else to do at the moment. Doing housework and cooking should be doable. In the past, invitations to social events and gossip meetings with her so-called-friends had been her main occupation, but in New York most people still avoided us. The only people who invited us were Luca and Aria, and that was mostly Aria’s doing. Luca might have taken us in but he didn’t care much about us. Not that I blamed him. We didn’t know each other. He was a stranger for me as well.

I headed toward her and embraced her briefly. “No rush. We have all evening.”

She nodded but I could tell that the words didn’t really sink in.

“How can I help you?”

“You’re the guest. You shouldn’t have to work.”

I rolled my eyes. “Mom, I moved out only a few months ago. And we’re family. We don’t have to stick to social rules when we’re alone, don’t you think?”