“Aria,” Luca said in a strained voice.
She greeted my mother before finally she faced her husband. “They are family. And they went through a lot, don’t you see? We must help them.”
“We don’t even know why they are here,” Matteo said snidely.
Aria walked up to her husband and looked up at him as she put a hand on his arm. “They are innocent women. They need our protection. Do you really believe they’re here to do us harm?”
“No,” Luca said with a sigh. “I don’t.” He looked at us and I had to force myself to hold his gaze. “You can stay. I hope you don’t make me regret it.”
* * *
They took us to a house in the Hamptons after some convincing arguments from Aria. I liked her already, even though I didn’t know her. I wondered how she could hold on to her compassionate attitude being married to the Capo of the Famiglia. Men who held that kind of position were usually content to break everyone around them, only because they could.
We were put into the guest wing of the large building, probably for safety measures but I didn’t care. We were one step closer to a better future. When Aria showed us to our rooms, I said, “Thank you for everything.”
She smiled. “You’re welcome.”
“I have one more request. Can you please make sure they don’t hurt my dogs?”
“Of course,” she said without hesitation. “I’ll make sure they’re safe.”
I wondered how she’d managed to make a man like Luca, a Capo, listen to her advice. I didn’t know him, but I knew what it took to rule in our world.
Talia crept into my room that night and snuggled up to me. “I was so scared, but now everything is going to be okay, right?” she whispered.
“Yes. We’ll start anew.” An image of Growl popped into my head but I tried to keep the sadness locked in. Soon these emotions would have to fade. I had my life ahead of me, and I had to make the best of it.
“Did you really love him?”
I held my breath, wondering what to tell her, then I chose the truth. “I did. I still do,” I admitted. I didn’t want to lie to Talia.
“I don’t understand it.” Her warm breath fanned over my throat as she rested her head on my shoulder.
“Me neither. I didn’t want it to happen.”
“You can’t change how you feel. It’s okay,” Talia said softly, hugging me tighter.
“Mother has been avoiding me. I think she can’t forgive me because of Growl.”
“She lost Father. She needs time.”
I hoped Talia was right. But even if not, there was nothing I could do against my feelings, much less to change the past.
Aria kept her promise. The next day Coco and Bandit arrived at the mansion. Luca refused to let them run around in the house though. I had to keep them on a leash outside of my room. Aria joined me as I showed them the garden. Both Coco and Bandit seemed to like her presence.
Luca trailed after us like a shadow. He still made me nervous, especially since he was holding a gun. “They were used in dog fights. You should be careful. Most of them are nasty beasts. If they act up, I’ll put them down.”
Aria sent him a glower but he ignored it.
“They are good. Better than most people,” I said sharply.
“That’s not difficult. Most people are assholes,” Matteo said with a shrug, as he headed in our direction. “As long as those beasts are here, I won’t allow Gianna to come visit.”
“As if you could tell Gianna what to do,” Aria teased, then turned to me. “Don’t listen to them,” she said apologetically. She crouched before Coco and Bandit. I knelt beside her and patted Coco’s head. After a brief moment of hesitation, Aria did the same.
“Aria,” Luca said in warning, pointing his gun straight at Coco’s head.
“See,” she said with a glance over her shoulder toward her husband. “They’re harmless.”
“They might act harmless now, but they’ve lived through a lot. Sometimes they lose control. I don’t want them near you.”
Aria sighed then whispered to me. “Keep them on the leash until he’s calmed down.”
I nodded. I had absolutely no intention of going against Luca’s orders.
I led the dogs into my room, unleashed them and stretched out on the bed. They inspected the room but didn’t take their eyes off me. I had the feeling that they were looking for Growl. They probably missed him too. Eventually I patted the empty half of the bed. “Come on up.”
Coco lifted her head, ears perked up.
I patted the bed more firmly and repeated my invitation. Coco was the first to trot toward the bed and join me with a hesitant jump. When I didn’t chide her, she curled up and pressed against my side. Bandit didn’t need another invitation. Soon he was snuggled up against Coco and me. I scratched them behind the ears, enjoying the feeling of their soft fur.
With their warm bodies giving me the comfort I needed so much, I relaxed against the pillows and extinguished the lights. I hadn’t slept well last night, I’d dreamed about Growl’s death, imagining one horrible ending after the other. I wished I knew exactly what had happened to him. The truth, no matter how hard, was always better than not knowing.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Cara
A couple of weeks later, my family and I were starting to settle in, and Talia was almost back to her usual self. We would be leaving the Hamptons in a couple of days to live in an apartment in New York—an apartment Luca owned. It didn’t sit well with me that he would take care of everything, but we didn’t have money and neither of us had ever worked. Not that we would ever be allowed to do so. We were women, and family of the Capo. The Famiglia money would provide for us as long as we lived.
I returned from my walk with Coco and Bandit on the vast premises of the Vitiello mansion and was on my way into the guest wing when words carried over to me from somewhere else in the house.
I knew that voice. Every night I heard it in my dreams, most of them nightmares. But not he was the cause of my fears, not anymore. So much had changed.
I dropped the leashes and began running toward that voice. I didn’t stop until I spotted him in the living room. I skidded to a stop, my heart beating in my throat.
And there he was dark and tall and bruised. One of his eyes was swollen shut and several cuts and more bruises littered his skin.
I couldn’t move. The dogs didn’t share my hesitation. They’d followed me, dragging their leashes behind themselves. They lurched forward, yapping and wagging their tails.
Luca, Romero and Matteo startled and pulled their guns, but Coco and Bandit didn’t attack. They squeezed against Growl’s legs, yowling and barking, and he reached down to pat their heads but his eyes went to me, piercing me to the very core.
Two weeks since we’d last seen each other. Two weeks of me thinking he had died. Where had he been? Why hadn’t he given me a sign that he was alive? I’d mourned his death, had made plans for a future without him, but now that he was here I wondered if we even had a future together. We’d never talked about it.