by Soraya Naomi
“Hey.” Rosalia smiles sincerely and wraps her arms around me too.
Then I’m introduced to Alessa’s sister, two male cousins, and two other women whom I don’t remember how I’m related to, and I’m informed this is just a small part of the family.
Completely overawed, I’m escorted to the dining room and see a beautifully set table, which is filled with steaming dishes of food and dinnerware, glassware, napkins, and floral arrangements that are all color coordinated.
As I sit down next to Fallon, I ask, “Where are Luca and—”
But right then, Luca and Adriano come walking in, and Alessa says cheerily, “My boys. These two were my best boys in the bakery when they were seventeen.” She hugs them both.
Without a glance in my direction, Adriano starts to make his greetings around the table.
Luca first comes over to Fallon. She looks up as he cradles the back of her head and kisses her full on the lips. Then he greets the rest.
As Adriano shifts to me, I rise and clasp his waist. He takes a deep breath and barely winds one arm across my middle.
“Hey,” I whisper into his ear, and he pulls away with a formal nod to sit straight across from me.
Lastly, Salvatore and his wife, Julia, join us.
From the head of the table to my left, James proposes a toast with a glass of red. “Welcome, Camilla, to our – your – home. I hope you’ll feel at home here and that we can all get a chance to get to know you better.”
“Thank you.” I hold up my wine glass.
“Salute,” they all cheer, and James adds, “Ora andiamo a mangiare.” Now let’s eat.
Dinner is a typical, loud Italian affair. I’m bombarded with questions from Alessa and Rosalia. And Fallon intervenes once in a while, noticing how frazzled I am.
As the night wears on, my mood hardly improves. Adriano, who’s avoiding my gaze while I’m aware of his every move, is starting to unbalance me. And one of the women, whose name I’ve forgotten, evidently has a crush on Adriano, talking a little too closely to his face, and he’s laughing at her jokes.
Fallon leans toward me, sipping her water. “She’s always after him.”
“Does he like her?”
“I don’t think so. This is the most he’s ever said to her.” The corner of her lip curls up.
She knows exactly what I wanted to know.
Adriano meets my eyes as the woman murmurs something to him.
I hold his gaze now that I’ve finally captured it and faintly tilt my head.
A smirk flashes across his face; is he challenging me? I’m unsure what that smirk stands for. There’s an underlying message, probably fueled by his warranted anger over Damian. A part of me doesn’t want to let him drag me into his game. He’s too untamed and wild. Yet that single thought is always overridden the moment we lay eyes on each other.
The woman pulls on his arm, making him turn his head to her, and they continue their conversation.
“Who’s up for dessert?” Alessa announces.
A loud cheer explodes. I guess this family loves their dessert.
“We have the most delicious Italian ice cream, Camilla.”
I’ve eaten so much pasta and meat already. “No, thank you. I’m stuffed.”
“Just a tiny scoop. It’s homemade,” she adds as if that would convince me.
Not wanting to be rude, I relent.
She ticks off fingers when listing the flavors. “What flavor? Vanilla, dark chocolate, melon, passion fruit?”
I choose, “Melon.”
“Adriano, flavor?” Alessa asks him.
His glance skits by me as he answers, “Vanilla.” And he leans back, draping his arm on the woman’s chair, locking eyes with me. “It used to be my favorite,” he states in a low voice for me to hear while Alessa’s already taking orders from the rest.
Used to be? He’s still really upset.
I don’t let him goad me and don’t shy away from his scorching glare, but Fallon pinches my thigh.
“Stop it. Don’t let him taunt you.” She scowls at Adriano, who grins back wickedly, seemingly amused, but I can see through that first layer. His aura is absolutely red with hostility.
In spite of Adriano’s attitude, I attempt to act friendly during the rest of the dinner since everyone’s going above and beyond to make me feel at ease.
James’s tone is always indulgent yet controlled, but less formal when he’s around Alessa, and I can tell by the way he looks at her that he adores her.
Then I observe a similar look on Luca’s face. And that feeling of loneliness still lingers, even while I’m surrounded by countless people. I think the past day is just catching up with me, and I’m overcome by my emotions. I swallow back building tears.
When I peek around uncertainly to make sure no one sees my nervousness, Adriano’s scrutinizing me with a wrinkle between his brows.
Putting her hand on my arm, Fallon comments, “Are you okay?”
“I’m just tired. I want to go but don’t want to be rude,” I confess.
“It’s not rude. Are you going to stay with Luca and me then?”
I nod.
“Do you want me to talk to Alessa and explain we’re going?” she offers.
“No, I’ll do it. Thanks.” My chair scrapes on the tiles when I stand, and Adriano watches me closely, but now I ignore him. I’m done with this day.
I haunch down beside Alessa. “Dinner was great, but I’m pretty tired and, honestly, a little overwhelmed, so we’re heading home.”
Apprehension flickers over her features, and she slides her stool back. “Of course; I understand, sweetheart. I hope it wasn’t too much with all these people?”
“No, not at all,” I lie just to be nice.
James mentions, “I have your phone, Camilla. Let me get it for you.”
I wave goodbye and flee the dining room right after James. Footsteps sound behind me, and I spin around to be met with Adriano’s commanding persona.
“Are you staying with Luca?”
Why is he asking? He must know.
When he’s ready to talk, we’ll talk, so I stay quiet.
James returns with a smartphone for me. “Our numbers are in there, and we have yours.”
“Thank you.” I stash it in my purse and hesitate to voice my question. “Have you given any thought to helping Santino?”
“Yes. We’ll talk it over tomorrow. No business in this house,” he utters as Alessa comes to me with a plastic bag hanging in her grasp.
“Here.” She places the bag into my hand. “Some snacks to go.”
“Uhm, thanks.”
“Let’s go,” Fallon says, and we get into the car with David while Luca follows us in his vehicle.
***
I lie by the window overlooking the city lights in Fallon’s immaculate white library, the bookshelves full and climbing the walls. After we arrived, Fallon picked up on the fact that I needed some time, so they’re in the living room, and this is my room for the time being. The bench also doubles as a guest bed, and the mattress is ideally soft.
The door handle is pushed down, and of course, Adriano’s here. I felt he’d come. I knew he’d come. The man that has a hold on my heart and will never let go. His dark strands of hair are even more disheveled than usual, a sure sign that he’s been running his hands through it in his troubled state. He looks like he needs to talk more than I do.
I sit up as he shuts the door behind him.
When he advances closer with an unreadable expression, I stand up to prevent him from towering over me. Adriano’s presence engulfs the library.
He touches my short hair. “You cut it.”
“What do you want?” I’m struggling not to reach out, holding my arms neatly tucked beside me.
His knuckle strokes down my cheek, and the will to fight deserts me. But then he folds his fingers around my throat – something I’ve seen him do to others in anger. My eyes battle with his as we stand an inch apart, him ju
st a tad taller than I am.
I gasp when he tightens his hold and tilts his head, his dilated pupils huge and alarming. “Why are you such a tease? Are you a slut? While you always called me a man-whore.” A disdainful smile plays on his lips.
I shove him away. “If you want to talk like adults, then talk, but don’t do this.”
“Did you seduce Santino?” he spits with venom.
“Yes.”
“Were you lovers?”
“No.”
“Did you sleep with Damian?”
I let out a sigh. “Adriano—”
“Did. You. Sleep. With. Damian?” he repeats in a gravelly low tone and crowds me again.
Keeping my shoulders straight, I answer truthfully, “Yes.”
“When?”
“Days before I helped Fallon escape the headquarters, when you were pulling away.”
“Don’t you dare blame me,” he warns, his breath blowing across my cheek.
“I’m not. I was hurt and drunk and stupid. But we weren’t anything. You told me that you wouldn’t bring me into your world. And as if you didn’t sleep around,” I fire back, baited by him.
“And why weren’t we anything? That wasn’t only my doing. We both never defined it, but you betrayed me,” he says in an agonized tone that shatters my soul into tiny splinters. “And I never fucked anyone else when I was intimate with you! You just assumed I did!”
I’m so confused and stunned. “I’m sorry. It meant nothing. Damian means nothing to me. You and I haven’t seen each other in nine months, and this is what you want to argue about?”
The muscles in his dress shirt ripple from his confined anger. “Yes! Because I just found out about Damian yesterday. About Santino and you today. You’re not at all the woman I thought you were. Months of distress and searching. How do you think it was for me to find that out? To know that you were out there.” He waves to the window irately. “Alone!” Adriano then grips my shoulders, lifting me onto my toes. “I’ve been going crazy with worry about you, and now that you’re here, I want to throttle you.”
“I’m sorry,” I repeat and add, whisper soft, “I missed you.”
But his glower doesn’t falter. “Why are you so adamant about helping Santino?”
“Because he helped me. Without him, I’d still be stuck down there,” I defend and struggle in his hold.
“No, you’re wrong. Without me, you’d still be down there. You were stupid enough to go back!” He reminds me of the correct turn of events and releases me. “Is there anything sexual between you and him?”
Perhaps there was for Santino, but not on my side. And a lot of memories are blurred to me. My hesitation rubs salt in his wounds.
“Answer me!” he barks.
“No.”
His eyes turn to slits, and this man before me is Capo Adriano. No trace of the man that used to make love to me, that entertained me with his comical side.
“You’re not telling the entire story,” he accuses, seeing straight through my lies.
I still can’t risk them not helping Santino. The only thing I can’t expose is how he drugged me in the first place and dragged me down to that underground club.
Adriano’s anger prevents him from being rational. His gaze drops to my lips for a second.
I want his arms around me, consoling me like he used to, telling me without words that life will always work out in the end. I take this opportunity and brush my lips against his.
We stand in the middle of the library, lips touching, but the electrical current that fires through him is clearly painful, because his rigid body doesn’t relax. My hand comes up to rest on his unshaven jaw, and his eyelids close automatically.
But then he curls his fingers tightly around my wrist and pushes me back. “I can’t do this.”
Clamping down the sting of his rejection, I resolve to give him more time. At least we’ve started a dialogue.
“Where do we go from here?” I suppress impending tears.
He wrings both hands in his hair, messing it up further. “You need to focus on rebuilding your life. Find your place within your family.”
“Does that family include you?”
“No. It can’t be how it was between us anymore.”
“I don’t want that either.” I want more.
“Cam, focus on yourself, on your future,” he insists in a gentler voice.
I frown because he’s pushing me away, yet again, after I’ve only been back in his life for one day. The will to fight comes barreling back.
“Maybe you should take some time to think about this”—I point to him, then to my chest—“before you say more things you’ll regret.”
Frustration reflects behind his hardened exterior; he hates that I can also see through him.
I don’t even get the chance to relay my feelings about all the changes in my life before he twists away and disappears without a word, leaving me staring after him.
Sitting down on the windowsill, I’m confused at what just happened. I never realized it bothered him so deeply that I called him a man-whore. Everyone did that. He was one.
Fallon enters the library. “Are you okay?”
Am I?
Despite Adriano’s refusal, I’m in a much better place with better prospects than yesterday, and I cling to that. “Yes.”
She sits down next to me. “I heard him yelling.”
“Is he gone?”
She shakes her head with a dejected smile. “He and Luca are in the kitchen, arguing.”
“Adriano will come to his senses.” I have to believe that. Eventually, he’ll be drawn to me – I hope.
“He will,” she agrees like a good friend.
And we sit in silence, watching a bright star fall from the sky.
CHAPTER 18
Adriano
Cam’s nearness is always disordering my state. During dinner, I could sense her jealousy while I talked to another woman. Making it seem like I’m ignoring her appears to be easy, but inside, a war is raging. The attraction cooking between us is like a flame waiting to ignite.
Luca stops me by my arm as I barge by him toward the elevator doors.
Fallon’s standing next to him with a mix of a scowl and compassion.
“As I’m sure you heard, that went well,” I throw to them sarcastically.
Of course they heard me shouting. I slam both hands down on the granite top kitchen island and drop my head. Cam looks just like the woman I met two years ago, with short hair that exposes her long, elegant neck. Her seductive exterior is sidetracking me, but I did get my answers.
“She did sleep with Damian. She didn’t sleep with Santino, but she won’t tell the entire story – I think he might’ve also drugged her, but she’s afraid to say it.”
“Makes sense,” Luca muses. “But that doesn’t excuse your unwillingness to regain your composure.”
“It’s not unwillingness,” I dispute. “It’s impossible when it comes to her.”
“I’m going to check on Cam,” Fallon comments and slips down the hall quietly.
“This is dangerous territory, Adriano. Maybe you should keep your distance from Cam – for now,” he adds.
He’s right. If I can’t control myself, I’d better stay away. My mind knows it’s the better option, but my body wants her with a ferocity that tears me apart.
“Cam has us now: a family. Take a step back. You don’t need to hover around her anymore. I’ll protect her. James will protect her. The dynamic of your relationship has changed, Adriano,” Luca says, nailing my emotions perfectly. “Accept that. If you’re not willing to take the risk and go against your Capo crimine’s order, then you need to move on. This isn’t healthy for either of you. I’ve never seen you this worked up. You’re constantly being pulled in different directions. I’ll handle Damian and Cam. You get this out of your system.”
“It is best you handle Damian directly. It’s not like I have a choice anyway. I can’t tell James that I wan
t Damian dead because he slept with his daughter whom I’m fucking obsessed with.” I scrape my jawline. “I’m not sure how to get her out of my system.”
“Then don’t. But make a choice. Or else you’ll drag her down with you.” He rounds the island. “I care for her, but I care more for you. You’re my brother. Go home and rest. Or go out, whatever helps you wind down nowadays.”
“You mean go out and get laid?” I counter with a smirk.
He purses his lips to hide a grin. “Maybe not that.”
Fishing my keys out of my pocket, I head to the elevator. “I’ll call you tomorrow morning.”
“Rest, Adriano,” Luca persists right before the doors close.
His words of advice echo in my mind as my car flies across the asphalt. Distance will be challenging, but I’m beginning to understand that it’s inevitable.
Nine months of despising the distance, and now, I have to force it on us again because Damian dropped the bomb yesterday. I wish I’d never found out so I could enjoy our reunion, but that’s inconceivable at this point.
Unsure of where I’m going, I find myself not heading toward the Astoria Tower, but alongside the Chicago River and up north, toward the house, toward the strip club.
Calmness is out of reach. I need a diversion, just to take the edge off. I’m about to blow, and her presence is the cause.
CHAPTER 19
Camilla
History is repeating itself. Adriano is MIA the rest of the week. I only catch glimpses of him at James’s house twice or at the Syndicate headquarters.
Fallon hangs around me, helping me put my life back together, brick by brick. I’ve joined her self-defense classes, and I’ve also started total body training.
For now, James is keeping it a secret from the Syndicate members that I’m his daughter. He’s emphasized how important it is for me to have physical strength and speed so that if problems ever arise and I’m alone, I’m tough enough to protect myself. And the work-outs are building my confidence.
Whenever I have the chance to be with James, I grab it with both hands, and unexpectedly, he allows me much insight into the Syndicate’s wheelings and dealings. He can be harsh sometimes and guides me in the most unusual way but always with a serene undertone. We’re both learning how to deal with each other. It’s often uncomfortable, although less and less so as we spend more time together.
