Page 48 of Hidden Ties

All the girls looked at her pityingly in that moment.

“He hasn’t told you anything yet, has he?” Maria realized.

Shaking her head, she wished Sal had revealed anything at all to her about himself. Hell, if it wasn’t for her neighbor, she wouldn’t have even known his name.

Maria just patted her hand again. “Honey, we need to talk.”

Sal listened to the song “Milkshake”blaring over his stereo system while he listened to the girls whispering and laughing between the oooing and ahhing. If he heard “my milkshakes bring all the boys to the yard” one more fuckin’ time, he was going to lose it. It didn’t help he couldn’t hear what they were saying, meaning he already assumed the worst and that Valerie would hear anything and everything to make her never want to sleep with him again.

In a final desperate attempt, he added one more person to the mass group chat before texting …

HOT GIRLS AT MY PLACE

Christ.

He just had to pray awakening the playboy wouldn’t bite him in the ass.

While the girlsfinally started up the PlayStation, both her and Maria spoke in their own hushed conversation in the kitchen.

“So, is Sal aCarusoorLuciano?I’m so confused,” she asked, trying to get clarification.

“A Caruso,” Maria revealed like it was just that easy to understand. However, it clearly wasn’t as she continued, “But, technically, he should be a Luciano by blood, considering his father and siblings are all Lucianos.”

“Okay …” That only made Valerie even more confused, and it made her question Maria’s intelligence. “And how does that happen?”

Sadness crossed Maria’s beautiful features until she waved her hand toward the kitchen stool. “You’ll want to take a seat.”

EIGHTEEN

A BATTLE OF BLOODY GUTS AND GLORY

Wanting to cry at Sal’s past left Valerie heartbroken for him. Even her own broken past seemed to pale in comparison to his. She couldn’t imagine growing up homeless, only to find out a father didn’t want you but accepted his other legitimate children in his life, not to mention his mother’s tragic death, along with being taken in by his father’s enemy.

“I only told you all this ’cause I’ve looked at Sal as a brother since we grew up together.”

It made sense, the bickering not only between Sal and Maria, but with Lucca as well. They had all lived under the same roof officially since Sal was thirteen years old.

“I know he should have been the one to tell you, but I can tell you like him, and that he must like youon account of how badly he didn’t want me to meet you.” She added that bit still annoyed but continued on, getting serious again. “I just think you should know what you’re dealing with because out of all the years I’ve spent with him, he still doesn’t like to talk about it.”

“Are you serious?” Valerie almost couldn’t believe it. At that rate, she’d be old and dead before he’d tell her anything. “Not to anyone?”

“I think he talks about it with my brother, but Lucca wouldn’t dare tell me anything that Sal told him in confidence.”

Wishing it had been Sal to be the one to tell her, she was still grateful Maria had. Everything about Sal had clicked into place. To say she had misjudged him was the understatement of the fucking century. Valerie officially not only felt like the biggest idiot in the world, but the biggest bitch as well. She couldn’t believe some of the thoughts and preconceived notions she’d had about him.

Sal hadn’t grown up rich with a stick up his ass; he had grown up with nothing and treasured the items he had, along with his privacy. Regretting certain things she had said and done to him, she desperately wished she could take them all back. But, in life, there were no do-overs. She would have to live with it forever. It was truly no wonder why Sal hated her at first. She was just thankful for the fact that their relationship had blossomed into whatever the hell it was at the moment.

Feeling her heart skip a beat for the first time in her life, she found herself wanting a relationship, hoping that what was between her and Sal wouldn’t be fleeting and that when all her legal troubles were over, that maybe, just maybe, they could gain more out of each other than smart-witted comebacks and sex.

“Thank you for telling me, Maria,” she whispered. “I had no idea Sal and Lucca were even that close.”

“Oh yes, they are closer to brothers than probably Lucca’s blood brothers. There’s a bit of an age difference between them, so that’s mostly why,” Maria explained before laughing. “If I had been born a boy, I probably would have given Sal a run for his money as his favorite brother.”

“That reminds me …” Valerie pivoted the subject with hope in her eyes. “How exactly does a woman go about joining the mafia?”

A knockon the door had Sal jumping to his feet and almost killing himself to get down the steps.

Thank Go—Fuck!It was probably too late. Maria and Valerie were already talking in the kitchen for God knew how long.