Page 31

“Sorry,Princessa,” Mum smiled, heading towards us and taking Evie off my hands.

Vera cradled her granddaughter’s head into her chest and rocked slightly, closing her eyes. Mum had never been the affectionate type. She was a cold, oftentimes stern woman—but that had quickly changed once she had grandchildren.

“You would be such a good mother,” she nagged, and I turned away so she wouldn’t see me roll my eyes.

“I know, Mum. One day.”

A platitude that I had given her often.

If she had it her way, I would have been married to the most suitable family associate, a high ranking mafia man so that I could start popping out more little Santinos. More people who could live and work to serve The Family.

I used to think that it was what I wanted too.

It was what every mafia princess was supposed to do, supposed to want. But, when I hit the ‘eligible’ age, it was painfully obvious to me, if not anyone else, that I was still too young.

At 18, I had no interest in the men that my mother paraded before me, and luckily for me, Antoni had already taken over as Don. If my father were still alive, I knew for a fact that I would’ve already been married, trapped in a big house with a man I never saw until he sought me out on the nights when he was in the mood.

I didn’t want that.

Dedicated to being the impractical one in my family, I wanted that true love type of thing.

I knew that some thought it silly, especially my mother, who was once a pretty little chess piece herself. But luckily, I had my siblings on my side.

“Antoni would have already found you a husband if he were a good brother.”

“I’m sure I can find my own,” I said quietly.

“Of course, Bambina,” she reassured me with a shoulder squeeze. “You’re a beautiful person. You’re an amazing girl. Whoever gets you will be getting quite a prize.”

Her face was so sincere that it broke my heart.

But still, even with Dad gone, even with Antoni trying to bring The Family into a new era, I knew that my mother still saw me as exactly that.

A prize for The Family to offer. A bargaining token in negotiations. A participation trophy to placate an enemy clan.

That’s what she was for my father. And that was what she raised me to be. And while our mother had been trying her best to move on from tradition and join us in the modern day, I knew that she still saw me as her greatest project. She had created the ultimate mafia wife, the ultimate heiress, the most expensive bartering offer that The Family had to give.

“Thanks, Mum,” I forced a smile and straightened my posture, knowing that she was watching.

When the rest of my siblings and their partners arrived, we all sat down to enjoy the lunch that Mum and I had prepared.

Valerie was still tired-looking, Ren didn’t look much better. Antoni was tense, and Rome seemed off. Sammy spoke more than usual, which was probably the most suspicious behaviour out of all of them. He gave details about the Redliner feud freely, even with Mum and I there.

Sammy was the quiet one. You were lucky to get a grunt out of him during a conversation. Except when he was nervous about something. Then, he suffered from a dramatic case of word vomit.

Something wasverywrong.

“Prince hasn't even been spotted at work for days,” Sammy continued on with updating Toni about whatever information he and his partner, Livie, had discovered.

Livie sat quietly, shoulders pulled in as she nibbled slightly at her food.

Mum had slowly come to accept Rome, but Sammy’s girlfriend Livie had found a harder time flipping the stone-faced woman. I thought perhaps it was because at least Mum could see a little of herself in Rome. They were both brutal, formidable, intimidating women.

Livie was a little more soft-spoken.

Rome had made her way in the world through pure strength, determination, and violence. Livie relied a little more on her smarts, digging into the history of people and playing the long game. Either way, they were both dangerous, capable, brilliant people.

Before their involvement in The Family, they had been the ones who nearly crumbled the whole thing. They had been closer to destroying us than any other threat or rival we ever had.