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“ZIO?”
My arms found his waist. I couldn’t fit around him but as he lifted me in his arms, I knew I was home. I hadn’t seen him since I was five, but I remembered his full beard peppered with gray and his thick hair. He was solid but his age showed in the deep lines around his eyes and face.
“Welcome to New York,bella.”
It had been a long three weeks travelling in hot trunks while hiding; always hiding as I snuck out of Europe for the freedom this country called America always promised to offer.
I looked around with wonder. I heard so much about America. Some good, some bad. But the tall buildings that rose high above the sky, the people, the traffic…I felt as if I could be anybody here. As if I could be a chameleon and make myself into whoever I wanted to be. I wasn’t the orphaned girl from a crime family who saw more blood and death than a doctor working in the ER. I was Diana. Solid, strong, and determined.
“When do we start?”
“Your training?”
“Yes.”
“Today.”
“Good,” I nodded.
Zio drove us in his Cadillac from the airport over bridges where I could see all of the New York skyline.
“It’s just like I imagined.”
He grinned. “There’s lots of Italians here. They think I’m from the coast, a fisherman’s son. You are my niece. Your father died in a storm. Your mother ran off with a wealthy man.”
I sat back against the leather seats. “I’m not here for a dream…I’m here to become someone’s nightmare.”
“Did you know he’s next in line to inherit everything? He will be the next Don of his family. They’ve already started grooming him.”
“I know.” I tell Zio in detail what happened at the funeral and how I woke up with a note and a wilted flower in my palm.
When I’m finished the look in his eyes echoes the vengeance making a permanent home in my heart. He stroked the top of my head and held me close. “Someday, little bella, he will pay for not only his sins but the weight of the sins of his entire family.”
“Promise.”
“I swear it to you. The Fiorelli’s might be down but it’s a big mistake to count us out. The future of the entire familglia, rests on you little one. You have the blood of Roman soldiers in your veins. Your bloodline tells a story of war and vengeance. Honor and duty. You cannot fail, Romina, when it’s your destiny to win.”
Zio’s words made me feel invincible. I was a Roman and like my name, will conquer Roque Salvatore. When I’m done with him, he will beg me for mercy, but like my ancestors—I won’t give it.