Page 31

31

Stella

S omething has felt off all day, but I’m not sure what it is.

Maybe I’m just being paranoid. I should see if Annie can squeeze me in for a half-hour appointment later this afternoon.

This morning when I first woke up, I thought I’d get to my mom’s bedside, and she’d be worse, as in she wouldn’t wake up again kind of worse.

But Mom was sitting up, awake when I got here, talking to Cami, and looking as good as she’s been in weeks.

My brother wasn’t in his office, though, which was odd. He’s usually up to his eyebrows in mafia or construction business shit.

“Stella, honey, why don’t you ask Andre if he has any single friends for Cami?” my mother’s still trying to marry off my sister before she leaves this world. “What about that cousin of his, Trenton or Tristan?”

“No, Mom. I’m not going to set up my little sister with a mobster.” Hopefully, Cami is going to be the one in our family that escapes this lifestyle. And I’m certainly not going to introduce her to Tristan. That crazy bastard would eat her alive.

Movement at the bedroom door draws my attention. Seeing the shape of a large man, I assume it’s Saint checking in. My stomach drops to the floor when I see it’s not my brother, but Franco. While Andre has had them tail me everywhere, he’s never come inside with me.

I get up from where I sat on the side of my mom’s bed to approach him. Keeping my voice down, I ask, “What’s wrong?”

He gives a half smile I know is fake. “Everything is fine, Mrs. Ferraro. You still got that knife of yours on you?”

“It’s in my purse. Why? What would I need it for?”

He winces, glances down the hallway, where I see Dino standing watch at the top of the stairs, his arms crossed. “I can’t say. Might be easier if you just check local news sites.”

“Okay,” I agree. But he just keeps standing there. “Message received. You can go back to the van now.”

He shakes his head. “Sorry, ma’am. I have orders to have eyes on you until Mr. Ferraro gets here.”

“Andre’s on his way here?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Fuck. I knew something horrible was going to happen today.

Back in my mom’s room, I grab my purse and eye my sister, tipping my head toward the hallway. “Cami, while I’m here could I borrow one of your pink purses?”

“I don’t have a…” she starts, until I clear my throat, then she hops up. “Sure. We’ll be right back, Mom. Do you need anything?” We make our way to the door.

“I’m good, girls. Thanks,” Mom replies. “I’ll just shut my eyes and rest for a few minutes.”

I have a feeling she’s already used all her energy this morning.

In the hallway, I say to my sister, “Keep heading to your room.”

Cami walks in that direction, shooting me curious looks over her shoulder as I follow her, and Franco follows me.

“What’s wrong?” she asks once we’re inside.

“I don’t know yet,” I answer with my phone in my hand, searching the local headlines. “Fatal Motor Vehicle Collision in Queens?” I ask Franco.

He winks at me. Yep, that’s the one.

I skim through the short article, wondering why he’s acting so nervous about a car collision that happens dozens of times a day in New York. Then, my eyes are drawn to the name Aiden Sanna, to whom one of the vehicles is registered, and how there are several victims. First, my father, then Weston Bertelli, now Sanna?

Shit.

Did my brother do this?

“Saint?” I ask Franco. “Is he…?”

“Leaving Omerta and on the way here, the last I heard from Andre.”

“Was it him?”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about, ma’am.” Franco turns away from the doorway.

Yes, it was my brother. That’s why he’s so worried. If Saint started a war with the Sannas, then it might end up on our doorstep. On my sister and mother’s doorstep.

God, he’s such an idiot!

“Stella, what’s going on?” Cami eyes the strange man in a Franco’s Pizza tee and tattered jeans in our house.

I never should’ve said anything to my brother. I just wanted to apologize for not believing him, not encourage him to go after the family…

“Things are going to get bad, aren’t they?” I ask Franco.

“We should hope for the best, but prepare for the worst, ma’am,” he says.

“Could one of you fill me in on what’s happening?” Cami huffs with her hands on her hips. I hand her my phone so she can read the article. “God, that’s…awful. We’ve known the Sannas since we were kids. The boys are Kai and Raiden, the girls Amara and Verity, right?”

“Yes. And I’m guessing our brother just wiped out half the family,” I tell her. While it’s incredibly cruel to think it, if Saint was going after the Sannas, he should’ve taken them all out. If Aiden is dead but one of his sons is still alive, they’re going to be out for his blood. Our blood.

Cami blinks her blue eyes at me for several seconds. “That’s awful. Why would Saint do that?”

“Why do you think?” I huff as I take my phone back to check my messages. Sure enough, there’s a message from Andre asking, no, begging me, to stay in the house until he gets here. He also says more guards, Ferraro guards, are on the way. I reply back I’ll wait for him — I will because there’s nowhere I need to be today, and it’s one less thing for him to worry about right now.

“Mobster retaliation?” Cami asks eventually. “For Daddy or for Izaiah?”

“Both.” I never should’ve told Saint what Andre said about the Sannas. If I had just kept my mouth shut, this wouldn’t be happening. “Stay away from the windows and don’t go outside for anything without guards.”

Cami nods her agreement easily enough, since I’m the one who always refused protection when I’d leave.

“There will be more guards around the property, so you and Mom should be safe,” I explain. Reaching into my purse, I pull out my knife. “But if I were you, I’d keep a weapon on you at all times, just in case.”

“O-okay,” she stammers. “Daddy gave me a few knives.” Going over to her dresser, she digs through her pajamas until she pulls out one of the folded blades.

“Do you want me and Andre to stay here tonight? We can take turns sitting with Mom…”

“No. Go home to your husband. If Saint made this mess, he can clean it up,” Cami states with more venom than I’ve ever heard. “He can sit with Mom all night tonight and the next until things calm down.”

“Good luck trying to twist his arm…” I start to say when I hear the guys shouting in the hallway.

Stepping out to see what’s going on, Franco comes back from the top of the stairs. “Saint’s home.”

“Great. Time for a family meeting. Are you coming, Cami?”

“Heck yes.”

“I’m coming too,” Franco remarks. “To at least stand outside the door.”

“Fine, but Dino, can you stay up here near my mom?” I ask the other man on our approach.

He gives me a nod and takes a few steps toward the bedrooms, blocking the hallway. “They’ll have to kill me to get to her, ma’am.”

“Thanks, Dino,” I smile.

He stares at me with his forehead creased before he says, “You’re welcome, Mrs. Ferraro.”

The name doesn’t cause me to wince or even shudder. I guess it’s growing on me, just like the man who gave the name to me. Maybe, after all this shit is resolved, I’ll actually apply to have my name legally changed.

If Andre and I are starting a family, then sharing the same name with our kids would make life easier…

God, how did I go from hating the man to wanting him, missing him, and looking forward to having children with him in a matter of weeks?

Shaking off those thoughts for now, I summon all my righteous indignation aimed at my brother and storm down the stairs to his office, Cami and Franco right behind me.

My brother leans against the wall near the desk, drinking straight out of our father’s crystal decanter that Mom bought him for his birthday like twenty years ago. I remember because I was only about thirteen and asked him to pour me a sip into one of the matching glasses. He gave me a glass with a smirk, and I gagged from the awful taste. If only I’d given up alcohol and any other intoxicating substances then and there, maybe I would’ve avoided that hellish night and becoming a killer.

But then I remember what Annie always tells me about wishing and accept what’s in the past is in the past.

My life eventually worked out the way fate intended — being pressured into marrying Andre, even though I was terrified. Now, I’m so thankful our father’s debt forced my hand, or I probably would’ve remained too stubborn to date again, living a lonely, miserable existence with my impulsive brother and nun of a sister.

While I’m reminiscing, Cami goes and jerks the decanter out of Saint’s hands. Or tries to. Our brother is much bigger and stronger.

“Give it to me!” she demands.

“Fuck off.”

“You fuck off! Getting sloshed isn’t going to fix the mess you made! You don’t deserve to numb the pain either.”

At that, he loosens his grip, and Cami takes it from him. While she’s swallowing a big gulp herself, Saint glares at me. “You fucking told her?”

“She deserves to know you put her life, my life, and our sick mother’s life at risk with your dumbass revenge plan!”

“They won’t ever know it was me.”

“Oh, you must be drunk if you can say that shit with a straight face,” I tell him. “You’re sitting with Mom tonight. All night, every night, until this blows over.”

Saint scoffs and scowls before pointing a wobbling finger at me as he pushes away from the wall. “You don’t give me orders! Nobody gives me fucking orders.”

“We just covered this, you little shit,” a familiar deep voice says from the open office door. “You take orders from Creed, and I think he’d agree it’s a fitting punishment.” Turning and seeing Andre not just here, but backing me up, I go over and throw my arms around his neck in relief.

As soon as he’s holding me close all the worry I’ve felt today evaporates. I’m safe now. Andre wouldn’t let anyone hurt me or my family.

“Hey, baby.” My husband presses a kiss to the top of my head. “Do you want to stay here, or do you want me to take you home?”

“Home,” I say into his neck, meaning our home — the place where we exist in our happy little bubble that nothing can penetrate. Not the mafia or cancer.

I once thought of it as a prison, but somehow it became my sanctuary where I have everything I never knew I needed to survive.