Page 13 of My Solemn Vow (The Mafia Arrangement #1)

ANTONELLA

THE NEW STUDENT

Uncle Gregorio has forgiven me for the botched engagement attempt.

Berto’s idea to let me turn the proposal down publicly at family dinner was remarkably the right move.

But I don’t love that he didn’t tell me.

While his reasoning of wanting a ‘real reaction’ is valid because I’m a terrible actress, it doesn’t justify his actions.

However, watching the relationship between Sarena and Nikolai bloom has been unique.

It’s a little weird to me that he’s thirty and she’s eighteen, but when I came home one day to a plastic sword fight, I was a little more forgiving of that.

Their level of obsession with the same science fiction fandoms likely made this love at first fight.

Today I came home to an ‘argument’ of sorts.

Nikolai was on one side of the table and Sarena the other.

Nikolai was arguing for the number four, while Sarena insisted on the number six.

I finally figured out they were arguing about the number of children they wanted.

I laughed it off and grabbed a glass of wine before heading up to work on my lesson planning and the packet for the new student.

After changing into something more comfortable, I venture up to the rooftop patio of the penthouse, where the gorgeous view of Lake Michigan awaits.

The chilly but still fresh air is a nice reprieve from being holed up in my room and indulging in old seasons of reality competition shows, and it’s probably one of the last nice days of the year.

There are perks to living in Gold Coast over River North.

Leticia joins me, reading from her tablet, and we’re at peace when Berto finds us.

“Ladies.” He greets us, walking over to me and reading over my shoulder.

He gets bored and walks past me to sit in the other chair.

In a split second, Berto freezes. His spine goes rigid, and it’s like everything in nature pauses with the shift in his demeanor.

Dark eyes narrowed, Berto snatches a picture up off the table and shows it to me. “Who is this?”

“Kelsey?” I hesitate to answer, looking at the new student packet I added her information to when I got home.

“What’s her last name?” Berto snaps, shaking the photo at me.

“Clark. I think. Why?” I shake my head, raising a hand in a ‘what the fuck’ motion. In true Italian fashion, half of our conversation and tone is in the way we talk with our hands, so he should know I’m equally frustrated with him. “You’re being weird about a seven-year-old. Not a good look.”

“She looks exactly like Valor Cavanagh’s kid, Kerrianne,” he informs me, holding the photo out.

With a huff, I snatch it out of his hand. The little girl has bright green eyes and a slight red tinge to her brown hair. Even if it wasn’t completely stereotypical, it is believable that she’d be the daughter of the heir to the Irish Mob.

But I refuse to let him bring my work into the ridiculous family feud. “Well, she’s Kelsey Clark, so you’re wrong. I don’t know what you think the Cavanaghs are planning, but it’s not like we’ve had bodies dropping all around us again. Right? The feud has been mostly quiet?”

Berto stays rigid. He doesn’t answer me.

Fuckin’ hell, we’re going back to war with the Cavanaghs.

I set the photo back down on the table. Sure, I work under an ironclad pseudonym with a pristine set of false documents, but it’s because the Cavanaghs aren’t our only enemies.

Discovering my true identity and planting a child in my classroom is elaborate and far fetched. Right?

He takes one long last look at it. “Kids all look the same at that age anyway. But I know those Irish bastards are up to something, more than usual.”

I don’t believe, not for a single minute, that Berto will let the idea that Kelsey is a Cavanagh go.

But there’s nothing I can do, even though I want to, because if Berto wants to investigate it, he will.

And I don’t doubt he’s about to incite another skirmish that’ll end in bloodshed. Moving home was a bad idea.

Apparently forgetting why he came to bug us, Berto heads back into the house. The foul mood mostly follows him.

Leticia jumps up from the couch and follows him to the door, looking down the hall — probably to make sure he’s not returning — before she runs back. This time she sits right next to me and picks up the picture of Kelsey. Extending her arm, she holds it out before us.

She whispers, “How weird would it be if you had a Cavanagh in your class? That would be dangerous, right?”

I roll my eyes. I’m so not entertaining this line of thinking.

“There’s a reason I work under a pseudonym.

It’s fine, how would anyone know? Besides, Berto has a hard time telling the little second and third cousins apart when they all get together.

I hardly believe that he could possibly remember what Valor Cavanagh’s child looks like. ”

“True.” Leticia lets out a huge sigh. “No, you’re right.

I’m sure it’s fine. Besides, it’s not like you’re a real soldier or anything.

Berto and Gregorio make sure everyone knows that’s how they see it.

Feud or not... no one is wasting their time on a schoolteacher.

Even if you’re supposed to become his consigliere, we’re not likely targets. ”

“Exactly.” I shake my head and keep working on the lessons but look back at the picture of Kelsey.

It’s not her. The school is elite but not that elite. We don’t even send the little cousins there. Berto is wrong. She can’t possibly be a Cavanagh.