Page 40 of My Solemn Vow (The Mafia Arrangement #1)

ANTONELLA

ANYTHING BUT ROY!

Sleeping in Valor’s bed, eating breakfast with him and Kerrianne, and leaving for school have almost become normal.

It’s so weird. Now that everything changed, I don’t know what to do with myself.

So much so that I took a deeper inventory of the pantry and lamented that I need more hobbies now that I don’t have my master’s program to throw myself into, friends to grab brunch with, or a cousin to annoy.

Kerrianne comes running down the stairs, and the whoosh of the front door opening has me on edge. I step around the wall in the kitchen to witness Kerrianne squeal in delight as she practically tackles an imposing dark-haired man.

I stop, stock still. I recognize him. I know who he is, and it makes sense for him to be here. But how many times will it take for me to come face-to-face with the Cavanaghs before I’m not afraid for my life?

“Dad!” Kerrianne shouts. “Dad!”

Valor comes in from outside where he was working and, I think, spying on me. He stands behind me, resting his hands on my shoulders with a soft squeeze. “Little raptor, how did you catch Royal? ”

“I can explain,” Royal starts, and he spins Kerrianne around as he walks toward us.

Valor steps back, retreating toward the kitchen, and I follow, going back to where I was making some quiche for breakfast.

“Hey, Antonella, nice to meet you. I’m Royal. You can call me anything but Roy.” Royal, Valor’s younger brother, doesn’t offer his hand to shake, but he does give me a warm smile.

“Well, Anything But Roy, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” I wrinkle my nose at Kerrianne, and she starts laughing, clutching her stomach.

“Charmed, I’m sure.” Royal shakes his head, and his cheeks turn pink.

He purses his lips, and it’s clear that I’ve broken some of what could have been discomfort between us.

“Have you had breakfast?” I offer him a plate.

“He ate,” Valor grumbles, and I put the plate back. “Royal, why are you here?”

“I told him about show-and-tell, and he said he’d come right over.” Kerrianne looks up at Valor and shuffles herself between the two titans.

“Show-and-tell?” Valor looks to me.

“As in show-and-tell happening in January after the holiday break?” I try to decode where Kerrianne is coming up with these things.

I’ve been working on next semester’s lesson plans each night, so that’s the only thing that comes to mind.

“I don’t know what to bring. And last time Dad said I can’t keep bringing Captain.” Kerrianne looks around the house like she’s expecting a magical thing to appear that she can show.

“So.” Royal beams at his brother before hoisting Kerrianne up and holding her to his side. “Maybe we can finish the robot for show-and-tell.”

Kerrianne screeches in excitement, and it echoes around the open house .

Royal scrunches his shoulders up around his ears and puts a finger in front of her lips. “Yikes! Kerrianne. We talked about that.”

“Sorry,” she whispers and repeats what must be a rule. “No screaming like woo girls or howling in the house.”

“Oh, good, we’re teaching my daughter what woo girls are.” Valor scrubs his hand down his face.

“I didn’t tell her what they were, just that they scream.” Royal defends himself, pointing between Valor and Kerrianne.

I try to do something intelligent, but I’m at a loss, watching the Cavanaghs and this whole new dynamic. Valor walks around the island and starts dishing out quiche.

“If we’re doing a robot for show-and-tell, then I need robotics parts,” Royal starts as he sets Kerrianne down and shudders a little bit, pulling on one of his ears. “And the convention is in town this weekend.”

“Declan hasn’t even started yet,” Valor groans, scolding him. “I don’t have a —”

“Really? I’ll be with her,” Royal snaps. “We get more free stuff if I bring her with. Tech dudes love to see little tech girls getting into this sort of thing. Please?”

“You make it sound creepy when you say it like that,” I stage-whisper, at least finding something to add to the conversation.

“Fair enough,” Royal stage-whispers back over his shoulder.

Valor sets a plate down in front of the stool where Kerrianne usually eats breakfast. She hops up and starts shoveling food into her mouth.

He scolds her softly. “Slow.”

“What I mean to say is that there aren’t enough young girls interested in STEM and STEAM, and they get the most free stuff because of it, and some of the free stuff is stuff you can’t get until the new year.

So, even though we’re absolutely loaded and my tech budget is through the roof, I can’t physically get these things. ” Royal beams at his older brother .

“You want my child so that she can con the tech guys into giving her stuff for you to use to build her robot?” Valor crosses his arms.

“Daaaaaaad.” Kerrianne pouts, her whole bottom lip jutting out. “Please?”

Valor turns to look at me.

I freeze and weigh the options . He doesn’t want a mother for her.

I shrug and give him the educator’s perspective and keep it as impersonal as I can.

“Well, it is a good opportunity for Kerrianne to experience things her regular activities at school won’t start supplementing until she’s a bit older. The robotics lab starts next year.”

“Seee!” Kerrianne shifts back and forth on her stool before having a few more bites of food.

“You’re taking a team of six. If I hear one single incident of something not being right, you’re coming home.” Valor has to shout the last part of that sentence because Royal has already scooped Kerrianne off the stool and is charging back through the house.

“I already got a team together! I’ll have her back by dinner!” Royal calls back, and in less than ten seconds, the front door closes.

“Was she already wearing shoes?” Valor groans.

“She had shoes. No jacket though.” I nod while plating some of the fluffy quiche.

Valor accepts the plate from me and draws a long sniff before wetting his bottom lip. It looks as if he’ll lick it straight off the plate. “She’ll be fine. It’s not that cold yet.”

“Valor, it’s December. It’s one thing for you to sit out there...” I stop because he turns his back on me going outside to collect his laptop. Clearly, we’re not talking about that.

On returning, he picks up the conversation. “I’ve gotta make some calls. Are you okay? Need anything? Jack can take you into town to... ”

I shake my head. “It’s okay. I’m working on some lesson plans.”

There’s a fleeting few seconds of awkward silence, but then Valor leaves me to my own devices.

Guess I am the Mafia wife, married off and left alone. Could be worse.

Drumming my fingers on the countertop, I pick up my phone, where I had been plugging ingredients into a search engine to look for a new recipe.

I hesitate over her name. Leticia D’Medici.

It’s so formal written out like that. But it’s not my phone.

Not really. I’m guessing Royal put it together and organized it, so it made sense to him.

The apps are sorted alphabetically with a little folder separating the ‘Tools’ — the weird apps and things that are preloaded on the device that I don’t know anyone ever uses — and tucked away out of sight.

Antonella:

Hey, it’s Toni. Are you still alive?

I send her a picture of my hand in a half-heart shape, so she knows it’s me. Just another one of our childhood symbols.

A split second later, I get her hand in the other half of the heart followed by a flurry of messages.

Leticia:

OH MY GAWD. YOU’RE STILL ALIVE?!

I miss you so much. Ugh. It’s been so weird without hearing from you.

Tell me what you can without getting killed.

I love you so much.