“Did you know fireworks make Ilaria cry?” I was going to strangle  Sammie. But for now I settled on taking the pillow and slamming it in her face as she made a ‘oof’ sound falling back off the couch

But the damage was done.

“You cry during fireworks?”

Fucking Sammie.

“Are we going back to Boston tonight, staying in, or going out?” I

needed to change the subject.

I wasn’t going to let them get off track though they all seemed to be biting at the bit to tell Dante some other unhinged part about me. I didn’t need their crazy energy polluting him. I had enough of that to provide him with.

My mind was reeling and they were all making me freak out. I should have never allowed any pictures to be posted. I should have changed the wifi. I should have-

“We’re going to take Ilaria to Vegas for her Bachelorette party slash her birthday. We could do a Jack and Jill. You bring your friends and we can all celebrate. I mean she’s going to be turning 24 and that feels like-”

“Let’s go back to Boston. I’m going to grab my bag.” I was standing up as they laughed at my interruption of Maddie’s comment but Dante wasn’t budging and that was making me annoyed.

I glared at them from behind him and they all smiled wider.

At that moment I had no friends. Just a wild pack of hyenas who were ready to ravage the corpse and any shred of my life that was left.

Bitches.

“That sounds perfect. I’ll have Fransisco reach out and set everything up.” Dante was standing, looking at me with a smirk in his eyes as he moved towards me, a hand reaching for my lower back as we moved towards the room that I had been sleeping in.

We had napped earlier, after I had showered, listening vaguely to phone calls that he was having about his business. My eyes heavy from the orgasm he gave me.

I wanted to ask him about the family, what his role was in it right now. Did he want to do more legit business or was he going to be like his father and just have this facade of being a businessman?

I knew his father owned a ton of real estate. Properties that he kept men that worked for him in and empty places he stored the drugs that he moved around the city.

On paper he looked like a kid from the North End who changed the career path from mobster to legit but I knew that the truth was that he was better at hiding it.

Was Dante good at hiding things as well?

“Will you fly back with your friends? I have to make some calls for-”

“I want to fly with you.”

Dante paused, looking at me and I could see that he was trying to hide a smile as he nodded his head, watching me as I gathered my stuff up into the bag.

I should fly with my friends.

They wouldn’t give me a hard time about flying with Dante, they knew I needed to get to know him more but it still felt like I was doing something wrong.

How was I supposed to balance being a wife and a friend?

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I was spiraling.

I could feel myself spiraling out as I threw things in the tote bag I had brought, very aware that I had a wheelie suitcase filled with 150k in cash that Dante could absolutely not know about.

Or the fact that my friends were talking about my birthday/ bachelorette trip and Dante didn’t even know when my birthday was.

“Come here, principessa.”

I looked over my shoulder at Dante, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, his arms out as he beckoned me to him.

Without thinking I was moving towards him, fingers reaching out to stroke the shadow of a beard that was growing on his jaw. I liked the way it felt under my fingers, how he looked rugged and handsome.

Dante pulled me close to him, his lips touching my fingers as I sat down on his knee, eyes on his.

“Tell me something about you that I don’t know.”

I was desperate for anything about him that I could hold onto. Something that made me feel connected to Dante in a way that was for us, something that made it feel like this was normal.

“My favorite dessert is a limoncello and ricotta pie. I’m not big on sweets but I like to go out at least once a month just for something. Let me guess, you want to eat sweets before dinner?” The crinkle around his eyes as he smiled at me shouldn’t be as charming as it was but I liked his laugh lines.

I smirked because he was right.

“I’m getting better as I get older but if I could have some form of ice cream every day or cheesecake, yeah, I probably would.” Dante slid my legs over his so I was fastened in his lap, all his attention on me.

“And you drink your iced coffee like it’s candy. My sweet Ilaria.”

His lips were on mine, kissing me softly as I leaned against him. Humming as his fingers slid into my hair, tugging me close to his lips as my hands slid over his soft polo.

I liked how he played with my hair, how he liked my natural curls and couldn’t stop touching them. It was such a small thing that made me feel seen.

“Why do fireworks make you cry?”

My back stiffened at Dante’s words and I pulled back, blinking as I looked at him, wondering why he was bringing this up again.

Swallowing as I pulled back, going to stand but Dante was sliding his hand around my waist, his eyes watching me as he looked at me with that obnoxiously happy look on his face.

He didn’t know about this heartbreak and I wasn’t sure I could talk about it.

“No, Dante. Please…no.”

This was an off limits topic, something that was too deep, too personal. I could already feel the way my fingers were shaking as he looked at me.

Dante wanted to get to know me and I groaned as I let a hand come to my face, feeling the way the memory flooded me.

My mother smelled like apples. My dad always joked that she was Miss New England, a secret Kennedy because of her love of Cape Cod and tortoise shell sunglasses. 

She always was dressed in the perfect outfit, hair styled at the local salon she would visit twice a week, nails painted red, pearl earrings in that had been a gift from my Nonno for her wedding to my father. She was a vision of class and poise.