My hands are in fists and Francesco smirks knowing that I’m furious by the little hellcat that comes to stand at my side, pretending to be a united front.
To make matters worse, I see my father soften when he sees her, like he already is under whatever magical influence she obviously holds over everyone that comes into her life. And I feel her arm slide behind my back, looking up at me with eyes daring me to try and tell her off in front of people.
“Has anyone seen my friends and father?”
Her voice has an edge to the tone and since I just walked out of my office where she had been, she knows I don’t have the information for her.
“Me and your father put your friends in a car home. They’re going to his house for the night so that he can watch over them. He was walking around the perimeter last time I saw him.”
I was going to knock out Francesco’s teeth.
The way Ilaria nods, giving him a smile that was not meant for him to have before squeezing my arms and looking up at me like she was asking my permission to leave.
But if the princess wanted to come out here when we were talking business she was going to be stuck there for a few minutes longer.
She’d have to wait to call her friends to check in on them. I was already feeling on edge about my fathers comment about giving Ilaria to Francesco and then seeing the smile.
It made me crazy.
“Ilaria, go call your friends and check on them. I have a car waiting outside for us to go home tonight.” Her fathers voice was tense as he watches her nod her head, letting her take off and get away from me.
Once she was outside I felt the wrath of him come down on me. I was really managing to piss off everyone today.
“Ilaria will be staying at my house until I feel like your security is adequate. Maybe because your cousin has been away on business you let things go lax but you need to tighten up, Dante. This was a night to celebrate my daughter and should be a happy memory. But you didn’t think ahead and put her in danger.” His fury is so strong that it makes me feel weak.
I expect my father to come to my defense and say this wasn’t my fault but his silence makes it clear that he agrees with her father.
“She should stay with me so that-”
“So that what? You can get her killed. No. I will talk with you tomorrow.” He is speaking to my father now, dismissing me like I’m a child and can’t be a part of their conversation anymore, “If Ilaria wants to talk to you she will, Dante. Do not go calling her all night when she has had a traumatic experience.”
It’s a warning from the North End Butcher before he turns and leaves me with a mess that I don’t even know how to clean up.
Soon enough everyone is filing out, even my cousin who I still want to fight is leaving as my father talks to him about security measures he wants to have put in place.
And I’m alone.
This was supposed to be my engagement party but it turned out everyone was having second guesses about me getting married to Ilaria.
Everyone except for me.
25ILARIA
Ifeel like I am in college again.
All the girls are in my room, the adrenaline of the night before still running through us as we stayed the entire day inside the suite. We binge watch TV shows and eat takeout without seeming to care about the real world.
They didn’t ask about what happened and for the first time I wondered if they knew more about my life than they let on. Or maybe they were thinking about all the trouble we caused and were worried it was finally starting to catch up with us.
“Have you heard from Dante?” Becca asked, rolling over to grab popcorn from Sammie.
And now we have this problem.
Dante, who had blown up my phone when I was away with them a week ago had yet to answer my text from the night before asking if he was okay. And instead of sending another text to him asking him if he had missed my text I had remained silent for almost 24 hours now and it pissed me off.
“He’s busy working on the club.”
It wasn’t a truth and it wasn’t a lie. He probably was working on the club right now but I hadn’t checked in on him to see what the hell was going on.
The girls and I had finalized a few wedding details in between TV show binges including ordering their dresses for the wedding and showing them a picture of me in my wedding dress.
It made everything seem realer.
Having them involved in decisions and asking them what they thought had me nervous about the day. It was feeling more like a real situation and that terrified me. Especially since Dante wasn’t answering a text.
I was going to punch that mother fucker.
“I think I’m going to spend the night with him.” They all looked at me and I shook my head, “I mean just to sleep with him like we’ve been doing.”
“Expect there won’t be sleeping.”
“Not if he looks like that.”
“Or if you wear that La Perla set you bought a couple weeks ago.”
“Or if you two check each other for bullet wounds. Maybe find other holes that you can treat.”
“I hate you all.” I replied as they all dissolved into laughter at my expense.
Moving to my closet I slid on my sneakers and grabbed a backpack, tossing my clutch I had at the dinner the night before in it and looking at my phone.
Maybe I should call him, have him pick me up. But my stomach twisted at the idea of him ignoring my call and I wasn’t sure if I could handle that kind of blow.
Sammie was already pulling this roll up ladder we had bought in college when we snuck out of the house when my parents were sleeping.
My dad had no problem with having us over as often as possible and had asked me to come home to spend time with my parents, even before my mother was sick.
My friends would all come with me because they were the best but everyone had a wild streak and at times a boyfriend so we would use the ladder to sneak in and out of the house.
Except I had never snuck out alone before and I felt like I was doing something wrong despite knowing I wasn’t.
“If you can’t find Dante I hope you find Francesco.” Tessa said, making me look at her with a shocked expression.
“Who is Francesco?” Madeline asked as her and Becca opened the emergency chocolate stash.
Tessa smirked as I gave her a look.
