I clench my jaw. I wanted to be the one that did it, but I know it’s probably wise that it’s Santo. She won’t cry or beg for her job if Santo does it.
“Mama?” Natalia holds onto my dress and looks up to me. I look at her large, luminous eyes and hold her to me.
“Yes?”
“Can I stay with Aunt Vittoria tonight?” She looks to Vittoria, who sits alone at the table, nursing a glass of sparkling water. “She’s lonely. Uncle Romeo isn’t home.” We kept the part about him being taken into custody away from her.
Vittoria looks up at us and smiles sadly. She has a pullout sofa in the little sitting room upstairs where Natalia often spends the night. I can’t ask her to take Natalia for the night. I can’t imagine what she’s thinking. Feeling. There were many times when I was a child my father was taken into custody, but my parents weren’t as close as Romeo and Vittoria are. I think when my father was arrested, all of us actually were relieved.
“Hey, girls,” she says, as Nonna and Mama clang in the kitchen and everyone packs it up for the night. “I was thinking. I really don’t want to be alone tonight. Do you think Natalia could spend the night?”
Natalia’s eyes light up and she pulls my arm to her excitedly. “Please, Mama?”
“If it’s not too much trouble, Vittoria,” I begin, but Vittoria only shakes her head and smiles softly.
“We’ll watch that new Disney movie,” she says. “And pop popcorn.”
It’s nearing Natalia’s bedtime, but I know she’ll want to stay up late for their sleepover. And maybe a night with popcorn and a children’s movie will keep Vittoria’s mind off things for a little while.
“Oooh,” Marialena says, joining them. “I’ll join you. Pretty please? Nat, we can wear those new pjs we bought.”
“Of course,” I tell them. I mean, they’ll only be right down the hall from me.
From… us.
I look over at Santo, all six foot whatever of tall, muscled, tatted, brooding male.
There will be nothing but a thin wall between us, hardly anything at all.
The rooms we occupy don’t have cameras in them like every other inch of this house. When Romeo first came into the throne, it was only his room that went dark, but he soon granted us all the privilege as well. Said he didn’t need to know what his siblings did behind closed doors, and any threat to our safety would be captured on camera outside the doors and windows.
No footage.
No cameras.
Nobody watching.
My brother’s been arrested, and my family’s in lockdown. Santo’s car was blown up. We expect another attack at any moment.
And all I can think about is that I get to spend the next—however many—days and nights in close proximity to him.
Off the radar.
Tavi never would’ve assigned him to watch over me if he didn’t completely trust him. He did, of course, position us in such a way that we’ll have two rooms with separate entrances.
Like that matters.
I close my eyes and breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth.
I shiver.
“Cold, Rosa?”
I jump. Santo’s so close to me his breath ruffles my hair.
“Yeah,” I say on a sigh. “It’s been a long day.”
“It has.” He shoves his hands in his pockets, and for one moment I imagine it’s to stop himself from touching me. Placing his hand right there, on the small of my back to give me comfort. Sweeping my hair out of my eyes and tucking it behind my ear.
But no one can ever see how we feel about each other.
No one.
Even Mama would lose her mind. They all would. And I can’t imagine the punishment he’d earn for betrayal that deep.
I let my eyes rove over the strong forearms covered in ink, the way his shirt stretches over his biceps. He’s gotten new ink, and lots of it.
I like.
“Where’s Natalia?” He looks around the room.
“She’s, uh… she’s having a sleepover with Vittoria and Lena. They’re watching a Disney movie or something.” I feign a yawn. “We should go upstairs. Damn, I’m tired.”
I look away from him so I don’t see the flare of heat in his eyes when he realizes we’ll be alone tonight.
“I’m checking all the locks first.”
“Tavi ask you to?”
One quick shake of his head. “No, but Tavi’s got a lot on his mind.”
My heart does a little twirl. I have this strange, inexplicable attraction to competence. Competence porn. Sigh.
“I’ll go with you.”
He jerks his head at me wordlessly to follow. I swallow hard.
“You staying up for the Montavios?” I ask, as he heads to the back door by the kitchen. “I’ll see them in the morning.” Tavi will want to get right down to business, and I wasn’t lying when I said I was tired.
“Yeah, I’ll be back down to see them. After I get you settled.”