LOGINHe looked toward the cemetery for a brief moment before looking back at me. "One day all of it was meant to become yours." I blinked. "You were raised to understand this life," he smiled faintly, "When Gio Junior was born. I listened to tradition. My advisers. The old men who think a son must alw
I did. I understood exactly what I was doing. I just didn't know how to stop. ──━⊰ 𓆙 ⊱━── I saw him before he saw me. He was sitting alone on one of the stone benches at the edge of the Capone cemetery. His black coat blended into the gray afternoon. His hat rested beside him. His hands were
Yet... Raphael had gone to them anyway. He watched me carefully, "There are conditions." I nodded almost immediately. "The meeting will take place in the Capone cemetery." I blinked, "The cemetery?" He nodded, "Your mother will be there. I wanted the first meeting to happen where Hazel rests.
Claire watched us without speaking. Jules handed Aurelia half of her sandwich as if sharing it were the most important thing in the world. I opened my mouth but no words came out. Vincenzo didn't push. He simply nodded once, as though silence was an answer too. "We're here whenever you're ready."
Why? Why was she being kind to me? I hadn't earned it. The thought settled into my chest so naturally that it didn't even feel like a thought anymore. It felt like a fact. Mom was gone. Mama D was gone. Brianna. Emma. Morgan. One after another. Everyone I loved either left or disappeared.
Gianna ━⊰ ❦ ⊱━ Everyone had gone to bed hours ago. I stood alone in the kitchen, one hand resting against the cold marble countertop. The lights above the island were the only ones still on. I stared at the knife block. I didn't move. I just... stared. My fingers slowly curled against the edge
I didn't answer. I just watched Gianna take a bite of a strawberry that Mr. Dental Model was practically feeding her. I felt a surge of heat go up my neck. My fingers were itching. My heart was thumping a rhythm that had nothing to do with logic and everything to do with the way she was looking at h
"The way you’re trying to read this is a linear trap," he said, "Your brain doesn't move in lines, Gianna. It moves in spheres. You're trying to force a 3D mind into a 2D space. It’s a sensory overload, not a lack of intelligence." He shifted his weight, and I felt the heat of him radiating through
Just then, the door swung open and Silvio himself walked in. As he walked past my chair, he reached out and ruffled my hair, messing it up completely. "G-man! Good to see you're alive." Silvio slumped into his chair next to Raphael, flashing me a big, goofy smile. "Hi, Silvio," I said, smoothing
She reached for the floor, but I was faster. I reached out and clamped my hand around her waist, and I yanked her back toward the center of the bed, making her stumble against the pillows. "No," I told her, I sat up, looming over her until she was pinned between my arms, "You’re not going anywhere







