LOGIN~~SERAPHINA~~Massimo's eyes are soft on mine when he takes me back to his room and drags me into the bathroom, where he proceeds to undress me one article of clothing at a time.It's heady, his attention. I feel his gaze on me, and his eyes never leave mine as he pulls my shirt up and over my head, nudges my pants down over the sides of my hips, and then kneels in front of me to take my shoes off one at a time. It's enough to make a lump rise in my throat, one that has absolutely nothing to do with the justice I just delivered to Dante.One might think I would feel stressed or regretful about the fact that Dante lost his life because of me. That Massimo looked at a man who had been closer than a brother to him for so many years and was able to pull the trigger to take his life with barely a blink.But I don't. Dante made his choices. I was a relatively innocent party in this scenario, and he went out of his way to make me the enemy. I don't know what things were like in the family be
~~MASSIMO~~It takes a few days for Seraphina to fully recover from the entire ordeal, and I watch her carefully as the hours and days pass to make sure that she's not falling into a panic or regressing at all.The thing about Seraphina is that she's so unbelievably strong, and she knows it. She tolerates my fussing for about a day and a half before she finally sets me straight, telling me that she's not some wilting flower and that she's not going to suddenly break just because she went through a shitty experience.She puts me in my place gently but with a glint in her eye that tells me she will absolutely suffer no fools when it comes to this.The fact that she's holding Luca, who is smiling and giggling at me while she's having this conversation, undermines some of her intent, but not enough to stop me from pressing the issue.Of course, while she is recovering, sleeping, and ensuring that our son knows she's around and not going anywhere, I'm working in the background to deal with
~~MASSIMO~~It takes a few days for Seraphina to fully recover from the entire ordeal, and I watch her carefully as the hours and days pass to make sure that she's not falling into a panic or regressing at all.The thing about Seraphina is that she's so unbelievably strong, and she knows it. She tolerates my fussing for about a day and a half before she finally sets me straight, telling me that she's not some wilting flower and that she's not going to suddenly break just because she went through a shitty experience.She puts me in my place gently but with a glint in her eye that tells me she will absolutely suffer no fools when it comes to this.The fact that she's holding Luca, who is smiling and giggling at me while she's having this conversation, undermines some of her intent, but not enough to stop me from pressing the issue.Of course, while she is recovering, sleeping, and ensuring that our son knows she's around and not going anywhere, I'm working in the background to deal with
~~SERAPHINA~~ "Massimo?" His name falls from my lips, and then, before I can consider the wisdom of moving or saying anything else while we're still at the police station, I stand and fairly launch myself into his arms. He catches me, wrapping his arms tightly around me, and for the first time since I left the house with Dante this morning, I let my guard down a little. Humiliatingly, tears immediately prick at the corners of my eyes. "Fuck, baby. There you are." Massimo tightens his embrace, burying his face in my hair as my breath catches, and I fight against breaking down in front of him. We're still in an interrogation room, for fuck's sake. There will be time for an emotional meltdown later—theoretically. "Um… yeah." I pull away and wipe the back of my hand across my cheek, catching a stray tear that managed to escape despite my best efforts. "And… I mean. Not that I'm not glad to see you. Really fucking glad," I add when he looks at me with a hint of amusement in his eyes.
~~MASSIMO~~Gio drives me across town toward the police station where Seraphina is being held, allowing me to simmer in my fury and start plotting and planning.Gio is getting a promotion, effective immediately. He has come clean about the entire conversation he overheard Dante having with some scumbag police officer before he took Seraphina to God-knew-where.Gio does not know exactly what it was that Dante was framing her for, only that there were allegedly going to be bodies, enemies would be taken out, and the trash would be dealt with so that things could "go back to the way they had been before."The details of the conversation that Gio revealed tell me that my best friend has cracked. Even if he hasn't taken the love of my life to be framed for some unknown crime, he's still out. I need people in my corner with good heads on their shoulders, and Dante's entire harebrained scheme proves that he is no longer that person."It's going
~~SERAPHINA~~The interrogation room that the cops put me in is cold and bleak and doesn't have a clock for me to track the time, so I have no idea how long I have been sitting there, waiting for someone to come and talk to me.I face the two-way mirror, and my reflection looking back at me is a wake-up call. I look scared and pale, and every time I try to unfold my arms from where they are crossed over my chest, my hands shake so badly that I can't even take a sip of the water they brought me in a plastic bottle. It sloshes over the rim so violently when I try that I give up altogether and decide to sit and wait for one of the cops to come back.They tried to get me to speak when they cuffed me after raiding the warehouse, but I was too terrified and numb. I could tell it frustrated them, especially the cop who hauled me out to the car waiting outside. He was a tall, beefy guy with enormous muscles and a crew cut, and when he shoved me into the interrogat
~~Sofia~~"Dinner has been slated for seven this evening. Carla will send a few dresses to choose from. He'll pick you up. Be ready."I scrunch my face up and turn from the mirror I've been staring into blindly for the last few minutes.It sounded like a command, and it was. Rafael calls, and I go.
WARNING: THIS HAS MULTIPLE CHANGES OF SCENES, YEARS AND POVFOUR YEARS LATER CHICAGO ~~RAFAEL~~ The call came at 3 a.m."Russians hit the shipment. Three men down."I didn't ask questions. Didn't hesitate. I was dressed and in the car before the line went dead.The warehouse
~~Rafael~~ Sofia looks as white as a sheet, her chest rising and falling as she sags back against the floor, her eyes lifting to mine finally as she coughs one last time. I let her hair go and watch almost with a certain level of fascination as it tumbles and falls a
~~Rafael~~It's a fucking upheaval. Silvio has his hand fisted so hard I'm certain the nails are biting grooves into his palm.His guilt is clear, as is the fact that it's unnecessary. He's blaming himself for something that really isn't his fault.It's no one's but min







