Page 113 of Driftwood Daffodil

Yeah, that was about right too.

“Call you later,” Memphis muttered to me as he hurried past.

His dad promptly spun around and walked out the door, with Memphis following behind.

I raised my hand to give them a wave, “See you later Mr. Blake. As always it’s been a pleasure.”

“Wow,” Atlee snorted. “He seems like a fun guy.”

“Doesn’t he? I can’t count how many times I shared a laugh with that man.” Seriously, I couldn’t count them, because he didn’t laugh. Ever.

The next person came through the door mere seconds after they left, and it wasn’t someone I expected.

My brow rose, “Veda?”

The maid uniform she was donning told me Veda came from work, but why was she here at all? Don’t get me wrong, in this circumstance I preferred my sister over Maw Maw, but Veda didn’t do well in crowded spaces. Or spaces in general.

“What are you doing here?”

“The school called,” she stepped back into the doorway. “We should go.”

“Don’t leave, now Honey,” a smolder washed over Atlee’s face. “You just got here.”

“Seriously?” I gave his shoulder a smack with the back of my hand. “Do you have to flirt with everyone?”

“Yeah.”

I mean… was I really expecting a different answer. This was Atlee. Shouldn’t Gio be slapping him… Shit Gio! All my effort to keep the mention of his name away from my sister, and here she was face to face with him. No wonder she looked white as a ghost. I had to get her out of here.

“Come on Ve–” I froze as two men walked up behind my sister.

The one in the suit looked vaguely familiar – I may have told him off at some point – but it was the other guy that worried me.The one that could’ve been Atlas Mancini’s twin. Romeo. Veda was going to freak out.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Gio barked out.

Romeo shrugged, “Dad was busy.”

Veda lifted her chin to look behind her and I could visibly see what little color she had drained from her completion.

I rushed forward and threw my arm over her shoulder, so I could both shield her and let her know she wasn’t alone. “Let’s go get Knox.”

My nephew was the only thing that could calm her down, and Veda was seconds away from a full on panic attack.

“Do you mind,” I hissed at the men behind her so they’d get out of the way.

Romeo stepped to the side, but the guy in the suit lifted a brow. “I see you’re still rude.”

That’s where I knew him from. He was the asshole who answered the door when I went to pick up my sister.

“And I see you’re still wearing black.” I said and pulled Veda around him to go down the hall.

GIOVANNI

Iwas halfway through my breakfast when the front door slammed. Not that I thought too much about it. Since my father declared war on the Russians, there were so many people in this house that it was impossible to find a quiet spot.

Security he called it. I called it overkill. No Russian would dare step foot in Sorrie. This town was crawling with Mafioso. They’d be dead before they made it a block. Then again he probably thought the same thing before my mother was killed.

Sometimes I could still hear the crash of the front door being kicked in followed by what seemed like an army of footsteps storming up the stairs. At the time I didn’t think anything aboutthe way my mother scooped me off the floor and stuffed me in the cupboard.

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