Page 51 of Days Of Valentino

“I’ll try,” Aurora says.

A silence falls over the room, a room that no one wants to let Aurora step out of. She is determined to leave again, though. And whatever she’s up to, I have faith in her that she will come out on top.

Once we’re in the car, I turn to my daughter. “Whatever you and Aurora are planning, end it now.”

“What makes you think we’re planning anything?” Mabilia asks, trying her best to come across as innocent.

“Because I know you, and I know her,” I reply.

“What if it’s for the good of the family?” Mabilia says.

“What’sgood for the familyis both of you staying out of trouble,” I counter.

“I’m not going to get into any trouble,” Mabilia huffs.

“Okay.” I nod as I hit the button on my steering wheel and tell Siri to call Tommy, my daughter’s boyfriend.

“What are you doing!” Mabilia shrieks.

“Inviting Tommy over for dinner,” I tell her. If she’s not going to listen to me, she might listen tohim.

“Hey, Mrs. Petrov,” Tommy answers.

“Tommy, come around to the house. I’ll see you in thirty,” I tell him.

“Is everything okay?” he asks, the worry in his voice evident. “Where’s Mabilia?”

“She’s fine. It’s just dinner.”

“Okay,” he says.

“You don’t have to come over, Tommy,” Mabilia interjects.

“Dinner with your fam, babe? Yeah, I wouldn’t miss that for the world,” he says. “I’ll see you soon, Mrs. Petrov.”

I end the call and see Mabilia huffing out of my peripheral. It’s not just Tommy she’s going to have to explain herself to. It’s her father and brothers. None of them are going to be okay with her going along with some half-cocked plan that has Aurora’s name all over it.

When we arrive back home, I order pizza and set the table. Mabilia went up to her bedroom, groaning about me being overbearing.

“What’s going on?” Mikhail asks.

“Dinner,” I tell him. “Tommy’s coming over.”

“Great. I’ll have the boys get the basement ready,” my husband deadpans.

Ignoring his taunts to kill our daughter’s boyfriend, I smile. “I just picked Mabilia up from Matteo’s. She went there to see Aurora, who’s back in town.”

“Why the fuck would Aurora come back now?” Mikhail yells.

“No idea, but I know those two girls, and nothing good is going to come of their scheming,” I say. “Like it or not, Tommyhas influence over Mabilia. I’ll make sure he talks some sense into her.”

“Or I can just take her to Russia. Lock her up in a tower somewhere.” The scary thing about my husband’s suggestion is the fact that he’s dead serious. Mikhail bought an old castle when Mabilia was a baby. He said we’d need its towers for this very reason one day.

“No to Russia. Go tell the boys they need to be on their best behavior,” I instruct Mikhail.

“If one of them wants to go a round with that fucker, I’m not stopping them,” Mikhail grumbles before walking out of the dining room.

Episode Twenty-Three

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