Page 23 of Savage Grace

Rome looked at Antoni and then back to me and then bent forward, looking to the floor but still gripping the kitchen counter with her fingers.

Her whole body shook, but not a sound escaped her. I rolled my eyes and crossed my legs, trying to get comfortable on the old wooden stool.

I had been bitching at Rome and Antoni to let me do some decorating and rearranging in their house for years, but none of them cared enough to do anything about it.

It was the original Santino family home.

It was the home my father grew up in. It was the home we grew up in. And when Toni took over as Don, it became his.

It was still a weird mixture of ‘90’s Mum’decor and bachelor pad, but it had so much potential.

“Are you done?” Antoni asked her, crossing his arms.

“Not quite,” Rome squeaked, still shaking with silent laughter.

“Rome, I thought you, of all people, would understand how serious this is.”

Her head snapped up at that, her face pink from her strangled giggling.

“Of course it’s serious,Antoni,”she exaggerated his name as he did with hers. “But I’m also human and it’s a fucking hilarious coincidence. Lighten up.”

“Lighten up?” he scoffed. “My sister has…been with…” he tiptoed around the word, not wanting to imagine his baby sister in that way, I assumed, “a fucking Redliner.”

“Did she die?” Rome asked with wide-eyes, pointing at me sitting there in front of him. “She’s fine, Tone. It was a mistake.”

He rolled his eyes again.

“How did he react when he found out who you were?”

“He was as shocked as I was. I told him my name was Penny.”

“See!” Rome snapped. “He had no idea either.”

“Could have been a part of the whole plan!”

“They’re not that smart!”

Toni groaned into the air, throwing his head back.

“You two are fucking crazy if you don’t think this is serious,” he barked, pointing between the two of us.

Rome’s face morphed into a look of total calm and composure.

It was terrifying.

“Get out, Toni,” she said softly.

Antoni’s jaw hardened for a second before he shook his head, letting out a puff of breath like he had been holding it for some time.

With his hands on his hips, and his head hanging down, he shuffled towards his wife and gave her an almost shy kiss on the cheek before leaving the room silently.

Rome watched him as he left, pursing her lips.

“I don’t like being called crazy,” she shrugged simply by way of explanation.

I loved my sister-in-law.

I walked this thin line of wanting to be her and wanting to be around her all the time. But it was awkward to watch her and Toni like this.

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