Page 65 of Forbidden Property
Nicki: I’ll bring some lasagna
My stomach unwillingly throbs with desire. This will be her third peace-offering lasagna since Roman’s birth and I have to admit to eating the entire pan of the first one without even telling Renzo she had Gino drop it off. Yum. Nicki might be a fucking psychopathic Italian woman but she can cook the ass off a donkey.
I’m too weak to say no to homemade lasagna from an Italian woman who goes crazy in the kitchen.
Me: Promise not to put drugs in it?
Nicki: I deserve that. I promise. I love you. Be there soon.
She already had that lasagna ready, didn’t she? I never stood a chance. I sit on the couch with a cup of tea while I wait for her to come over. My phone sucks me in with the alluring infinite scroll of cooking videos available to me on Instagram.
Nothing is that far away in this part of New York, so I don’t have to wait longer than twenty minutes before I hear Nicki’s new car pull up outside. I don’t know how she makes money, but she must have access to enough money to get a brand newElettricaFerrari – a half million dollar car.
I’ve never known Nicki to wake up before ten in the morning – much less go to work. I’m impressed that she had the bravery to transport a lasagna through traffic in a car that expensive, but that’s as far as it goes. I don’t think I’ll ever trust her again the way I used to. Nicki clearly wants things to go back to normal, though. She greets me loudly outside and wraps me up in a hug that feels warm.
But also feels like it could possibly lead to deception. What if drugging me helps her with some other political goal within her family? Where exactly does she draw the line?
“I’m surprised Renzo isn’t here.”
Her surprise draws attention to his absence again, which I still feel so profoundly aware of in a way I wish didn’t hurt this badly.
“He’s out with Gino.”
“Oh…” I can tell from the sound of Nicki’s voice that even she thinks it sounds like bullshit. Luckily (for her) she has the lasagna to change the subject that will probably plague my subconscious thoughts for the rest of the night.
“Screw my brother. I brought a whole sheet pan of lasagna and… I want to do what I said. I’ll help you study for the LSAT but I can’t come up with any practice questions.”
Yeah, I don’t know if Nicki has studied in a very long time.
“Don’t worry,” Nicki reassures me. “I brought wine so I can get drunk enough to sit through three hours of studying. You have to be up with the baby, right?”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Renzo
Ihold my son against my chest as my heart pounds. Anger. Rage. Hurt. Fury. This has to be Nicki’s fault.
Geralynn is gone…
My breath struggles to regain its steadiness. Only my son keeps me steady.He’s fine, but Geralynn isn’t.I can’t let this consume me, but I already can’t stop the violent thoughts from flooding my head.I will kill whoever did this.
Gino pulled up the cameras and they give us an almost clear view of what happened – except for who took them. This can’t be happening. I can’t unfreeze my grasp on Roman but if I have to chase after his mother and my sister, I’ll have to put him down.
Right now, I don’t even know who to call. Gino helped me search the rest of the house. My son can tell us apart better than most adults and he cries whenever I’m not the one holding him. Gino finds very little to suggest what happened.
There are signs that a cup of tea was spilled – a damp, minty puddle of liquid trailing from the table to the floor.She would have cleaned up. She was taken, I know it. The bottle of winemust have been my sister Nicki’s. Geralynn and I both avoid alcohol as much as possible ever since the incident with my sister. Plus, she wouldn’t let her guard down around Nicki.
It turns out that even letting my sister into her life a little bit was too much.
“We saw what happened on the footage,” Gino says, lighting up a cigarette as I lean against his car, urging the last traces of alcohol to leave my body as I clutch my son against my chest and glare at Gino who at least has the decency to blow his nasty smoke in the opposite direction from my son.
“A black car pulled up. They got out with guns and grabbed Geralynn. Nicki pulled out a weapon–”
“Which she brought to the house where my son sleeps,” I mutter under my breath. Gino glares at me for interrupting, but how can he expect me not to hold onto that? My sister has caused enough trouble in my life as it is.
Gino continues in defiance of my sullen demeanor. “Nicki shot the guy. It seems like she got him. But the other one took Geralynn. Nicki tried to run for the house.”
“She must have made it inside.”
