Page 84 of The Mafia's Bride
She hurries over to me, refilling my half empty mug of coffee. “Drink,” she urges, patting my cheek. Her accent is lighter than Lex’s, but she rolls herr’s. “It’ll help settle the mind.”
“How did you know about my thoughts?”
After Lex and I settled things, Maria and Nico have been more open in communicating with me. It’s a relief, honestly. Living with my father, it was always hushed whispers and stoic faces or loud fights with hard-hitting hands. I need communication, I need energy and laughter.
Finally I have that, with Maria doting on me like a true mother hen.
She gives me a look. One that a mother has perfected over the lifetime of childrearing. “Come now, piccola. I’m old, not deaf. I know what happened last night.”
I sip from the strong coffee, letting the bitterness soak into my tongue. “It was a long night.”
“You went to the docks.” It’s not a question.
I nod, softly, twisting my hands into the demure sky-blue dress.With capped sleeve and hem below my knee, I look ready to start in a law office. “I did.”
I won’t apologize for going there, for witnessing the operation in action. I wanted to know. I needed to understand the world I was born into, my husband’s world and, now, my family’s world.
Lex isn’t my father. He wanted an equal, not a pretty wife that lived in an ivory tower, meant to be alone and locked away.
She waggles her finger like I’ve said something naughty. “Ah, ah. First rule of marrying a man in the De Luca family? Never know about the business.”
“But I want to know.”
“No, you don’t.” She plops her body onto the kitchen stool, pouring a generous helping of coffee for herself. She places one sugar cube into the mixture and stirs silently. “Sure, you want to know about it. Understand why we do it. It’s natural. Society says we’re not supposed to make money off the suffering of others.” She shrugs, waving into the air. “Society also says we need money to survive. This is business. But no one truly wants to know about it.”
Licking my lips, I digest her words. “And if I do?” I raise an eyebrow, daring her to correct me.
She looks at me over the edge of her cup, deep brown eyes a shade darker than my husband’s but they’re familiar. Knowing.
“Then you’re a braver woman than I took you for, piccola.”
I smile despite myself, fighting to keep it away at her praise. It’s been hard to feel accepted in this home, hard to feel close to Maria. I feel like now, maybe, there can be progress.
“How do you handle this?” I gesture to the home and the counter, filled yet again with steaming food. “How do I handle what they do, who they are, what we are?” I ask, gesturing to her outfit, as if I’m going to be in her shoes. The future Capo’s wife.
I won’t pretend to know what that means. What responsibilities I’ll have. Nico is the face and might of the organization, but Maria is the glue, the heart that keeps everyone together like a family. Could I do that too?
Smiling softly, the wrinkled age of laugh lines forms in hercheeks. “It’s not easy, darling. In fact, in those early days, I didn’t think I would survive.” She runs her tongue over her teeth, sighing deeply. “But love is how you handle this. Do you love my nephew?”
I snort. “I think you’re overstepping boundaries, Maria.”
She waves me off. “In this family, there are no boundaries. Do you love him?”
I refuse to answer, staring at her in silence. I might have just admitted it to myself, but I would not be spilling my secrets to the queen of this family.
A slow smile spreads across her face. “Ah. I see. Well…” She picks up a butter cookie, taking a delicate bite over her cup. A few crumbs fall into the coffee. “You’ll figure it out. You’ll handle it. Unlike in some organizations, women are treated like property. Here, the De Luca men treat their women like equals. You’ll never do anything alone as long as you’re a De Luca.”
She finished the cookies, dusting her hands off. “Did he kill a man in front of you?”
I swallow uneasily. “Yes.”
Zia’s coppery brown eyes darken, her mouth pulling into a deep frown. “Ah.Bene. And you’re still here.” She retreats, moving to stand. “A man will only kill for three things: to protect his business, to protect his life, or to protect his love. Guess which one you fall into, piccola?”
“You know Lex loves me?”
Maria gives me a telling look. “Sloane, I’ve seen that man flirt, date, swoon over women before. I’ve never seen him so angry like he was when he brought you in here, after your ordeal. I’ve never seen him so angry, that someone should wish to harm what is his. Lex is many things. But he only shows those emotions, only breaks that control, with those he truly cares about.”
She goes to the sink, washing her small mug. I’ve barely sipped from mine.
