BOOK 1 | 𝙁𝙊𝙍𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙍 𝙈𝙄𝙉𝙀
♕ GIOVANNI VITIELLO lost the love of his life three years ago...or so he thinks. Now living a life shrouded by the Famiglia's darkness, he's become ruthless; an empty shell with a black hole where his heart used to b...
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KALANI'S neck broke out into a cold sweat as the door to the diner she worked in was thrown open, a strangely cold gust of November wind making her shiver. The man who'd stepped in wore a black trench coat with a grey sweater underneath and corduroy trousers. Kalani couldn't place her finger on it but she had most definitely seen him before.
He stood tall and confidently, alerting everyone of his presence. Kalani finished wiping down the front desk before slapping on her customer-friendly smile. The closer he approached the more handsome his features became. He had moss coloured eyes with restless stubble drawn across his cheeks.
The minute they made eye contact, he seemingly froze. His brows drew together the longer he stared at her. Kalani shifted from foot to foot under the scrutiny of his gaze.
His eyes left her face before falling onto her name tag. His frown deepened. Kalani hadn't been able to find her name badge so she'd borrowed Frankie's who'd called in sick.
"Good afternoon, sir, what can I get for you today?"
He seemed taken aback at the sound of her voice before he mumbled something under his breath along the lines of a cheese steak sandwich and cold drink. His face had lost some of it's colour and Kalani offered him a seat but he refused, insisting he had somewhere to be.
"No worries, that'll be $6.99." He tapped a black card against the card reader and Kalani caught sight of the bank before he removed the card. Kalani felt her heart stop. Her hands began to tremble and she quickly hid them under the counter so he couldn't see.
"I'll be back with your food in just a second," he wasn't given a chance to reply as she practically sprinted behind two silver double doors to the kitchen. After quickly hanging up his cheque for the chefs, she rounded the corner towards the staff break room.
"Hey, Susannah, please can you serve the man at the till his food? I need to go on my break," Kalani lied but Susannah nodded eagerly. Since she was a new employee, Susannah was always trying to please everyone.
Kalani peeled off her apron and threw herself down into a chair. Running two hands over her face, she let out the deep breath which had been trapped in her lungs. The man's card had had the words 'intesa sanpaolo' scribed along the left hand corner.
Kalani knew that bank well. Intesa Sanpaolo was a bank in Italy.
What if he knew who she was? What would happen if he reported back to Giovanni?
Kalani lifted her head from her palms and shook it off, trying to push back the paranoia. It could possibly be a coincidence that he was Italian. And maybe it was also a coincidence she'd thought he looked familiar. There were possibly hundreds if not thousands of Italians who lived in Philadelphia and this was simply a coincidence.
It was no use. Kalani had read into the signs and her mind wouldn't stop ringing warning bells. Her shift finished in two hours but she knew she couldn't get through the next 120 minutes without frantically worrying over Sienna's safety.
