A love like ours ✔️

♚44.The Pakhan's daughter

Rafael

"Salvador is coming here?" Star asks surprised.

"Unforunately." I grumble my discontent, but she blatantly ignores it. "My parents are picking him up from our airstrip."

"First of all, please try to be civil with my brother. That goes for all of you. Is that understood?"

A choir of weak, reluctant yesses follows.

"Secondly, I can't chose between my best friends, so does anybody have a coin?"

Dante reaches in his pocket and extracts her one, giving it to her.

"Thank you, Baby cheeks." She pats his cheek. "Heads or tails, Lo ?"

"Tails."

Star tosses the coin in the air ,catching it and smacking it against the back of her left hand. "Well, it looks like you're out of luck. It's head."

Addie bounces on her feet, claping her hands together while her blue eyes twinkle in delight.

"But-"

"You can help me organise the wedding, Lo, that way you'll be even. With me takinng over papa's place Addie will be busy anyway."

"So I guess you're curious about today's schedule, then." The blonde woman says.

"It's Sunday and you've just come back from the dead, you should take the day off, Raya." Dante interferes.

"I have a war to win and a throne to take. There's no rest for the wicked, D." She says, trying to put conviction in her words.

Maybe the others will be fooled by her act, but I can see right trough it. Sitting barefoot, in the middle of the living room in her pink flowy summer dress, with her hair braided in a fishtail and a warm smile on her face, to me she looks frail and weary. The events that took place in the months she's been away from us were already weighting her down, but now there's Damiano's situation too. I'd like for her to slow down, to let me solve at least some of her problems, but I know that keeping her mind busy will work as a coping mechanism.

She needs to be her old self right now, the First Capo who won't sit still for a moment, who throws daggers at people when they make her mad and makes brilliant strategies to bring her enemies to their knees.

"After breakfast you have a press conference at 12. At 2 p.m you have to go to your office at the MC's headquarters where a mountain of papers that are waiting your approval. At 4 p.m you have an emergency meeting , the partners have already signed the documents necessary for you to become the CEO. Though we only need your signature to complete the process, you still have to reassure them not only that the transition will go smoothly bit also that merging with Russo Industries is in their best interest. You've already had the presentation prepare before your disappearance, so there's that."

"All right." My wife sighs. "Anything else?"

"I'm sorry, but yes. At 7 p.m you have a general meeting with your father's mafia. Your people want to welcome you back."

"Some of them. The others are ready to challange my position when I'll announce that I'm already married and ready to take over."

"It's unavoidable, Ray." Lo jumps in. "New power is always chalanged. You'd face the same problem even if you were a Morelli by blood."

"If things go right, by tomorrow you'll be the new Donna." Addie says.

Just then, the doorbell rings, announcing that the last of our guests have arrived. Star heads for the door, but before she takes her third step she throws us a warning glare over her shoulder, waving her pointer finger in the air.