𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 ( 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐎𝐧𝐞)

𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐒𝐢𝐱 - 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐓𝐰𝐨

𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐚

Death is imminent. It comes for us all, and when it does, it brings with it grief, hurling it at those that love us like a gust of heavy wind on our faces. I look at my dad, uncle Rom and Raph standing outside, waiting for us to join them so we can all attend the burial of a man who'd been their doctor when they decided the way out of poverty was in organized crime.

He was a good man, they said—a man with a sense of humour, non-judgemental, and one who understood loyalty.

I watch my dad light up another cigarette when I feel my mom's presence on my left. I know it's her because of her perfume, a subtle whiff of lilac flower laced with something fruity. I'm sure there are more ingredients to the fragrance, but I don't know much more.

"I feel so bad for them," she whispers in a melancholy tone. I wrap my arm around her, bringing her closer to my body, and she wraps hers around my waist, her tiny body fitting perfectly into my large one. "Me too," I reply, turning and kissing her hair.

I hear a scuffle behind us, and I know the others are ready. My mom and I turn, still wrapped around each other; I see aunt Sophie and Mia coming downstairs, holding hands, their faces pensive.

"Are we ready?" I run my eyes around everyone in the room, they nod, but I notice Alessa is missing.

"Where the hell is Alessa?" before I could get an answer, she came running downstairs, her right hand holding a small notebook. "Sorry." she muffles when she joins us.

We are all in black. The women have different style variations, but the men have standard black suits. Lia is wearing a half-sleeve dress with a standing collar, a flared bottom and a blazer. She looks classic but gorgeous; all of them do.

While we walk downstairs, I can't help but notice each of us is holding hands with another. I'm keeping my mother's, aunt Mia and Sophie's; Nic is holding Lia, Alessa is holding Sienna, while Zion has his tightly on Serena.

Once we join the patriarchs, they give us once over, as if they are looking at whether we are presentable enough. They don't speak, but they start walking toward the helipad. I feel my mom's hand tighten in mine. She is sad, not because doctor Charlie is dead even though they are acquainted, but because my father hasn't been the same since they heard of his death.

We get into the two helicopters. My mom sits between my dad and me, Alessa pulls Sienna with her, and Matteo sits on the pilot seats; the others will fly on the other one, which uncle Rom will fly. Although Lia and I haven't made love since yesterday, we spent the night together—in each other's arms, breathing the same air, her body wrapped tightly into mine. There is something beautiful about sleeping on the same bed with your person, hearing them breathe next to you, whispering to each other, and making you feel as if the night belongs only to the both of you. Lia has a way of making me feel intensely loved. The way she touches me, her fingers caressing the corners of my mouth, kissing the tip of my neck, or the way she combs her fingers through my hair like she never wants to stop touching me.

I think I will love once. My father once told me some of us are meant to love one woman for the rest of our lives. It's a blessing and a curse, he said, his eyes with a faraway look. He had looked happy and then gloomy in a span of seconds. That memory shakes me a little because it was when I got my first girlfriend, eighteen years old Maria—two years older than me, though I lied and told her we were the same age.

I listened intently, shook my head to mean I wasn't in love with Maria. He had grinned and said he knew.

"I know." he had said, amused somewhat.