On the previous chapter...
Yaqueline smiled, reaching for my hand. "I like the sound of that. All of us, together".
Cecilia, still not fully off her guard, smirked at Immanuel. "Looks like you're stuck with us for a while longer, soldier".
Immanuel grinned back. "Wouldn't have it any other way".
Silvio shook his head, chuckling. "A vacation with this circus? I'm both terrified and intrigued".
Fiorenzo raised his glass again, voice full of mock solemnity. "To one hell of a completed family, then".
I caught Seraphina's eye and nodded. "Exactly. No more secrets. No more ghosts".
The breeze rustled through the garden, warm and steady, carrying the scent of grilled food and fresh beginnings.
"Alright". I said, voice low but sure. "We survived the worst. Now, we live for the best".
The laughter picked up again, and as the sun dipped lower, I felt it the unmistakable pull of something new.
One family. Whole. Ready.
ʚ YAQUELINE'S POV ɞ
We had arrived that morning three private bungalows, two boats, and one very overwhelmed local concierge named Felix, who blinked at us like he'd just accidentally booked a cult retreat.
And yeah. We were a lot.
Cecilia and Chrysanthe immediately claimed the best lounge chairs like it was a military operation and demanded cocktails with "real fruit, not that sad blender syrup shit".
Seraphina brought a stack of books that looked like classified CIA documents. Silvio packed five knives and a silk robe.
A silk robe. For the beach.
"I don't swim". He said when Divine gave him a look. "But I do lounge".
Meanwhile, Seth finally showed up. He hadn't come with us originally, but now he was here. Just... appeared. Calm as ever, in a perfect white linen outfit, standing on the dock like he'd been summoned from a cologne commercial.
He hugged Divine like they hadn't been on different sides of a global power struggle. No words. Just siblings. Coconut water. Peace, apparently.
Federico had been trying really hard to play host until Seraphina, laying back in full SPF armor, sunglasses on, deadpan as ever, told him:
"Chill out, Rico. You already did all the planning. Let us breathe now".
And to everyone's surprise... he actually listened.
Fiorenzo strolled out in a massive, floppy sunhat that looked like a joke until he put on his sunglasses and reclined like he was posing for a skincare ad.
"I'm bringing whimsy back". He declared.
I was still processing all of that, the sun, the linen, the knives when Chrysanthe launched herself into the infinity pool like she'd been fired from a cannon.
"CANNONBALL!" She yelled.
Water went everywhere.
Half the snack table got soaked. The pineapple slices floated. A towel took flight. Seraphina muttered something in Italian that definitely wasn't a compliment.
Immanuel didn't say a word. He stood up silently, walked over to Cecilia, picked her up bridal-style and jumped straight into the pool with her.
She screamed mid-air.
YOU ARE READING
Silent love
RomanceThere is only one way to make an alliance between the French and Italian mafia and that is by marriage. Yaqueline Aimeé Baudelaire has been hiding from the world her whole life, to protect her from the evil but she is the French mafia princess afte...
