Gun in hand, I crept towards the sound echoing in my kitchen. I slid against the wall and unloaded the clip into the intruder. Great. Just great. I kicked open the trap
door and slid him inside before I began cleaning up the blood. When I deemed it clean enough, I called my mom. Pick up your phone. I groaned. "Mama? I had to take the trash out again. This is the third time I've had to since I got back."
My mother's voice sounded weary, which meant the thickness of her Northern Italian accent was going to show. "Well maybe if you paid me a visit and stayed over here you wouldn't have to. I'll send Vinnie to help. Give him about 30 minutes to be there." She sighed. "Stay safe, son."
"I will. I always am." I hung up and went into my closet. Throwing whatever clothes I could grab into a suitcase, I yelled. How could I have invited Tali here when I don't know how to keep myself safe? As I zipped my suitcase and heaved it to the floor, I heard Vinnie's knocking. "It's open, bro."
Vinnie shook his head when he found me. His brown-black hair shone in the moonlight. "Seriously? Do you always have to have your fun when I'm in the middle of something?" His lips curved in a smirk. "Come on, let's get you out of here. Where are you wanting to go for the night?"
I grabbed the suitcase and sighed. "I don't know." I made sure the pistol was secured on my hip and I grabbed a couple of extra magazines off my dresser. "Just drop me off at Mama's. I'll figure it out."
He nodded. "You always do, cuzzo. So who's the girl?" Vinnie asked as he pulled my front door shut. "You've never been this quiet."
"Talia. I met her back in the states." I frowned. "Crap, I've got to call her." I pulled my phone out and quickly dialed her number. "Tali?"
Her soft yawn sounded through the speaker. "Hey, sweet thang. What's going on?" Her voice was barely over a whisper. "Are you doing alright?"
I grinned. "Yeah, I just forgot to call you tonight before bed and I just remembered. I'm sorry it's so late." I glanced at the clock that read 6 am.
Her laugh surrounded me and calmed my nerves that I didn't know were frayed. "You're fine. I was just laying down. It's been a long day."
Yeah, you might have had a long day but at least you haven't had to kill anyone. "Well do you want me to let you go so you can sleep?"
She giggled. "Sing me the lullaby?" She asked as I relaxed in my seat.
"For you, I'd do anything. Are you sure you want me to sing you that? I can drop some bars and spit fire."
Talia giggled. "Cheesy, sing the song." Her energy spiked as she turned on the video chat. "Hi, cutie." She blushed.
My cheeks tinged. "Hi, baby. So you want the song, huh?" I teased.
She smiled and I could tell something was wrong. "Yeah, Ces." Her eyes darted to a corner of her room and she shook her head.
I placed my hand on my jaw and looked out the window. "No, who is in your room?" I asked, not even looking at her. My mind was already distracted.
"My brother, Keagan. I didn't know he was in town and he decided to pay me a visit earlier. He was asking if I was hungry." She explained, still sounding preoccupied.
I rolled my eyes. "Tali, I'll talk to you tomorrow. I've got stuff to do right now anyway." I clicked the button and ended the call. Why didn't I know of a Keagan before now? She's never mentioned him before when we talked about our siblings.
Vinnie glanced at me. "Uh oh, sounds like there's trouble in paradise. Was that your American?"
I nodded. "Yeah, but she's hiding something that I intend on finding out." I sighed. "Ever have a feeling that you know something bad is gonna happen, but you don't know any of the details?"
He chuckled. "Yeah, it's called life, Gee. Why does she call you 'Cheesy'? That sounds so stereotypical."
Rolling my eyes, I shook my head. "No, cuzzo, that would definitely be 'pasta'. My best friend called me 'Cessy', which was pretty cool, but she didn't want him to know she knew my name and could pronounce it better than he could, thus, 'Cheesy.'" I shrugged my shoulders.
"So in other words she wanted to live up to being an American, huh?" I nodded, sadly. "Your mom is going to freak out. You know she's been trying to hook you and Sofia up for ages."
I shrugged my shoulders. "Oh, well, Mama can get over it. Once she meets Tali, IF she meets Tali, she'll understand why I'm drawn to that chick."
He pulled up to the gate surrounding my mom's. "If she's anything like she was on the phone, she's not going to like her." The gate swung open and Vinnie drove up to the manor. "Are you bringing her here?"
"Maybe. She's just waiting for her passport to come in." I sighed and got out of the car. "Thanks, Vinnie." I called over my shoulder and flung open the front door. "Mama?" I called out when I walked into the foyer.
Her voice rang out from the kitchen. "In here, Giovanni. There's someone here to see you."
Papa? I bit my lip and walked towards the sound of women giggling. Wait, women? I raised my eyebrow as I walked in the kitchen and took a seat at the island. "Ma?" I asked hesitantly.
"Giovanni, you remember Sofia? She stopped by today to see you. I told her last week that you were back home and she seemed so ecstatic. Today is her only off day so go out to the back deck and catch up."
I groaned. "Ma, I met someone already. She's an American but she's brilliant. I've never met anyone like her before."
She raised her eyebrow. "Does she know your secret like Sofia?" She asked sternly. I shook my head. "That settles it, go see her and before you tell me 'no', Giovanni, you might have to make an honest woman out of her."
"What are you even talking about, Ma?" I asked as I grabbed a bottle of wine off the display and popped the cork.
Her laugh made the hair on the back of my neck stand. "Cesare Giovanni, she's pregnant with your child. You have to marry her. She's already pretty much a part of this family."
I laughed and shook my head. "Sorry, Ma, I know that you want grandbabies but I haven't made you any yet." I kissed her forehead and grabbed the bottle of wine before heading to the basement
