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Walking through the crowd gathered around our table, I found Pina—the younger Bernoulli sister—looking as happy with the scene as I was.
“Hey! What are you doing here alone?” I yelled so she could hear me over the insanely loud techno music.
“What?”
“What are you doing here alone?”
“I’m praying for my eardrum not to burst.”
“Same.” I tugged at her arm. “Come on, let’s step out for a second. My head hurts.”
Pina agreed and we walked to the back of the club. One of my brothers owned the place, so no one stopped us from going through the staff entrance and getting to the alley behind.
Palermo was not a city for luxury clubs, except the few that belonged to my family, or at least that’s not how I saw it. The real fun was not in closed rooms, it was in the streets, when the music would fill out the night and everyone was dancing and singing along. That was my kind of night out, but it wouldn’t have fit with Ariana’s idea of glamor.
“Finally, some fresh air.” Pina said and inhaled. “You have no idea how glad I am you’re here. Some of Ari’s friends have arrived yesterday and spent the night at our house. I was forced to listen to them talk about how to correctly apply foundation all day. Apparently, there are multiple techniques to spread brown paint on your face.”
I crossed my arms and giggled. I knew all the techniques, but of course Pina, with her flawless sun-kissed face and her hate for girly things, didn’t care. “It’s what girls do, right?”
“Girls with no other interest in life, maybe, but not me. And this party, ugh! I tried to convince Ariana to go to a restaurant instead, but since your brother offered to give her that VIP table, there was no talking to her, so it’s all Gianni’s fault.”
“Of course Gianni gave her the VIP tables. You guys are family.”
“Are they here tonight? Your brothers, I mean?”
“No. Giovanni called last night to tell me that him, Gianni and Guido are leaving to Amalfi with the wives for a week, Giorgio has a business thing, and the twins didn’t return from their trip to Qatar yet.”
Pina blinked a few times and swallowed hard. I knew exactly why.
“What about Garon? Is he out of town too?”
My smile widened. Garon, the youngest of the Caputo boys, was very popular around here, especially with the ladies. Pina was one of them. She carried a torch for the blue-eyed devil ever since we were kids and pretty much everyone knew it. The twins – Goliath and Gaspino – have teased her relentlessly about it.
“No, he’s around. Actually, he’s coming to the house for dinner this Sunday if you want to join us.”
Pina rolled her eyes. “Why would I do that?” From her purse, she got a pack of cigarettes and lit one. “Want one?”
“Sure, but let’s move next to that wall.” I pointed somewhere behind her. “I don’t want the cameras to pick me up. Gianni would kill me.”
“Are you sure your brothers don’t know you smoke? They know everything.”
“They would have ratted me out toBabboby now and I don’t smoke. It’s only a social habit.”
“Sure.” She rolled her eyes. “You were saying Garon is coming to dinner.”
“Oh, God, you are so smitten with him. Why don’t you try to ask him out or something?”
Pina laughed in my face. “It will never happen.”
“Why not? Don’t you want to be my sister?”
“First of all, he calls me pigtails. He thinks I’m a kid.” For fifteen years, Pina’s mother had made her wear her blonde hair exclusively in pigtails. No one could blame Garon for giving her that nickname.
“Second, and don’t get mad at me for saying this, your brother is a slut.”
“Pina!” I tried to sound offended, but laughed. Yes, Garon’s conquests were the stuff of legends in Palermo. When he was out to have fun, men would lock their wives in the house. “Ok, maybe he’s had more than a few girlfriends, but you can never know.”
“Sure, I’ll be the one who turns Garon Caputo into a one-woman man and then pigs will fly.”
