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She glances at me, visibly swallows, and then glances back at the woman.
“That’s Mia,” Luca tells me, as if I care. Maybe he thinks I was looking at her. “The princess of the Marino clan. She’s recently moved here from the West Coast to live with Mom and Dad.”
As I get closer, I hear Mia talking exaggeratedly. She looks even younger than Lexi and Ruby, which makes me feel even more ancient.
Luca smiles as Ruby reaches up for her baby. Then Luca sits, and I sit beside him, achingly aware that only a few feet separate me from Lexi. I clench my hands into fists to stop myself from reaching out and touching her, owning her. It takes a serious effort.
“And that’s why I’m content to die alone,” Mia says, with a note of exaggerated tragedy, tossing her light blond hair.
Ruby shakes her head. “How old are you, Mia? Eighteen?”
“Eighteen and completely certain,” she says with another dramatic flourish.
“You better not catch Mom and Dad hearing you talk like that,” Luca says, chuckling. “They’re used to Marinos falling in love now. Elio and I have set the stage.”
“You can’t imagine how terrible it was back home,” Mia says, making me wonder if her dramatic way of talking is a façade for something deeper.
“But just because something bad happened,” Lexi says, “doesn’t mean… you know…” She trails off when she feels people watching, feels me watching. I’m staring at her like a meal. I need to relax. “Good things can’t happen either.”
Ruby gasps, looking wide-eyed at her sister.
“What?” Lexi snaps.
“Nothing,” Ruby says quietly, looking down at her daughter. “It’s just…”
“I know.” Lexi sighs. “Crazy coming from me, right?”
“I’m happy to hear you say something like that, that’s all,” Ruby says.
Lexi glances at me, the blue in her eyes bright, the green drawing me in, but then she quickly looks away.
“I know you’re probably right,” Mia mutters. “For other people. But believe me, if you knew what happened in Vegas?—”
“In Vegas?” I say sharply, then realize my mistake. This has nothing to do with that. When that happened—the burning, the bloodshed—Mia would’ve been eight years old.
Luca looks at me oddly. “That’s where Mia’s from,” he says. “Where my uncle lives.”
“And now I’m free,” Mia says, tilting her head at me, clearly confused.
I avert my gaze. As rude as it probably is, I don’t want Lexi to think I’m flirting with another woman. Ever.
Everybody’s looking at me like I’m a freak, or maybe that’s just the doubt in my head. Sometimes, I feel like a little kid again, freakishly big and the odd one out. Like I live on a different level than everybody else. Even the mafia men don’t understand. Their brand of darkness is something they expect.
I stuff a chicken leg in my mouth, staring at my plate. Mia goes on, “I’ll never be tied down again.”
“Never?” Lexi says after a long pause. It was like she was building up the courage.
“Never,” Mia repeats, laughing like it’s a joke.
Yet Lexi suddenly seems to be serious about it. I look up to find her staring at Mia, looking weirdly angry. “But… what if you found the right person?”
Ruby gapes at her big sister. A moment later, Scarlet walks up behind her, reaching over and touching hands with Ruby. They’re already good sisters-in-law, then. A weird thought flashes through my mind. If I ever married Lexi, I’d be tied to the Marinos too, through law, at a distance, but still tied and shackled down.
“It sounds like we’re talking about romance,” Scarlet laughs.
“Our favorite subject,” Luca says, grinning, jabbing Ruby playfully.
Is this the same man jabbing me just over a year ago like he wanted to take my head off? With that fierce darkness in his eyes, not drinking anymore, nothing to take the edge off, and then finding his jewel, his Ruby, he’s happy in a way I never could’ve imagined him.
“I’m just saying…” Lexi shrugs.
“She’s judging me,” Mia pouts, but it seems playful. “Because I told her I never want to settle down.”
“But you’re a mafia princess,” Elio says, walking beside his wife and looping his arm around Scarlet. “You have to find a prince.”
“Is that what I have, huh?” Scarlet says, beaming up at him. “A prince?”
“She’s got a point, brother,” Luca cuts in. “That sounds seriously cringe and weird.”
“Cringe and weird,” I say, shaking my head, feeling like I’m sitting outside a glass ball as I watch this social exchange.
“What?” Luca looks at me.
“I’ve just never heard you say that before.”
“It doesn’t matter, anyway,” Lexi says, saving me.
“I think it’s great,” Ruby tells her. “I want you to want to find somebody, at least. You deserve it.”
“Especially after everything you’ve been through,” Mia says.
We all turn to her, wondering how she’d know what Lexi has been through. Honestly, part of it for me is a fierce protective instinct. Then Mia snatches up her glass and starts drinking.
