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That I was declaring war on him

The night went on for hours

I enjoyed myself

Ad difficult I liked Vincentius and Sofia, despite who they were, despite what they knew They were likeable Engaging But with an edge

It was nothing like dinner with Pete’s parents which was always tense, argumentative, uncomfortable, despite his mother’s efforts The only reason everyone didn’t kill each other was because of all of the booze they consumed

If there was a table whereto be committed then this would be it But there wasn’t even a tense word There was the elephant in the rooot about for most of the dinner

I didn’t knohat kind of conversation to expect from a current and previous mafia Don and a wos Perhaps talk of bribes,to take as theirs Yet there was none of that Sofia asked questions about h she quickly skirted off the topic when I said my mother was dead in a tone that communicated I did not wish to speak of it further There was a softness to her eyes, an empathy that almost made me burst into tears That made no sense I hadn’t cried once over nosis, not as the hideous disease ate at everything she was, and not even when she was put in the ground But here, in what I had considered to be a cold and inhospitable environh to surface Luckily, I sed them back down as conversation returned to the restaurant, the new chef, politics and literature

I was not usually an engaging dinner guest with parents I sucked at s I wanted to be somewhere And in the past, I never wanted to attend dinners such as this The fake s I wasn’t, I’d despised it

But the smiles weren’t fake, the conversation wasn’t e to be anyone I wasn’t It made no sense A mafia Don’s fiancée Was that who I was meant to be? The partner of a much older, ruthless crih to make me feel alive?

Bu if that was my fate, I’d already set events inwith Detective Harris He wasn’t going to just go away if I told hied my mind

And I couldn’t changedinner I couldn’t trust myself Couldn’t trust Cristian And I knew I couldn’t trust Detective Harris, despite what he’d said

All of these crises came to me after Vincentius and Sofia left, of course After the staff had left, and it was just me and Cristian in the house Well, and Felix I assu around theit clear he was just waiting for his moment to pounce My mind went to him more than I wanted it to, definitely more than it should’ve

But right now, Felix was a fleeting thought Especially when Cristian was looking at me like that

I’d been in the dining roo off the re to ascend the stairs and hide in my room as would’ve been safest, would’ve been best foras best for me, not when Cristian was involved

He had been saying his goodbyes to Vincentius, in hushed tones thatabout menus or Bukowski There was no way forco roo at the art on the walls, searching for so the length of the equally long dining table The as smooth, dust free and likely custoed artfully on top That didn’t interest me, the lavish, iraphs that were spaced evenly across the surface in glea silver frames, those hat interested me

One of Vincentius and Sofia when they were younger, with a teenage boy Uns into the camera He was handsome, like Vincentius My eyes narrowed as I tried to find a trace of Cristian in this boy He and Vincentius had different last naal purposes, so the Catalano na