Dom shrugged. ‘She should have thought of that before she—’
‘Dom!’ I shouted, casting a wary glance at Gino. He didn’t know about my cowardice at The Sicilian Kiss, but the way Dom was dangling it in front of him, he was about to. And that would be one more chink in the secret, and one more step towards my eviction. Or worse. ‘Seriously, shut up!’
Dom raised his palms to me. ‘Calm down, tetchy. I’m just kidding around.’
‘What’s going on down here?’ Felice descended the stairs, his loafers padding softly on the stone floors, his grin fixed perfectly in place. Even now he was back to his old impeccably-turned-out self, I would never forget the version of Felice that had cornered me in that alcove, the manic look in his eyes, the thirst in his voice when he spoke to Paulie about Angelo. I would never forget how deeply he despised his role in the family, or how little respect he had for Valentino. He was more dangerous to me now than ever, and no amount of forced pleasantries or blithe indifference on his part was going to change that. ‘A special delivery, and no one thought to call me?’
‘We were picking our favourites,’ said Gino, twirling his own choice in front of him. ‘Didn’t want to get stuck with any duds.’
Felice arched a brow. ‘A delivery this precious from New York is unlikely to have any duds, Giorgino, and if the Di Salvos heard you say as much, they’d have your tongue cut out before lunchtime.’
‘Calm down, Felice.’ Nic was examining a longer, thinner gun now, which had a little tripod stand.
Felice hunkered down and took a gun for himself. I didn’t fail to notice the look of disdain he offered to the one sitting in my lap. It was probably the one he wanted. I clutched it harder, indicating just how sure my choice now was.
Elena swept through the hall a moment later, her pixie-like nose upturned at our huddle. ‘What a mess you all make sitting there like vagabonds,’ she said, eyeing the weapons over Dom’s shoulders. ‘Can’t we act like adults and place these elsewhere?’ She frowned at me. ‘And shouldn’t you be in school, girl?’
‘Valentino wants her chaperoned to and from school,’ said Dom, without looking up at his mother. ‘I’ll get around to it once I’ve chosen my favourite.’
‘Boys and their silly toys.’ Elena rolled her eyes and sashayed off into the kitchen, her heels clacking on the ground as she went, her voice fading. ‘And the Lord gave me five of them. La vita sa essere terribilmente ingiusta …’
‘So she doesn’t want a gun, then,’ I surmised.
‘Mama doesn’t get her hands dirty if she can help it,’ Nic supplied. He was still examining his gun. His lips were puckered in concentration, his brows pulled together.
‘A lot of the girls don’t get their hands dirty,’ said Gino. ‘That’s what makes you so cool, Soph.’
Something fluttered inside me. Oh, God. Was I really this starved of praise and acceptance that this was making me smile? The answer: yes. ‘Thanks, Gino.’
‘Yeah, that’s what makes you different,’ leered Dom. ‘Your extreme readiness to shoot people.’
I balled my fists. He just couldn’t help himself.
Felice was staring at me. Before he could interrogate Dom over that stupid comment, Valentino arrived. The wheels of his chair were almost soundless on the smooth floor, but Luca was with him, and their conversation, low and in Italian, preceded them.
‘Good,’ said Valentino, eyeing the delivery. ‘So the exchange went well?’ he asked Nic.
Nic disengaged from the guns and puffed his chest up. ‘And we have the Di Salvos’ support in New York too.’
‘Well done.’
Nic nodded, pride straightening his spine. ‘No problem.’
I stole a glance at Luca. He was staring at the automatic machine gun in my lap. To say he was frowning would be a colossal understatement.
‘Shouldn’t you be at school?’ he asked me.
‘I’m just waiting for Dom,’ I said.
Dom was rotating two guns in either hand and humming under his breath. They looked exactly the same to me. ‘I’m nearly ready,’ he said, without looking up. ‘Just have to make one last decision … or can I just have both?’ He looked at Valentino hopefully.
‘Obviously not,’ said Valentino.
Luca muttered something to Valentino and then pulled his car keys from his pocket. ‘I’ll take you, Sophie,’ he said. ‘Come on.’
‘Don’t you want to pick your gun, Luca?’ said Nic. ‘Before all the good ones go.’
Luca was halfway to the door. He didn’t bother turning around to answer. ‘A gun is a gun, Nicoli, not a trophy. Just get them out of the way before the others come downstairs. I don’t want Sal and Aldo seeing them.’
Dom started laughing. ‘Geez, I can’t wait for Christmas so you can suck the joy out of that too.’
Luca raised two fingers over his head, and then disappeared into the driveway. I put my gun down and shrugged my bag on to follow him outside.
‘Good luck going to school under that black cloud,’ said Dom sarcastically. ‘At least we’ll all get a break from him.’
‘Grow up.’ Valentino slapped the back of Dom’s head. ‘Just because he doesn’t want to play with guns like they’re toys.’
‘Blatant favouritism,’ Dom muttered.
Nic caught me by my hand, tugging my attention back to him. ‘I’ll save this one for you. Jack won’t know what hit him, Soph.’ He smiled up at me.
I smiled back. ‘Thanks.’
His fingers were pressing into my palm, jolting warmth up my arm. ‘How high is that friend-zone fence now?’
Frustration careened over my gratitude. ‘One hundred feet high, and covered in barbed wire, Nic.’
Dom, who had clearly been listening in, snorted. ‘Keep climbing, bro, and die trying to get over it.’
Nic slammed the butt of his gun into Dom’s arm, and I left them behind me, bickering.
In the driveway, I slid into the front seat of the car and dropped my bag in front of me so I could put my seatbelt on. ‘Thanks for babysitting me,’ I said. ‘I think Dom is finally getting fed up of being my driver.’
Luca started the engine and reversed around the driveway in a wide arc, his hand slid across the back of my chair, his gaze over his shoulder. ‘I’m just sorry I interrupted such a precious bonding moment.’
‘With me and Nic, or me and my new gun?’ I asked the side of his face.
His laugh was short and mirthless. ‘Aren’t they one and the same now?’
I rolled my eyes. ‘Let’s not do this, Luca. We’re never going to agree about this, so why keep going round in circles?’
He wasn’t looking at me, and I wasn’t looking at him. ‘Sometimes I wonder if you make decisions just to piss me off.’
I glared at the road. ‘Sometimes I wonder if you give yourself too much credit in my decision-making.’
‘Do you have a death wish?’
‘I have a revenge wish.’
‘I have a problem with that.’
‘Then evict me.’
‘No.’
‘Then deal with it.’
He ground his fingers around the steering wheel. ‘And you wouldn’t consider taking a step back from the guns,’ he said, ‘and letting me handle it for you?’
‘What do you mean, handle it?’