Page 135 of The Devil's Fire

I brought my hand up to my mouth, trying to contain the laughter that threatened to escape. My mother was looking so happy for them!

“Thank you! We just got married. Isn’t that right, honey?” Luca said with a bright smile and placed his hand on top of Giovanni’s. Giovanni was giving him a look that could kill.

“Yes, dear.” He forced out between gritted teeth.

“Oh, that’s lovely! Congratulations.”

“Thank you so much, ma’am.” Luca's lips curled into a joyful smile. My mother wore a wide grin before excusing herself to the restroom.

Once she was out of sight, I turned my attention to them and immediately started laughing. The sour look on Giovanni’s face and his glaring eyes only made it funnier.

“I fucking hate you all.” He grumbled.

forty-two

Althaia

Things at work had calmed down. I was taking a lot of stress off my mother’s shoulder now that I was back because, other than her, I was the only one skilled enough to sketch customers’ wishes. We had seamstresses working for us, but they were not always in the boutique with us, only when it became busy.

Time seemed to fly, and before I knew it, weeks had already gone by. It felt like time was going by even faster because as soon as I would get home from work, I would pass out the second my head hit the pillow.

I haven’t been talking to Damiano as much, only squeezing in a text message here and there. He called me last night, and I was so tired that I fell asleep while talking to him, but he knew how busy things have been.

I felt guilty that I barely had any time for him when he always made sure to have time for me. And he was the one with multiple businesses and running a Mafia.

Lately, I was feeling like I couldn’t get enough sleep, even though I was getting more than eight hours. It was so bad that I would hit snooze way too many times and be late for work. And because of my many late mornings, Luca had to drive me to work. He even had coffee and breakfast ready for me in the car since it became a routine. He would drop me off a block away from the boutique so my mother wouldn’t notice.

“Are you sure you can keep the boutique open while I’m gone?” My mother asked for the hundredth time.

“Yes, I’m sure I can. You just focus on relaxing because you’re seriously all tensed up.” I chuckled. “Besides, things have calmed down a lot, so I can manage.”

“Okay, good. If not, you call me, and I will come back right away.”

“Nope. I can’t believe I have to force you to take a break!” I shook my head and made a tsking sound.

It was evening, and my mother would leave for her trip with Mrs. Park tomorrow morning. Mrs. Park and my mother have been friends ever since we moved here, and I was also close friends with her daughter, Jenny, who was currently on a very hot vacation. And by hot, I was referring to her being with one hot guy after another.

She sent me pictures of them and even rated them from one to ten on how good they were in bed. And other detailed information I didn’t need to know. She was definitely going to be the hot, single, rich Asian auntie in the future.

“Hey mom, what’s this?” I furrowed my brows at the document in my hands that I found in her purse. She turned to look at me, stopping in her tracks when she noticed what it was.

“You were not supposed to see that. Not yet.” She sighed.

“You bought a property?” I asked, confused, as I read. My eyes suddenly went wide when I read where. “You bought a property in Greece?”

“I did.” My mother smiled and took the document from me.

“But why?”

“Because we are moving.” She stated calmly. I looked at her in complete shock.

“Moving to Greece?”

“Yes.”

“Why? We can’t just do that!” I exclaimed.

“Why not? We have always talked about how it would be nice to live there whenever we are there on vacation. And trust me, it’s for the best. Everything has already been taken care of. Once Cara gets married, we are out of here.” My mother left no room for discussion and went back to packing her things.

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