Page 24 of The Mafia's Surprise Gift

“Did I nearly fucking die?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s all I need to know. Now take me home to my son and leave me the hell alone.”

10

MAE

Dino was completely silent on the drive home which gave me time to try and think. My mind was like a broken record, stuck completely on the events at the cemetery and Rocco’s revelation. Nothing else mattered.

So, he was in the Mafia. Both of them were. No wonder they didn’t want to call the police. I was far too exhausted to consider the true extent of their criminal reach, but they definitely didn’t seem surprised by this afternoon’s disaster. If anything, they were furious as if something much bigger were going on.

Something so big that his father was assassinated.

This was insane. So absolutely insane.

By the time we reached home, I was no closer to understanding everything I had learned. Dino turned the car off and moved as if to get out before me, but my hand was on the handle, and I was out of the car before he could unbuckle his seatbelt.

“Mae—”

“Don’t talk to me.” I slammed the door and stormed up the path, breaking into a jog, and I didn’t stop until I was safely inside my mother’s house. This late at night, all the lights were off, and I knew she wouldn’t have been worried about me since I didn’t give her a specific time I’d be home.

Still, there was something incredibly comforting about walking down the short hallway and spotting light coming out from underneath the kitchen door. Was she still awake?

Pushing the door open, my mother stood in her house coat, her graying hair wrapped in a silk bonnet to protect her curls. She stirred a small cup of freshly made tea in front of her as the tea bag near the sink was still steaming.

“Mae?” She turned to me with her brows pinched and her eyes narrowed. She must have taken her contacts out already.

“Mom.”

“How was the funeral?” she asked. I didn’t reply. I couldn’t. Everything that I wanted to tell her was bubbling just underneath the surface, but the words couldn’t form. Where did I even start? If I told her anything, would it put her at risk?

Rocco didn’t exactly say I couldn’t tell anyone, but the implications were clear, considering his line of work. Would she even believe me?

Standing in the kitchen, the entire day began to feel like some bizarre dream so far from reality that I scarcely believed it myself.

“Mae? What happened to your dress?”

I glanced down, having forgotten that Dino had torn my dress while looking for injuries and left me in a spare shirt. I had left the house, and Dino’s car, without even tracking down my shoes.

“There was a… wine incident.”

“A wine incident?” The tired disbelief in my mother’s voice was enough to convince me I had made the right call, but I was far too worked up to deal with whatever judgmental thoughts were coming my way as she picked up her tea cup.

“Yeah. I’m going to look in on Zack and then I’m going to bed. Goodnight.” I flashed her a tired smile, faked a yawn despite how my body was still on high alert, and headed up the stairs.

Each step felt… different. It was difficult for me to pinpoint exactly what had changed, but so much around me was different. The smooth, peeling paint on the banister felt strange under my fingertips. The carpet was wiry and sharper under my bare feet, and stale coffee clung to the air. It was like I was touching and smelling everything properly for the first time.

Was that what a near-death experience did to you?

I padded down the hall and slipped into Zack’s room, and the moment I saw him, everything else in my mind quietened. He was fast asleep with one small arm thrown up across the pillow and his mouth wide open, allowing gentle snores to fill the air. With little care about waking him, I slid onto the bed next to him and curled up. My eyes closed, and I buried my nose into his hair, breathing in his familiar warm scent and soaking up all the hints of life. His breathing, his grumbling, the heat from his body.

He was safe. I was safe.

I stayed there until I heard my mother come up the stairs. Tracking the creaking floorboards as she walked, I heard her pause outside Zack’s door for a few minutes, then she continued on down the hall to her own room. The door closed and silence fell, allowing me to rest next to Zack. I would have stayed here all night if the calmness hadn’t finally alerted me to other sensations in my body.

The pull of my bladder finally dragged me from Zack’s bed, and I left after kissing him gently on the forehead. True to a boy who loved to sleep, he didn’t stir even once.

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