Page 53 of A Seed Of Peril

“Ow,” she said, reaching her hand back as I ran her brush through a small knot in her freshly-washed hair.

“I’m sorry. I think that was the only one.”

“It better be,” she grumbled to herself.

“Katrina,” I scolded, failing to stop from laughing at her sass. I had a sensitive scalp too, so I understood. I sprayed one last spritz of detangler on her hair, threading her brush through it. “Have you thought about what kind of cat you want?” She shook her head. “That’s okay; you’ve got plenty of time.”

I threaded my fingers through her hair to make sure I tackled all the knots and rats’ nests.

“Lulu, is there any cake left?”

“The one I made for you?” She nodded. “We do; it’s in the fridge.”

“Can I have some?”

Putting her brush down on her bathroom sink, I started to separate her hair so I could style it into a loose braid. She liked how it made her hair wavy.

“Tomorrow, I promise.”

“Pleeeease,” she whined.

She wound up loving her cake. After having a couple slices myself, I was impressed. I made a note in my phone of the recipe to make sure I wouldn’t forget it

“It’s late,” I said. “I don’t want you getting a tummy ache or a sugar rush.”

Pouting, she huffed, dropping the subject.

“What was your favorite thing about today?” I asked her, nearing the end of her braid.

“That cake.”

I laughed. “Okay, aside from the obvious, what else did you like?”

She made a face like she was in deep thought. “Presents,” she answered. “Definitely the presents.”

When we gathered around while she opened her birthday gifts, I lost track of who gave what. Thankfully, Dominic had that taken care of. I’d hate to be the one responsible for writing and addressing those thank-you notes.

One of her favorite toys was a pink ride-on Lamborghini. Dino found that one. It had LED lights and an mp3 player. She shared it with some of the other kids before she ended up driving it throughout the parking lot. And all the new Barbies and Barbie accessories… I was certain we’d need a tote to store it all in.

I secured Katrina’s hair tie and cupped the sides of her face in my palms, bending over and kissing the crown of her head.

“I’m glad you had a good day.” She smiled, thanking me. My hands now on her upper arms, we looked at each other in the mirror. “Let’s get you tucked in.”

“Okay, Lulu.”

She followed me out of the bathroom, passing me as I turned off the light.

“Did you have fun today, too?” she asked as she climbed into bed.

“Yeah,” I said, thinking about how fast the afternoon flew by, the laughs and the small talk, and just the importance of family. I walked over to Katrina’s bookshelf to select a bedtime story. “Yeah, I did.”

Dominic formally introduced me to Stefano Baldomero and Alessandro Maccarone. They both took a fast liking to me, congratulating me on my pregnancy. We chatted about Hector, but briefly, mainly regarding when I was sworn into the Salamone family. Sometimes, it kind of felt like they were sniffing me out, maybe even trying to phish for some sort of intel, and I mentally prepared myself for that. Women weren’tsoldatos. This was unfamiliar territory, and with meeting me for the first time, none of them trusted me yet. That was obvious with Caterina Maccarone.

Mrs. Baldomero—Mia—was an absolute sweetheart, but Caterina… I was on her radar. While Mia and I became fast friends, Mrs. Maccarone looked at me as if I weren’t anyone special. I brushed it off, but it was still a tiny thorn in my side I couldn’t dig out.

I leaned on Dominic about it on the way home, learning that the Maccarones were never really fond of the Salamones to begin with. They felt the same with the Baldomeros. Alessandro hated any kind of competition, and although our families maintained peace and a long-standing truce, us and everyone else were still seen as rivals. Dominic didn’t give a fuck about Alessandro—his words—as long as he stayed in line and on our side. He told me not to lose sleep over Caterina, that she probably thought I was secretly after her husband. After I stopped laughing, I promised Dominic I wouldn’t let her bother me.

“What story would you like?” I asked Katrina, turning around to see her arranging her new addition of stuffed animals next to her on the bed.

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