Page 23 of Mafia Don's Secret Twins

Not our battle.

I feel Sal shuffle next to me, and I want to turn and slam my displeasure into his face. However, he merely nods, agreeing with Elio’s words.

As he always has.

Elio finishes giving his orders.

The gathered soldiers nod before filing out.

After a moment, Elio gestures to Sal and me. “Come. Let us see if there are any weaknesses in the fence.”

Walking the fence seems like a weird way to spend the time, especially considering that Elio likely wants to be inside checking on his family, but I follow all the same.

Outside of the iron fence that guards Elio’s home, the New York forest is oddly quiet. The air is still, almost like there’s nothing moving in the woods, and even the normal noises you’d expect, like bugs or frogs, are muted. I don’t hear anything except the crunch of gravel under our shoes as we walk the path that goes around the perimeter of Elio’s compound. We make it the whole way around and back to the gravel road when Sal finally speaks.

“You can’t keep her here,” Sal says quietly.

I stop. “You don’t get to fucking tell me what to do.”

“It’s not safe.”

“She’s not safe out there.”

“Souza wants her,” Elio says calmly. “He’s her father. She knows him best. Perhaps we….”

He pauses.

There’s a shape walking up the road.

The three of us react. I reach for the knife in my belt. Sal shines a flashlight on the person.

And Elio sprints for them.

The split second before Elio flies in, arm poised to punch the stranger in the face, is when I realize who it is.

“Marco?”

4

MARISOL

After Dino leaves,it's blissfully quiet.

Well, I guess that it’s certainly quiet. The blissful part is up for debate. Because while I'm happy that he's gone, my heart feels like it's aching with all of the thoughts swirling around.

Seeing Dino again is shocking in ways I hadn't anticipated. I feel like a snow globe. I had years to settle my emotions around him, years to let them drift down and sit at my feet where I would never have to see them again. I could ignore all of those feelings there, where I didn't have to examine them in the light of day.

But now?

My whole world has been shaken up, and all I can do is examine the fallout.

Dios Mio, he's so handsome.

All of the scars make me itch to follow them with my fingers. I want to map out the new terrain on his skin, ask him how each one came to be. They show me a brutality that I hadn'tconsidered in him before, which makes the memory of our night together, and the tenderness that he showed me, even more fascinating.

A chill skates over my skin. Is Dino even capable of such thoughtful, emotional connection again?

Why do I want to find out so badly?

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