Page 68 of Merciless Monster

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“Dante, my brother. It’s good to see you.”

Elio holds me in a bear hug. I’ve missed my little brother. He and I have always been very close. It felt odd being so far away from him for nearly half a year.

“It’s good to be back, brother. You look good.”

“I’m great, now that you’re back. Come. Let’s go home and have a drink. Mamma is at the house. She missed you.”

“How is she?”

“Mamma’s aged since you left. She’s been so worried about you, out there all alone in the States.”

“I feel awful about that. I plan on making it up to her.”

My mother is old. She had us at a later stage in life. I think that this business has taken its toll on her too. First, she lost her husband, and then she nearly lost her oldest son. That must be tough on any woman, no matter how resilient she is.

“Does she know about Angelo?” I ask.

“No. It isn’t my place to tell her. I thought I’d leave that to you.”

“Thanks, Elio.”

“She’s going to be very pleased.”

“Yeah. That’s if I manage to convince Mia to move to Rome and join our family.”

“She’ll come around. I’m sure the news came as a shock to her.”

“Yeah. She wasn’t exactly thrilled about it.”

“Let’s get you drunk. You look like a man who could use a little distraction.”

“You read my mind. I better not have had your stag night without me.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he laughs and slaps me on the back.

“Excellent. I’ll get cracking on the arrangements. Your last chance to squeeze some illegal titties, young man.”

“Lisa’s going to kill you.”

“She’ll have to catch me first.”

“Fuck, it’s good to have you home.”

“La mia anima appartiene all'Italia! Let’s drink.”

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“Hey, Mia.”

“Hi, babe.”

“How are you?”

“Okay. The house seems so empty now.”

“Is Paolo taking good care of you?”

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