Page 47 of Hidden Ties

“Okay, fine!” she muttered loudly, admitting defeat. “Imighthave a crush on Sal.”

“I knew it!” Maria hissed triumphantly. “But also …ew.”

“Whyew? Whyew?” Valerie countered, afraid that she was missing something about him and maybe shouldn’t have ever slept with him in the first place … As if the basement full of women wasn’t enough; somehow, she’d let herself walk by that massive red flag.

“Oh, please,” Gianna shushed Maria. “It’s only gross to her because she sees him as a brother.”

Maria nodded. “True.”

Taking the biggest sigh of relief, she instantly relaxed. “Oh, good.”

“Sal’s totally hot,” Gianna continued expressing her approval. “These girls won’t agree ’cause they all have their own men, but take it from me: you might have got the best of the bunch.”

“Hey!”

“Easy, now!”

“Yeah, watch it!” the other girls hissed in offense, reminding Gianna to tread lightly when talking about their significant others.

“Listen,” Kat chimed in to give her own thoughts, “as someone who grew up a Luciano but married one of the Carusos, along with the fact that he’s my brother, so I have free rein to tell the truth … I can tell you that Gianna’s right. Sal’s a good person, and hereallyisn’t like the rest.”

“As much as I hate to admit it.” Maria almost threw up again but clearly wanted to clarify her feelings. “She’s right. And this is coming from someone who grew up with the Carusos but married a Luciano … The Caruso men are, well … entitled—”

“Mmhmm,” the girls agreed in unison.

Maria threw up another manicured finger to go with the one she already had up. “Arrogant …”

“Yep!” they said, chiming in again.

Another finger. “Asses.”

“So true,” all the girls agreed, backing her up one last time.

Valerie thought back over those words.

Entitled, arrogant, ass…

“And Salisn’tone?” ’Cause, to her, it sounded just like him.

“Oh, honey”—Maria patted her hand—“you must not have met the others yet.”

“I’ve met Lucca and Amo.”

The girls went eerily quiet.

Kat cleared her throat, daring to ask, “And what did you think?”

“Scary and hot,” Valerie revealed before explaining her answer. “Lucca,scary. Amo,hot.”

All the girls busted out in laughter, except for one. Chloe.

“Lucca’s not scary,” the scarred woman said a bit defensively.

“Of course, he’s not to you,” Gianna told her before getting her laughter under control. “Amo is hot, though; I have to agree. But you don’t think he was an ass?”

“Oh yeah, totally,” Valerie agreed. “But Sal’s a bigger one, and for some reason, he scared Amo. Wait—” Her brain finally picked up on what had been said earlier in the conversation. “How is Sal a Caruso but also related to your husband, who’s a Luciano?” Her brain even hurt trying to say it, let alone begin to understand it.

The two mob families of KC were notorious for their feud, up until recently, when she’d heard whispers of a possible truce.

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