Page 1 of Vanished in Vegas

CHAPTER ONE

SOFIA

“It’s a wedding for fuck’s sake, Arianna!” Rosaline-- Rose-- my baby sister shouted from the doorway. She stomped her foot in frustration.

“Just because it’s a wedding doesn’t mean we are no longer Romanos, Rosaline,” Arianna, my older sister, said firmly. Her gaze was locked on Rose. The tension in my room thickened, instantly.

“Sofia, tell Arianna she doesn’t need to bring a gun!” Rose pouted. They both turned their attention to me.

Being the middle sister, I always found myself in the middle of their issues. Today was no different. We were, in Miami, about to attend the wedding of the year. Rocco Levi was finally settling down and marrying Carrabelle Montagne. I didn’t know either of them personally and honestly didn’t care if I had stayed home or gone to the wedding.

My father had received an invitation to the wedding. He didn’t like leaving New Jersey so he planned on sending money, flowers, and a card in his place. When Rose caught wind of his plan, she begged him to let her go instead. He of course saidno.That’s when she poured on her daddy’s little girl charm.

There weren’t many things my father would cave to; however, my sisters and I were occasionally one of those things. Two days later, the man gave in but gave his stipulations. Rose could go to Miami if Arianna and I went with her, along with his goons. So... big sisters to the rescue.

Now, here we were in Miami, at some house my father rented out for our two-day trips. Moments before, Rose busted in like theKool-Aid Manand started bitching, Arianna and I were discussing the weird feelings we were having about the wedding. I had woken up to a wave of emotions. They made my blood run cold. I wanted to bail. Arianna did too.

The Levi’s were bad news in my book. They had a history of blood-shed. Ten years ago, they had slaughtered an entire family. Thoughtlessly.

“Sofia already put her gun in her purse,” Arianna smirked, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“Oh, for crying out loud,” Rose groaned.

“Sorry, Rose,” I offered her an apologetic smile. She glared at me, making me shrug and laugh. “Better safe than sorry.”

“It’s. A. Wedding,” Rose said slowly and dramatically. Arianna and I exchanged glances and rolled our eyes. “But whatever. Bring a gun. What do I care? Dad is already sending his meatheads to babysit us. We all know they’ll be packing heat. Why don’t we just slap neon lights on our asses so we really draw everyone’s fucking attention to us?”

“You’re being such a diva, Rosaline,” Arianna growled.

“Fuck you,” Rose huffed.

“You better mind your fucking tone with me or I’ll see to it that none of us go, Rosaline Romano.”

“You’re such a bitch!” Rose sobbed, storming out of the room.

“Arianna,” I groaned, “really?”

“What?” Arianna shrugged then gestured for me to zip the back of her dress.

“She’s not like us,” I replied, zipping up her dress. She spun around, showing off her beautiful light blue dress. She smiled brightly.

“You think I don’t know she isn’t like us?” Arianna asked, facing me.

“Then can’t you be more sensitive with her?”

“She can toughen up.” Arianna shrugged thoughtlessly.

“We did this to her,” I reminded her.

It was the truth. Rose was more sensitive than Arianna and me. We've busted our asses to shelter her from certain things that come with being a Romano. Life as a caproregime’s daughter wasn’t a walk in the park. There were so many rules, dos and don’t dos. Eyes were always on us. And, our lives were always in jeopardy.

Even though we were close in age-- 20, 19, and 18-- Arianna and I protected Rose from the dark side of life. If we even caught wind that someone might be thinking of looking at her the wrong way, we handled it. If she got in trouble with our parents, Arianna and I took the physical punishment on her behalf. We went through hell so she could walk amongst flowers with her head in the clouds. It’s what we did as her big sisters.

“Well, we need toundothis,” Arianna sighed, bringing me back to reality. “Immediately.”

“We can’t just wave our fingers and magically undo all of it, Arianna,” I groaned.

“Yeah, well, what’s she going to do when dad sends us off?” Arianna crossed her arms in front of her chest.

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