Page 73 of Mafiosa
‘Six,’ he called out, his words warping around a mouthful of toast.
‘Dom?’ she asked.
I had come to discover that Dom didn’t speak all that much before 11 a.m. It was a delightful Falcone fact. He held up four fingers.
‘Four,’ said Gino for him.
‘Nic?’
‘Three. Double bacon, please.’
‘CJ?’
‘Three,’ CJ said, glancing at Nic. ‘And double bacon too, please.’ Dom had caught CJ trying to drive his car the other night and had nearly slapped him into the next state, so CJ had temporarily directed his hero worship to Nic.
I slurped another spoonful down, barely tasting it. I had only been up a few hours, but I was exhausted already. My shoulder was throbbing dully, my eyelids were heavy from the painkillers and I could feel Felice staring at me across the table.
‘Sophie?’ she asked after another beat.
‘No, thank you.’
‘Where’s Valentino?’ asked Gino. ‘He’s usually up early on Saturdays.’
‘With his brother,’ said Felice.
Dom rolled his eyes. ‘Valentino is probably helping Luca turn into an actual punching bag so he can beat the shit into himself in a more efficient way.’
Felice snorted, then dipped into his cup to hide his amusement.
‘Leave him alone,’ I chided Dom. ‘You weren’t there.’
‘Eh, yeah, because I’m not a stupid teenager who gets off on drinking spiked punch and playing dress-up at the local high school.’
‘You also weren’t invited,’ Nic pointed out. ‘Because girls find your hair gel repulsive.’
It was my turn to laugh. Nic exchanged an appreciative glance with me. CJ bit back his smile. He wasn’t ready to go full Judas on Dom yet.
‘That’s hilarious,’ said Dom, not smiling remotely. ‘Almost as hilarious as Sophie invitingLucaand not you, the person who’s still desperately trying to screw her.’
I spat out my next spoonful.
‘Domenico!’ Elena shrieked, whirling around. ‘You will not speak like that in this house. And certainly not in front of the younger children.’
‘I’m not a child,’ CJ snapped.
Nic fired his fork at Dom, catching him in the side of the face. Their chairs screeched back at the same time, both of them lunging across the table at each other. Gino grabbed Nic by the waist and spun him around, away from Dom. I wason my feet, too, swatting Dom’s hands back across the table. ‘Sit down, you neanderthal.’
‘He could have cut my eye out!’
‘And you would have deserved it,’ Elena snapped. ‘Have I raised a pack of wolves?’ She threw her hands up at the ceiling. ‘Ti prego, Dio, dammi la forza!’
Felice remained where he was, smirking and sipping. I half wished Nic’s fork had missed Dom and embedded itself in his uncle’s face instead. How could no one see how much of a snake this guy was?
‘Relax,’ said Dom, sitting back down. ‘I was just saying.’
‘Sophie didn’t invite Luca,’ said Nic. ‘He went to keep an eye on her.’
‘And good thing too,’ said Gino. ‘Otherwise she’d be toast.’
