Page 62 of The Killer Cupcake
The hearse glided silently through backstreets lined with shotgun shacks and porches, past Beale Street's shuttered blues clubs where B.B. King and Muddy Waters had played just hours before. It finally came to a stop behind a red-brick building with drawn blinds and the discreet respectability that only funeralhomes possess. A single bulb cast harsh shadows above a door marked "PRIVATE - BEREAVEMENT SERVICES."
Dieon tapped the horn twice as the agreed signal.
The door opened immediately. Silhouetted against the amber light stood Matteo Ricci. He jerked his head sharply—inside, fast, before anyone sees.
Who would see?The ghosts? There was nothing but graves and trees around them.
Kathy hurried from the hearse, but despite the urgency, she couldn't help throwing her arms around Matteo's neck in a fierce embrace. "Did you bring pictures of Junior? How big is he now?" she asked, squeezing him tight.
"Inside first! Later! I'll show you everything later, I promise," he said with a grin that reminded her so much of Debbie’s happiness the last time he saw her cousin and the baby, her heart ached. She nodded and followed him into the shadows, no longer able to contain her joy at seeing family again after so many careful months apart.
This partof the funeral home had been closed for two years. Every room was emptied or repurposed for storage by the Percys. Still, Kathy could guess their original purpose, especially when she descended into the basement. White tiles. Steel embalming tables. The sour-sweet stench of preservatives hung in the air like a chemical shroud. Kathy hugged herself, shivering despite the claustrophobic Memphis heat now trapped inside. When she turned around, she was alone. Somehow, Matteo hadn't followed her down.
"Matteo?" she called to the shadows. "Matteo!"
"Boo!"
Kathy screamed and whirled with a wild swing. Her fist connected hard with the side of Carmelo's head, knocking him backward. He stumbled, more startled than hurt, while she gasped and covered her mouth in horror.
Carmelo laughed, rubbing his head. "Damn, Kat! You pack a punch!"
"You scared the living daylights out of me!" She rushed into his arms, squealing with joy despite her embarrassment. Carmelo's kiss consumed her completely, desperate and hungry. The times between their meetings were shorter now—just a few months instead of the agonizing year-long separations—but it still left them both starved for each other's touch.
"Slow down, slow... down," she pushed him back gently, breathing hard. "Let me catch my breath."
Carmelo licked his lips as if they tasted like salvation itself. She blushed at the raw desire in his dark eyes. "I missed you too,amore."
"Why are we meeting in a morgue?" he asked, shaking his head with incredulous laughter.
"It's weird as heck, isn't it?" she giggled.
"Come here," he pulled her into a proper embrace—one that soothed instead of consumed. The world stopped spinning when she listened to his heartbeat. She wondered if it matched the rhythm of the baby growing inside her. When should she tell him? How? What would happen? Her father was in the midst of a consuming drug war with Italian families. This baby could either blow their world apart or bring it together. They had to decide their future soon.
"I have a surprise—a good one. A final one," he whispered against her ear.
"Final?" She looked up, alarmed.
He nodded solemnly.
"Tell me! Tell me right now!" she demanded.
He cupped her face in his calloused hands and looked into her eyes. "Vegas."
She frowned in confusion. "What's a Vegas?"
"A city in Nevada, out in the desert. Where we can be together as man and wife, live our lives freely. It's where I can box professionally and run a legitimate business. Where I can set us up properly." His voice grew excited. "Carmine's got connections there, great opportunities. Matteo's making moves—something I can't tell you about yet, but if his plans work, he'll be head of the family soon. He'll run everything. And he wants to take Debbie and the baby with him. We'll go too. All four of us, finally together."
Her eyes widened until they watered. "Are you absolutely sure? Is it really possible?"
He nodded slowly, his expression serious. "It's for real, Kat. This is our way out."
She released the deepest sigh of her life and hugged him so tightly she thought she might break his ribs, weeping tears of pure joy. She almost confessed her secret then, but something held her back. She'd save that news for after he won his fight, set it up perfectly. There was no way she'd tell him about their baby in a funeral home basement.
"I wish we could stay the night together. I really miss touching you," he sighed, his forehead pressed against hers.
"I miss you too, desperately. But absolutely not—I don't care if this place has been closed for business, I am not sleeping in a funeral home next to a graveyard," she chuckled, despite the heat in her cheeks.
He nodded with understanding. "How's Big Mama doing?"
