Page 67 of Luciano (Belles & Mobsters 1)

The yearly fundraiser my grandmother held would be our chance to get closer to my uncle and grandmother. But the problem was, I didn’t know how to go about killing them at such a public event. Or maybe that would be where we set the trap. Both my grandmother and uncle had guards protecting them, but if I could somehow get them alone, I’d have a chance to get rid of them. I had to find a way. I worried about the threats at Matteo’s life, now that they knew about my son.

I looked back to Matteo and his grandfather, building a tower. Well, Nonno was building it. Matteo was probably just digging a hole.

A tower.

“Come here, Grace.” My father’s voice travelled across the sand dunes, his voice carrying on the wind, along with the sounds of waves washing across the shoreline.

“Coming.” I ran towards my parents, my feet feeling heavy as each of my bare feet hit the sand. I loved the feeling of sand on my toes but running in it was too hard for my little body. Occasionally, I’d trip and fall into the sand. At least the sand cushioned the fall.

When I finally reached them, I threw myself into my mother’s arms. She was beautiful. Her soft smile and voice always made everything better.

Lifting me up into her arms, my dad leaned over and placed a gentle kiss onto my forehead.

“I have a story to tell you, my little Grace.”

“I’m not little anymore,” I objected, on a pout. “I turned five yesterday.”

“And you are such a big girl,” my mother cooed. “But you will always be our little girl. Always our baby.”

I didn’t like their explanation back then. I didn’t want to be a baby anymore. It was only after I had Matteo that I understood those words. God how I missed them! They were torn from me, and the moment I lost them, I had been thrown into the Romano's greedy clutches. Yes, we shared the last name but my uncle and grandmother were nothing like my father and mother. They were nothing like Grandma and Grandpa Astor.

“Look, Grace,” my father’s voice had me follow this finger pointing to our beach house. I eagerly stared but couldn’t grasp what he was pointing at. “Our beach house used to be a tower many, many years ago. Your great-great-grandfather Astor bought the tower and built a house around it.”

I stared wide-eyed at the house. “Where is the tower now?”

“Remember where you and Mommy always sit to watch the boats come in?” I nodded eagerly. “That used to be the highest part of that tower.”

“That used to be my favorite part when I was your age too,” my mother chimed in a soft voice.

“Did Grandma read you stories there?” I asked eagerly. “Just like you read me stories.”

My mother’s soft chuckle filled my ears. “She did. And guess what?”

“What?” I whispered, eager to know everything.

“Sometimes, we would sneak out of there through the secret passage. We’d go to the beach and watch the sunset and Grandpa never even knew.”

I giggled. “You fooled him.”

“Yes, we did. The secret passage is a good hiding spot and lets you sneak out without anyone ever knowing. It is our family secret.” I stared at my parents wide-eyed, eager to know how to find the secret passage. “Want me to show you?”

I nodded eagerly and insisted on seeing it right away. It became my favorite part of the house.

Family secret. That was my Mom’s family's only secret. Too bad they never had a chance to warn me about the many family secrets on Dad’s side.

Matteo’s laugh pulled me out of the memory, and I watched the scene in front of me with a smile. He was happy, loved it here. I wasn’t sure how that would work out, but there was no chance I wouldn’t try to eliminate the threatening shadows lurking over him. I might not have a daughter, but Matteo might have one in the future. This wasn’t only about saving my son or myself. It was for his children and grandchildren too.

Okay, step one. Eliminate uncle and dear old grandma. Step two, eliminate Benito and Marco King. Possibly Cassio and his brother too. It was what would probably end me. I was no match for any member of the King family. Contingency step two, if eliminating the King family turned out to be unsuccessful, Ella and I run. Alone.

Alone.Even that word by itself hurt. Neither Ella nor I wanted to be alone. We wanted a semblance of normalcy. It has been so long since we had it. And more than anything else, I wanted to raise my son. Just thinking about a life without him made my lungs burn with each breath I took.

If I could find a way to make that damn agreement null and void, maybe I’d come out of it alive. Both Ella and I. There was no way that something like that was legal. I had to scoff to myself though. It wasn’t as if men in this world did much by the book.

I mean, just look at me and my husband. He kidnapped me, married me, made me fall in love with him, and then pulled the trigger. Who would have ever thought that one shared moment of locked gazes across the dark nightclub would get us here?

Gabriella and I stood at the bar of the nightclub. We had just graduated, both of us alone. No parents, no family to witness, just the two of us. But the point was we graduated. We had each other.

The bar was crowded and neither one of us was good at pushing our way through. So, we waited patiently until it was our turn to order.

---