Page 25 of Forget-Me-Nots

My brows came together, and I looked at the clock on the wall. “It is 10 am.”

Priscilla smiled and shook her wrist, showing me her diamond watch. “I know. I have a watch.”

I was eating more than I did before, but I didn’t think pizza was a breakfast material. “I don’t think it is fitting for breakfast.”

“Uh, it is not breakfast for me. I haven’t eaten anything in like sixteen hours. My sleep and eating schedule is a mess.” Then she left again without letting me say anything. She loved to talk but was not so good at listening or maybe only listened when it was necessary. I couldn’t figure it out. Falzone family kept getting me confused.

I went after her and shouted I was going to take a shower. Priscilla made an approving sound. Then I asked if she was going to lock me inside.

She responded with, “Is this a kink thing?”

I went to take a quick shower without answering. When I went downstairs, pizza was already here, and Priscilla was changed into a tank top and shorts. She was bigger than me. Aleksei would never let me gain as much weight as her. It felt so stupid when I looked at her because she was gorgeous. Maybe it was about the attitude. Priscilla looked like she was so confident in her body, like she loved it and wanted everyone to admire it. I, on the other hand, was almost ashamed of my body. I just wanted to hide it because it was too dirty to show off.

I knew her life must not be easy. Living in the mob was never easy, but for a second, as we shared a pizza, I wanted to be her. I just wanted to be happy like her.

She seemed like a person who never thought about killing herself, and I was very jealous of that.

“How are you like this?” I asked as I ate my second piece of pizza. I was almost full, and the rest was nearly all gone. She seemed so hungry. I guess it was only natural after not eating for sixteen hours.

“What do you mean?” Priscilla asked, causing pizza crumbs to fall onto her cleavage at the same time. She was a little messy, but it was in a cute way.

“You are not like what I imagined Cosa Nostra woman to be. I thought they were arrogant and too stuck up.” Maybe more fun than the Bratva woman but still a little bit like royalty.

Priscilla nodded. “Well, most of them are. I am not. I grew up a little more freely, thanks to Gabriele.” I doubted that was the whole reason. It seemed too natural for her. She was just full of energy and all kinds of emotions.

“So, you are not engaged or anything? You seem like you are at the age.” I knew most women in Cosa Nostra got married between 18 and 20.

“I am gonna be nineteen this June,” Priscilla said. “And I am not engaged. I don’t think Gabriele is ready for me to get married. He is a little protective over me. My uncle and other brother are very enthusiastic about making me get married, though.”

My throat tightened. I thought about her being given to an undeserving man. I thought about all her sunshine getting dull. It would be a horrible fate for her. “I am sure Gabriele will not let you get married.” For some reason, I really was sure.

To my surprise, Priscilla rolled her eyes. “He really may not. I am actually not against the idea of marriage. On the contrary, I want to get married, and I want to have children. I just don’t want to marryanyone. I want an epic story. I want love at first sight.”

Love at first sight. If I was asked, I would definitely say I didn’t believe such a thing but deep down, I knew it could be real. The way I remembered Gabriele for years after our first meeting was enough proof for me. “I hope you will find it,” I said.And I hope you’ll get to keep him.

Priscilla threw her hand at me. “Oh, don’t worry, I will find it. I just know I will find him, and after that, it is going to be easy to keep him. I always take what I want.”

“You do?” I asked. I was a little surprised at her certainty.

She nodded casually. “I do because I work for it. If I see something I want, if deep down I feel like that is the thing I need, I always work for it until I get it. You only live once. Suppressing your wants is a big waste.”

To that, I agreed. We did only live once, and my life was very close to an end. I needed to get what I wanted before departing.

And deep down, I knew what I truly needed.

That night Gabriele didn’t come home. Priscilla talked to him on the phone and told me he had to have a meeting with his Consigliere. A side of me was relieved because I was still a little shy about facing him. Another side of me was disappointed, though, because there were things I wanted to discuss with him.

Priscilla fell asleep while we were watching a trashy romance movie. She said she loved those. She also loved romance books. The girl was really ready for her own love story. I felt like she deserved it.

I woke her up to take her to her room. She did wake up and went there, but she didn’t lock me in my room before that. It felt weird. I knew I could just go to the terrace and jump or take a knife from the kitchen. I was all free to do them.

Yet I didn’t. I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

I really wanted my last days on earth. I wanted to say goodbye properly. Especially after talking to Priscilla, I knew how to do that.

So, I just went to my room and slept with my door unlocked.

The next day Priscilla took out a board game called “Who Is It” from her room. I have never played a board game before, but I did for her. Then we made a cake together even though both of us had no idea how to bake. We ended up ordering one.

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