Page 67 of Snake's Head

Then we left the car, and a sweet, high-pitched voice filled the air. I smiled for the first time since the plane.

Luce got on her knees as the small girl jumped in her arms. “Lucy, I missed you,” she shrieked.

Luce kissed her sister’s cheek, breathed in her neck, and whispered, “I missed you too.” This moment could be the first time she was actually close to tears.

I always wanted to set her free. I would not judge her if she cried. I wouldn’t make her feel bad, but I knew she didn’t want to cry when her father was present. I eyed the house and saw his big form. I was not letting him touch my wife ever again.

So, I opened my arms and crutched. “Oh, is this my Peanut?”

Elsie looked up at me, and her eyes widened. “Val!” Luce let her go, and Elsie jumped into my embrace this time. She was too bright. An outsider might think she was the opposite of Luce, but I knew they were just different sides of the same coin. They just expressed things differently.

Luce looked at me with shiny eyes. I could see her gratitude for stopping the emotional moment. Then she got up and came next to us. Her arm touched my arm as her hands smoothed Elsie’s hair back. “Are you happy to see, Val?”

“Yes!” Elsie said with a smile. “Did you bring me a kitten?”

I felt a little bad. “Kittens are back in Chicago.”

Elsie pouted. “Okay.”

“But I promise we will take you there soon so you can play with them, okay?”

Elsie’s face brightened, and she nodded her head. She was so happy that I hardly noticed Luce’s small gasp at my words.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to understand the reason because her mother walked towards us with a bright smile and open arms. “Mija, you are finally here.”

Mother and daughter hugged as I kept Elsie in my arms. Then we all slowly started walking towards the house. “I made all your favorite food,” Luce’s mother said.

“You should give me the recipes. She is very picky,” I said.

Her mother looked at me with wide eyes. “You cook?”

“Yeah, I usually cook in our house, but I have to say, Luce is not easy to please.”

She looked even more shocked at my words. Actually, she looked ready to scold Luce for not liking my meals, but we reached where her husband was waiting, and that made both women tense. Elsie was the only one oblivious to the thick air around us. She just kept tracing the tattoos on my neck while mumbling a song.

“Valerio Vasile,” Gino said with a smile and disgust in his eyes. “We weren’t expecting you back this early.”

I smiled in a way that looked even more poisonous. “Well, with me, it is whatever the missus wants.”

Luce looked at me with wide eyes for just a second. Then her spine straightened, and despite her short height, she looked down at her father. “I missed Mum and Elsie.”

Gino gave his daughter a look no parent should give their child. Elsie’s presence was the only thing stopping me from punching him. He only said, “They missed you too,” and turned back inside the house.

If I was not going to kill this guy one day, I was sure as hell going to make his life hell.

Chapter 24

Luciana

I never thought I would like dining with my dad. Turned out it was all about the power dynamics. I hated being in his presence because he used to have the power to crush me. I had to just sit and listen or answer and accept his wrath.

Not anymore. Dad couldn’t touch me when I was a Vasile. He wouldn’t dare insult me when Valerio was around.

I fucking loved this.

I was worried I ruined everything when I didn’t answer Valerio’s question earlier. I knew he was not happy about it. He made me know he was not happy about it, and he probably wanted an answer. Still, he didn’t let it show in front of my father. Just like he said, even though we might have problems, we were still a team.

I didn’t think I ever had anyone on my side, and it felt fucking good. It made Valerio even better in my eyes. It made me want him more. It made me want to answer his question.

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