Page 47 of My Mafia Queen

“No, no. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

She laughs, and I smile.

“We’re more than okay. We’re at the market. Tina spotted a dog. And the dog has a crush on her. So that’s that. And then we’ll have lunch,” she says. “It’s nice outside.”

“Is Edith there?”

“Yeah, yeah… We’re all here. Do you wanna talk to them? Tina is playing with the dog, and Edith is buying coffee for us.”

“No. It’s okay. I’m happy you’re all right. Have you heard from my father? Did he come back last night?”

“Nope.”

I muse for a few seconds.

“That’s good,” I comment.

“That’s what I said,” she murmurs as kids play in the background. “Let me find a table on the terrace,” she says.

I go quiet before she sighs at the other end of the line.

“Man, this is nice… I haven’t had some time off in a while,” she murmurs.

“Did you talk to your boss about taking more time off?”

“Yes, I did. And he said yes. He didn’t bat a lash, although the place was quite busy. I asked him this morning.”

“You went there?”

“Yes.”

“Things were in order?”

“Yeah. I asked around if anyone had seen Beau. No one had spotted him.”

“Huh… I doubt he’ll stop harassing us, though.”

“I doubt that too, but he’ll move on at some point and find something else to do.”

A few moments pass before I hear my sister’s voice.

“Is that her?” she asks.

“Yes,” Jen says to her before shifting her attention to me. “She wants to talk to you,” she says.

“Put her on the phone.”

“Hey.”

Her voice explodes with excitement.

If I didn’t know the story of her life and how dark it was at times, I couldn’t tell how much she’s been through.

It dawns on me how little it would take to have the normal life we both want.

“Hey,” I say in response. “Are you having a good time?”

“Yes. I want a dog,” she says in a breath.

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