Page 30 of Twisted Throne

La Famiglia Prima Di Tutto.

Lucy noticed that I’d stopped and doubled back. She followed my gaze to the carving.

“That’s like, the family motto or whatever. It says ‘Family Above All’.

“Yeah. Angelo told me that he valued family more than anything else.” I thought back to our conversation at his office.

“Well, duh, of course he did! He’s the head of the family, and you’re more family than anyone else ‘cuz you’re his daughter. And family sticks together! That’s why you’ve got me now!”

She linked arms with me and flashed me a huge smile.

“Now, come on! I’m starving and you need to wake the hell up.”

Lucy pulled me along with her, we passed under the arched door and into a hallway I didn’t recognize from my earlier tour with Elena. While it was still the epitome of upscale elegance, instead of the shining marble and glittering chandeliers I had seen in the rest of the house it was more subdued. The floor was a highly polished, dark wood. The walls were papered with expensive-looking textured wallpaper in a rich cream color. Instead of overhead lighting, there were brass sconces lining either side of the hall.

We made our way down the hallway, passing several heavy, glossy wooden doors. All were closed tightly. Midway down the hall, I heard the murmur of male voices drifting out from behind one of the doors. Lucy immediately stopped and tiptoed closer to the door.

“Lucy!” I hissed at her.

She waved her hand at me and stepped closer. If she were a cartoon character her ear would have stretched out to press against the doorframe. I hurried to her and pulled her away, tugging her along down the hall with me. I was certain whatever ‘business’ it is that they were in there talking about, we didn’t need any part of.

“Hey! How can we keep up with what’s going on around here if we don’t keep our ears open?” Lucy yanked free of me, but at least she made no move to go back to the door.

“I think it’s probably better that we don’t know everything that goes on here.”

Personally, the less I knew about ‘the business’ the better.

“You’ll learn how this family works, don’t worry.”

She smiled at me mischievously, then threw open the double doors at the end of the hall.

After the warm, yellow light of the hallway, I was momentarily blinded when I stepped into the cool, bright fluorescents of the kitchen.

I looked around and my jaw dropped open. This kitchen was bigger than my entire apartment, with all gleaming white, marble counters and shiny steel appliances. It was the type of kitchen you’d see in a magazine. With all of these rough men in and out of the house at all hours day and night, I would have thought the place would be a mess. But everything was in perfect order and sparkling. Angelo must have one hell of a housekeeper.

“I’ll grab us some snacks, you make the coffee. Make sure you make enough for me too, okay?”

Lucy threw open the doors of the giant refrigerator and began rummaging around in it.

“I’m pretty sure the last thing you need right now is coffee, Lucy.”

She was already bouncing off the walls. If she got any caffeine in her she’d go super-sonic.

I stepped further into the room and began scanning around for a coffee maker. There were several small appliances scattered about the long counters, but nothing that looked even remotely close to any coffee maker I’d ever seen.

“Hey Lucy, where’s the coffee maker?”

Her head popped up and she stared at me from over the top of the fridge door.

“It’s right in front of you!” She waved her hand toward the counter I was standing beside, then buried herself back in the fridge. “Do you like hummus? I think we’ve got pita chips somewhere around here too.”

She continued to mumble to herself about various snack foods—what in God’s name was a Pocky?—while I once again tried to identify a coffee maker. Upon closer look, I noticed a large, stainless steel contraption on the counter beside me. I’d taken it for part of the wall, or maybe some sort of weird industrial decor, but careful inspection revealed levers and a spout. That had to mean coffee, right?

I approached it somewhat cautiously. It in no way resembled my beat-up, but fairly reliable, used off-brand Mr. Coffee I had left at my apartment. The thing looked more like some contraption you’d see in a sci-fi movie.

I hate sci-fi.

There were several different levers, multiple buttons, and nothing that I could identify that even looked like a filter or a water reservoir. I did recognize the grinder that was attached to it on one side. But with that being said, I’d never used one before.

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