8. Mia
Mia
“ I can’t believe your dad agreed to this,” my mom says while she lugs a suitcase into my room and hauls it onto my bed. Unzipping it, she grumbles, “This is so unlike him. What the hell was he thinking?”
I plop down on my bed next to the large suitcase and say, “I think he’s convinced this might help me get my crazy streak out of my system.”
My mom huffs out a laugh. “Well, jokes on him, right?”
I grin because my mom gets it. She knows I’m never going to fit into any molds, and she’s never tried to force me into one.
When I was little, she put me in a pink dress, the kind Natalya would’ve loved to wear, and when I’d angrily torn it off before running around the house naked, she’d just laughed and given me a T-shirt and jeans instead.
I’ve always appreciated that. A lot of moms would’ve kept trying, would’ve tried to force me to be someone I’m not, but she never did.
Both my parents gave me the freedom to be whoever I wanted to be, and I love them immensely for it.
“Thanks, Mom,” I tell her as she grabs a stack of jeans and starts putting them in the suitcase .
“For going along with this crazy idea?” she asks.
“For never trying to force me to be more like Nat.”
Her face softens, and when she sits down next to me, I scoot over so she can lean back and share my pillow. “I love all three of you in a way that makes my chest hurt when I think about it, and you’re all so perfectly unique. I wouldn’t change a single thing about any of you.”
“Not even Sasha?” I ask with a laugh.
I turn my head to see my mom grinning at me. “I wouldn’t change anything about any of you,” she says again, and I can hear the truth in her words. “He’s the only reason I’m even remotely okay with this crazy plan. I know he’d never let anything happen to you and neither would Dario.”
Forcing myself to not react to his name isn’t easy, and for one horrible second I’m convinced my mom can see right through me, that she can read the truth written all over my face just like I’d heard it in her voice.
She doesn’t call me out on it, though. Instead, she nudges my arm and says, “Try not to go too crazy in Italy. I do want you to have some fun, though.” She smiles even bigger and adds, “Just not too much.”
“I won’t, and I’ll be careful,” I tell her.
“I know you will. Go easy on your dad when you come back and he realizes this has only made you more determined than ever to join the Bratva.”
“I will.” I scoot my head closer to hers and ask, “What do you think about me joining?”
She takes my hand in hers and gives it a squeeze. “I think if anyone can do it, it’s you. You’re so brave, honey, so much braver than I ever was.”
“That’s not true. You survived your brother,” I say, knowing he was an abusive ass and that my dad eventually killed him for it. “You’re brave, Mom, even if you didn’t pick up a knife and learn to fight.”
She laughs at some memory and says, “Your dad did try to teach me. I wasn’t very good at it. I was too busy drooling over him, and I never tried to get out of any of the holds he put me in. ”
I let out a half-hearted groan. “Please don’t tell me any more.”
Before I get up, she stuns me into silence when she says, “Dario’s a pretty handsome guy, and he definitely seems like your type.”
“He’s my teacher,” I say, hoping like hell she’ll drop this line of thinking. She does not.
“I watched him very closely around you when you first started working with him, because you had just turned seventeen, and I would’ve killed him if he’d touched you. He never looked at you in any way that made me suspicious, though, and I even secretly watched a few training sessions.”
“You did?”
“Of course I did. I’m your mom. I protect you in my own way. It may not be as in your face as your dad’s methods, but it’s still effective.” She waits a second before saying, “You’re eighteen now.”
“Mom,” I start to say, but she just squeezes my hand and cuts me off.
“I’m not asking questions. I’m just saying if something happens that your dad needs to be aware of, give me a heads-up and I’ll get a Valium from Tony, okay? I honestly don’t know if he’ll be able to handle it without being medicated.”
She pats my hand before sitting up. “Don’t tell me any details yet, because you know I can’t keep a secret like that from your dad. Right now I’m going purely on mom intuition. We’ll leave it at that until you tell me differently, okay?”
I say a simple, “Okay,” relieved when she nods and then quickly changes the subject, asking me what I want to pack and making sure I have enough underwear.
By the time we’re done, my suitcase is stuffed, and my room is looking pretty bare.
We’re taking one of Dominic’s private jets, so I have an entire bag full of weapons that I don’t need to worry about getting through airport security.
I have just enough time for a quick shower before we have to leave, and when I check the line of stitches on my arm, I’m relived to see it looks good and there are no signs of infection.
Dario did a good job sewing me up, and it should be completely healed by the time I get back home.
A little makeup will cover the scar, and my family will never have to know what happened.
When I’m clean and in the yoga pants and hoodie I chose for comfortable travel, I grab my phone and go out to meet everyone else. Sasha’s already here and waiting so our parents can drive us together, but I’m surprised when I see Nat.
“Don’t look so shocked,” she says, giving me a big hug. “Of course I came over to say goodbye. You’re going to love Italy, Mia. It’s gorgeous.”
We haven’t talked since she caught me in the closet with Dario, and I’m not at all surprised when she says, “Oh, you forgot your charger? I’ll help you find it.”
“Don’t be too long,” our dad says. “The plane is leaving soon.”
Nat laughs. “Don’t worry. I’m in good with the guy who owns it.”
My dad laughs while my sister leads me back to my room. As soon as the door is shut, she says, “Okay, I’ve been trying to think of the best thing to say, and all I could come up with is be careful.”
“I will be. That’s why I brought an entire bag of weapons,” I tell her.
She gives me a big sister look and leans against the door so I can’t run out and escape the conversation. “That’s not what I’m talking about. I mean your heart, Mia.”
I cross my arms over my chest, even though I know it makes me look defensive. “You don’t need to worry about that. My heart is not involved in this, Nat. It’s just some stupid attraction. We’ll get it out of our systems, and then it’ll be done.”
“It looked like a lot more than that from where I was standing. That man is obsessed with you, and you’re going to be spending a lot of time with him in the most romantic country on the planet.
” She pauses and tilts her head like she’s thinking.
“So we’ll be sisters but also what? What do you call the person who’s married to your husband’s cousin? ”
“We’ll never know because that is not happening.”
Nat grins. “I’ll Google it while you’re gone so I know for sure.”
“Don’t you dare start wedding planning,” I warn her. “That’s not where this is headed. ”
“Fine.” She relents, but I can tell by the sparkle in her eye that she’s not completely giving up hope, because if my older sister is anything, it’s a hopeless romantic.
In her mind, I’m already knocked up and wearing Dario’s ring on my finger.
Poor thing is in for a rude awakening, but I don’t have the heart to pop that particular bubble when she’s looking so damn pleased with herself.
“I’ll text you when I get there,” I tell her before she pulls me in for another big hug.
“You better. I love you, little sis. Have fun.” She laughs and adds, “Like a lot of fun. There’s a private beach, and I highly suggest you and Dario take full advantage of it.”
I hug her back, knowing full well things aren’t going to be like that between Dario and me. She’s thinking love and romance, and that’s not what we’re about. It’s going to be a hard fuck, a scratching of a very particular itch, and then we’ll go our separate ways and that’ll be that.
Nat doesn’t need to know all that, though, so I return her hug and tell her I love her before we go back out to meet the others.
We’re a close-knit family, so I’m not surprised at all when everyone comes along for the ride to the airport.
When we drive out on the tarmac, Dominic is waiting with several of his men.
My eyes search for Dario’s broad shoulders and dark eyes, but he must already be on the plane.
Nat runs over to her husband while our dad unloads our bags and our mom pulls Sasha and me in for a suffocating hug. Her voice is shaky when she says, “I love you both so much. Be safe, have fun, and get your butts back home as soon as you can.”
“Love you, too, Mom,” Sasha says while I nod and squeeze her tighter.
“Hey, not without me,” our dad says before joining in and wrapping his arms around us. “You both better text all the time. I’ll be in touch with Dario and Sandro, and I can be on a flight in less than an hour if you need me there, okay?”
“Okay,” I say.
“Don’t worry, Dad,” Sasha says, “I won’t let anything happen to her. ”
“Or to you,” our mom says. “I know you’re the most dangerous thing out there, but you still have to keep yourself safe.”
Sasha laughs and takes a step back as we break up our group hug. “I will. I’m always careful.” He looks at our dad. “Looks like I’m going to get to check Italy off my map.”
Before I can ask what he’s talking about, Dominic walks over with Nat. He smacks my brother on the back and then pulls me in for a quick hug. “You both ready?”
“Yep,” I tell him, already feeling the excitement start to course through me. It’s my first time going anywhere without my parents, and I’m more than ready to prove to everyone that I can do this. I also want to convince myself I’m capable of it after the way I hesitated with Greg.