Chapter 26
Stella
“You did good,” my father praises, his usual arctic-hazel eyes beaming with pride.
“Thank you, Papà,” I say, trying not to scan the living room for Kirill and bask in my father’s approval instead.
But it’s no use.
All my thoughts go back to Kirill.
As I was being inducted into the Outfit, standing in the center of that large circle of Capos, I couldn’t help searching for a pair of dark eyes among them. The moment felt almost incomplete, like it could only be real if Kirill was there to witness it with me.
He must have known that, and that’s why he crashed my party today. He knew how important it would be for me to have him by my side.
Damn it.
I need to talk to him.
But that means I have to find him first.
Which is nearly impossible when my entire family is surrounding me, each one wanting to congratulate me and be part of my big day.
“Who would’ve thought our Stella would be made one day?” Jude says behind me, reaching to ruffle my hair like I’m ten.
“I did!” I slap his hand away and laugh. “Me! I always knew I’d be made.” I wink.
“I still can’t believe you beat me and Enzo to the punch,” Lucky pouts, like he’s not used to eating my dust.
“Don’t listen to him, Stella. Lucky isn’t in any rush to take the omertà. He’s too in love for that,” Enzo smirks, draping his arm over Alejandro.
“Excuse me for making my upcoming college experience with my girlfriend priority number one. Mom always said that to get made you needed a diploma, so that’s what I’m doing.”
“Not all of us have degrees and we’re still made,” Marcello taunts, throwing me a wink, knowing it will just piss Lucky off even more.
As expected, the moment our parents’ backs are turned, Lucky flips Marcello off.
“Touchy, our kid brother, isn’t he?” Jude laughs as Lucky struts over to Frankie and Darius, immediately hugging Frankie from behind and kissing her neck.
“He’s always been a bit of a drama queen,” Enzo shrugs with a lopsided grin.
“And you’re not?” I counter with a laugh.
“No. I’m the epitome of calm and tranquility.” He wiggles his brows. “Why else would I have nabbed such a gorgeous boyfriend, if I wasn’t?”
“Because he has the patience of a priest?” Annamaria whispers, then giggles, her cheeks blushing bright red when she realizes we all heard her.
“Annamaria! Did you just make a joke?” Jude asks, beaming like a proud parent.
“Why, you little devil,” Enzo shouts playfully, pretending he’s going to chase her through the living room. “Today you’re full of surprises, aren’t you?”
There are still a few guests lingering, but now that the omertà ceremony has taken place, it’s mostly stragglers trying to squeeze every last drop out of our food and booze.
I throw a glance over my shoulder again, but still…no sign of Kirill.
Where the hell is he?
“Stella, do you think we can talk real quick?” Marcello whispers in my ear, raising my hackles.
Shit.
If he’s about to give me grief about Kirill showing up uninvited, we’re about to have some words.
Marcello tugs me into a quiet corner, his eyes fixed across the room on our father for some reason.
“First of all,” he starts and then pulls me into a hug. It takes me a minute to relax in his embrace. I was expecting a scolding for having Kirill here, not…this.
“What’s the hug for? Not that I’m complaining,” I smile as he loosens his grip on me.
“I’m just really proud of you. Really fucking proud,” he confesses, his whole face lighting up.
It’s been years since I’ve seen my melancholic brother smile like this—years since I’ve seen him this relaxed around family.
And I know that has a lot to do with the therapy he’s been doing at UChicago with Izzie’s professor friend.
Not to mention finally gaining the courage to sit all of us down and tell us the torment he’s been living with since he was a kid.
I cried like a baby when he told us, and a part of me will never forgive myself for the role I played in the deterioration of his mental state.
Maybe if I hadn’t called him a coward way back when, he would have never felt the need to protect me and Annamaria from that psycho of a nanny.
Not that I’ll ever be shedding any tears for her death.
We all knew that something lived inside my brother, that wasn’t all him.
But we never truly understood the extent of his mental condition, only the toll it took on him.
My brother used to look so lost, always fighting the voices in his head, but now…
now it almost seems like he’s vanquished them all.
I’m not na?ve enough to think his mental condition will ever be an easy fix.
Hell, he’ll probably have to live with it for the rest of his life.
But now…he’s actually living, not merely surviving like before.
I might have been pissed at Izzie for lying to us about being an FBI agent, but she’s brought so much happiness to my brother, so much happiness to this family, that I’ve wholeheartedly forgiven her for every lie she told.
And now here he is before me, looking happy and healthy.
“This day,” I croak, suddenly feeling emotional, “couldn’t have happened without you.”
“No. You would’ve gotten here on your own. I just lent a hand to make the process go faster.”
He’s being humble. I’m not sure my father would have agreed to induct me into the Outfit this soon—if ever—had Marcello not told him that once he became Capo dei Capi, he’d do it himself.
I will always be eternally grateful that my brother believed in me like that.
That he believed I was meant for this life, believed in my worth, when everyone else tried to deny me the chance.
“You and I both know that isn’t true, but I’m too happy to argue with you.”
“Good, because I have another proposition for you.”
“A proposition?” I lift a brow.
“Today, all those old-time Capos were forced to accept you, a woman, into the famiglia. But that doesn’t mean they’ll respect you for it.
In fact, I’m pretty sure they’ll do everything in their power to make our father regret breaking such a rule.
And they’ll make you work ten times harder than any other capo, hoping to prove just how unfit you really are. ”
“No duh!” I laugh. “I could feel their beady stares on me at the ceremony, already plotting away. Let them come. They don’t scare me.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Because my plans for you aren’t over. Not even close.”
“You have plans for me?”
“For us,” he states with a serious tone.
I’m usually not a fan of people making plans for my life, but something tells me I’ll be more than happy to hear whatever my brother is about to say.
“When the time comes,” he says, flicking his gaze once again toward our father and making his meaning clear, “I want you to be my number two.”
“What?” I ask, almost incredulously. “Like…your consigliere?”
He nods. “I know you’d prefer to step into Dom’s role as head enforcer, and God knows you have the skill for it, but you’re too smart to be just muscle, Stella.
You’ve always had big ideas and the instincts to execute them.
I’m going to need someone like that by my side, someone I can trust to see the big picture when I can’t.
And who better than you to do the job justice? ”
There’s a raw vulnerability in his eyes, and suddenly I understand why accepting this role matters so much to him.
He’s afraid that all the hard work he’s doing in therapy won’t be enough, that the devil inside him might claw its way out at the worst possible moment.
He needs someone who can pull him back, an anchor when he can’t tell the difference between the shore and the open water.
“Dad was right,” I say in complete awe, staring deep into his ocean-blue gaze.
“You really are perfect to lead this family. Any one of us, me included, would never want to share the limelight, especially as boss. We’d want our word to be law, no questions asked.
But not you. The power of being Capo dei Capi will never corrupt you, because you’ll never let it.
I’m not sure I wouldn’t give in to that temptation if the roles were reversed. ”
“You wouldn’t,” he says, shaking his head.
I offer him a small smile, because deep down I know I would.
I would have wanted it too much. I would have used every ounce of strength and influence I had to exert that power and dominance over others, especially over all the naysayers, and every last beady-eyed capo that looked at me with disdain when they thought my father wasn’t looking.
How does that saying go? Absolute power corrupts absolutely?
Yeah, that would be me in a heartbeat.
But not Marcello.
Which is why he’ll make an incredible boss.
Maybe even better than our father, and that’s saying something.
“I would be honored to be your number two,” I finally say, easing the tension in his brow.
“Good, because I wasn’t going to take no for an answer.” He chuckles, bending down and pressing a peck to my cheek before whispering, “I know I don’t have to say it, but this stays between us.”
“Of course, boss.” I wink at him, since this will probably be the first secret of many we will share in the future.
Marcello chuckles again before turning around and striding straight toward a glowing Isobel, who’s been waiting on the sidelines for him. And when the two kiss, like the world around them no longer exists, a pang hits my chest that there is still no sign of Kirill anywhere.
“He’s gone,” Annamaria whispers, suddenly appearing at my side.
“What?” I blurt out, pulling us farther away from the small crowd. “What do you mean he’s gone?”
“Kirill left, Stella,” she repeats, a sad frown stitched across her lips. “I did what Mammà asked and took him to the woods so he could watch your induction—”
“Wait… Mammà did what?!” I blurt again, this time a little louder, equal parts astonished and grateful that my mother would think to do something like that.
“Will you let me finish?” she reprimands.