Chapter 17
Laurie
Feeling overwhelmed because Tori is actually showing an interest in me and seems to care about my well-being, I struggle to process the emotions it evokes in me.
We come to a stop at a lovely wrought-iron garden set with cute flower-pattern cushions.
“Sit down,” she instructs me while glancing at the house and asking, “Gia, be a dear and bring us some of the lemonade you made.”
Remembering Adriano told me about Gia, I glance over my shoulder and see a woman standing by the back door. She seems to be in her mid-thirties, and gives me a curious look before nodding and disappearing into the kitchen.
Tori sets the basket of roses down on the table, and as we take a seat, she gives me a comforting smile.
“I’m going to get right down to business.”
Oh no. Here we go.
“I was in your shoes once, the only difference was that I knew who I was marrying and about the Cosa Nostra.” She reaches across the table and gives my shoulder a squeeze.
“I can only imagine how overwhelmed you must feel right now, but I want you to know you are safe with us. No one on this property is going to hurt you. Okay?”
Hearing the truth in her words means a hell of a lot to me, and I exhale a relieved breath.
“Thank you.”
She shakes her head. “No need to thank me, Laurie.” Her eyes are a lighter shade of brown than Adriano’s, and as they study me, she asks, “I heard there was a shooting at the church. How are you holding up?”
I lean back in the chair and answer honestly, “I don’t know if I’m coming or going. It’s been a very weird, intense day.”
“Of course.” She scoots her chair closer so she can place her hand on my forearm, her touch so comforting, it eases some of the tension coiling inside me. “If you need to talk about any of it, I’m here, and if you have any questions, just ask.”
I stare at Tori for a long moment, trying to gauge if I can really trust her.
I don’t know what she sees on my face, but it has her scooting even closer and pulling me into a hug. “I know, sweetheart. It’s difficult right now, but I promise things will get better.”
Then she cradles me like I’ve never been cradled before, her palm brushing softly over my hair, and something just snaps.
Being neglected my entire life, it all crashes into me while I’m being held by a woman I’ve known for all but two minutes.
When the first sob sputters from me, the rest follow hot and fast, and before I know it, I’m ugly crying my heart out in her arms.
Not because of today, but because this perfect stranger is showing me more care in a matter of mere minutes than my own mother has shown me my entire life.
Without realizing I’m talking out loud, I whisper, “Please let this be real.”
“What do you mean, sweetheart?” Tori pulls back and uses her thumbs to wipe my cheeks dry.
“Are you really this nice, or is it all just a big act, and once I let down my guard it will bite me in the ass?”
The pretty smile returns to her face. “It’s real.” Her gaze searches mine. “But the fact that you actually want all of this to be real tells me you’ve had a bad life.”
“No one ever cared,” I sniffle while trying to compose myself.
Her expression fills with empathy, and she squeezes my arm again. “I know a little about that too. Life can be very lonely at times, but since I married my husband, I’ve only known love. I’m certain it will be the same for you with Adriano.”
It should scare me how quickly I feel comfortable with Tori, but it doesn’t. Instead, it gives me the guts to ask, “What about the mafia part and the killing?”
“We’ll talk about that in a second.” Tori sits back and nods, then Gia, whom I completely forgot about, appears with two glasses of lemonade.
“Afternoon, Laurie,” she says, a friendly expression on her face. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Hi, Gia.” I smile at her. “Likewise.”
“I’ll see you on Friday, then we can talk about how you like things done in the main house.” With that, she hurries back into the house.
Tori takes a long sip of her lemonade, then says, “The killing.” She lets out a sigh.
“The way I’ve learned to live with it is by accepting that the Cosa Nostra is constantly at war.
Our men don’t go around murdering innocent people, and I soothe my conscience knowing they’re ridding the world of some really bad people.
” Her gaze inspects mine to make sure I’m following, and when I nod, she continues, “The family doesn’t deal in human and organ trafficking, and they don’t distribute drugs.
They actually keep all that nasty stuff out of New York as much as they possibly can. ”
Oh. That sounds good.
Her smile returns again. “So, if anyone in the family kills someone, it’s to protect all of us or to exact revenge because something horrible was done to one of us.
” She tilts her head. “Every Sunday I attend the service in the church you were married in. Antonio could’ve passed by when everyone was leaving and killed an innocent person.
Or me.” Her eyebrows draw together. “He could’ve killed you today, but Adriano dealt with him to keep himself and everyone he loves safe. ”
No one’s ever made me feel protected before, and maybe that’s why Tori’s explanation sounds reasonable to me.
If Adriano really only kills to protect the people he loves, if the family truly goes after monsters instead of innocent people, then maybe I can accept it the way she has.
“Does that help?” she asks.
“Yes.” I nod and let out a heavy breath. “Thank you.”
Suddenly, she lets out a chuckle. “Adriano keeps staring at you. Let’s go inside so you can meet the others.”
I glance over my shoulder but don’t see him by the back door.
“No, he’s over there.” Tori points to my left, where open sliding doors lead to a living room, and I see Adriano sitting on a couch with his eyes locked on me.
As we get up, taking our lemonades with us, she says, “I’m here whenever you need to talk about anything. Okay?”
“Thank you.” I smile at my brand new mother-in-law who seems to be a dream come true. “I really appreciate it, and talking with you does make me feel better.”
“I’m happy to hear that.”
When we reach the sliding doors, and my eyes lock on three other men, Tori rubs my back and gestures at each of them. “That’s Adriano’s father, Angelo, and the other two are Tiny and Big Ricky.”
“Little Ricky’s father?” I ask.
“Yep,” Big Ricky answers with a heavy sigh, then he jabs his thumb at the mountain of a man beside him. “But this fucker taught my son how to eat for a baseball team.”
Tiny grins proudly while Angelo walks toward me.
Jesus, Adriano is the spitting image of his father, who is just as scary looking as his son.
When I almost take a step backward, Tori’s hand returns to rubbing my back. “It’s okay. They just look scary.” Then she levels her husband with a scowl. “Smile before you scare the daylights out of Laurie.”
Instantly, his mouth curves up while Tiny and Big Ricky chuckle.
“Hello, Laurie,” Angelo says while holding his hand out to me.
I hesitate for a couple of seconds before shaking his hand. “Hi, Mr. Rizzo.”
“Angelo,” he corrects me. “Welcome to the family.”
Adriano stands up, and not even thinking about what I’m doing, I move toward him. When he wraps his arm around me, I actually feel a sense of safety and I grab onto it with both hands.
“So, how was the shitty wedding this fucker gave you?” Big Ricky asks.
“I’m going to slap you upside the head,” Tori mutters.
I notice how Tiny inspects me before he says, “You’ve always had an eye for beauty, Adriano.”
The compliment makes my cheeks flush, and I hear a soft rumble from Adriano before he holds me tighter, squashing me partially to his chest. “I know. Have you seen her eyes.”
Tiny gets up and comes closer to stare at me, like I’m some piece of art he’s inspecting.
“Not awkward at all,” I whisper under my breath.
“That’s enough, guys.” Tori’s tone is authoritative, and the men bristle a little. “Behave.”
“You have pretty eyes, Laurie,” Tiny says, then his eyebrows fly up. “Hey, their names rhyme. Laurie and Tori.”
“Like father, like son,” Big Ricky mutters, then he locks eyes with me and orders, “Tell us about yourself.”
Shit.
“Ah… I was born and raised in Findlay, Ohio.” I fold my arms around my middle because I’m so frazzled I don’t know what else to say.
Adriano jumps in to save me. “You can all get to know my wife better this weekend. We can have a barbecue and invite Remo, Augusto, Georgi, and their women over.”
“That’s such a good idea. I’ll arrange everything,” Tori says.
Should I offer to help?
Before I can finish the thought, Adriano pushes me out the door. “See you all later.”
“Enjoy your wedding night,” Big Ricky calls out, a teasing tone to his voice.
“Shut up,” I hear Tiny grumble as we walk away. “Don’t embarrass Laurie like that.”
“Don’t start, you two,” Angelo snaps. “So what do you all think about her?”
“She’s so beautiful,” Tori gushes. “I just know we’re going to become good friends. What a lovely girl.”
“When I get married, I’m letting Adriano choose my wife. That boy of yours seriously has an eye for beauty,” Big Ricky mentions.
“Your ass is too old to get married,” Tiny taunts him, before laughter breaks out.
I don’t get to hear much more as we walk around the side of the house.
Honestly, I’m stunned speechless. I didn’t expect them all to be so normal, and Tori helped a lot to ease my nerves.
“How are you holding up?” Adriano asks.
Avoiding his question, I tilt my head to look at his face and reply, “I like your mother.”
“I’m glad to hear that, but it doesn’t answer my question.”
I stop dead in my tracks. In the past, whenever I dodged a question like that, people wouldn’t notice.
When I stare at Adriano, he begins to frown and moves in front of me. “Laurie?”
“It’s just weird.” I don’t know how to explain it.
“What? My family?”
“Oh no!” I shake my head quickly. “Meeting them went sooo much better than I expected.”
He takes hold of my arm and leans down to catch my eye. “What’s weird, mia piccola farfalla.”
I shrug, and not wanting to get into my past, I say, “Nothing. Forget I said that.”
Adriano’s expression turns grim, and it has my heart tripping over itself before beating faster.
“Tell me right now.”
I hunch my shoulders and wrap my arms around myself while lowering my eyes, because he’s downright scary when he gets that look.
Not wanting him to think this is about his family, I say, “I loved meeting your mother. She even hugged me. And the men seem nice enough. I like how Tiny and Big Ricky bicker.”
“Stop avoiding the question, Laurie,” he growls. “What’s weird?”
My shoulders slump, and I stare down at my scuffed shoes. “It was weird that you picked up that I was trying to dodge your question. Usually people get sidetracked real fast.” I wave a hand in his direction. “But you latch onto it like a dog with a bone.”
“You think it’s weird that I picked up on it because no one else cared enough to pay attention before?”
“Maybe weird was the wrong word to use.” I glance over the garden. “But yeah, no one really paid this kind of attention to me before and…I’m just not used to it.”
He takes hold of my chin and forces me to look at him before saying, “You’ll get used to it, mia piccola farfalla. For future reference, if I ask you a question, answer it. Don’t make me ask twice. It’s a pet peeve.”
“I’ll try to work on it.”
His fingers move, and he wraps them around the back of my neck before leaning all the way down and pressing a soft kiss to my mouth.
When he pulls back, he grins at me. “We’re getting to know each other, and I’m even more intrigued by you than I was an hour ago.”
He’s reassuring me that he’s not annoyed by me.
The realization slams unbelievably hard into me.
“Christ, I’m going to fucking kill your ex and his sister,” he suddenly growls while pulling me against his chest. “I will undo every single bad thing they’ve ever made you feel.”
Adriano presses kisses to the side of my head, and I’m so overwhelmed by what he’s said and the affection he’s showing me, I melt into his embrace.
I hope with all my heart this is how things will always be, because I get the feeling if I fall in love with Adriano, it will destroy me if he turns cold and cruel like Austin did.