24. Alana
Alana
The object I carry into Thiago’s house is heavy and cumbersome. It’s also diabolical.
The driveway is filled with cars, making it a jigsaw puzzle whenever someone wants to leave.
That’s why I always park on the street. No one questions why I’m walking into the house— why would they?
I dip my chin at the security and enter without knocking.
I’m the reason he can afford this house. I don’t need to announce myself.
There are the usual suspects sitting around the formal living room. They see what I have, but none of them say anything. I home in on Duncan. “You’re treading a very thin line here.” I lift the crate. “This could be your fate next.” None of the patriarchs of the Four Families say anything.
I walk through the hallway lined with family photos and a statue of Mary resting on a long table.
The kitchen is filled with couples in various conversations and stages of eating.
All things stop when they see me, and their attention drops to the crate I’ve put down on the floor.
Kicking open the basement door with my foot, I call down, “Maria! Come here.”
There’s a stampede of feet flying up the stairs.
Thiago enters the kitchen behind the kids as he was talking with his dad in the other room when I entered. He sees me and flashes me a shit-eating grin. “I’m surprised you’re here,” his words are drowned out by the screaming.
“Aunt Alana!” The kids come stomping up the stairs. There’s a rapid-fire verbal attack of ‘thank yous’ and ‘come see what I got you.’
Thiago’s daughter is the youngest and is the first one out from the basement.
She also has terrible observation skills and nearly runs straight into the object I brought.
But Shea and Ian hang back in the doorway, eyeing up the situation.
Drew is the last to come up, complaining that no one ever cleans up after themselves, but stops dead in his tracks, eyes wide.
I bend down and open the gate, lifting the puppy and showing Maria.
She squeals. “He’s so cute!” Maria’s smile is infectious.
My eyes flash back to Thiago, whose smile vanishes, and he looks like he wants to vomit. He opens his mouth to speak, but I’m faster.
“He’s yours.” I pat his furry head and hand him over to my goddaughter. “He’s a Burmese Mountain Dog. They’re sweet and loyal.” They also shed 365 days of the year and shit bricks. “Look at his paws.” I point to his extra-large feet. “That means he’s gonna grow sooo big.”
Thiago stands up, his eyes already watering. “Baby, you can’t keep him. Daddy has allergies.”
I flash him a wicked smile. “Don’t worry, you start your allergy shot treatments tomorrow.
” He is deathly afraid of needles. “Only two years of weekly treatments, and it won’t be an issue.
” Thiago’s face drains of all color, and he looks to his wife for support. She crosses her arms and glares at him.
“You should’ve kept your damn mouth shut,” she says and smacks him on the back of the head. Then gives me a wink and sits on the floor with her daughter and new puppy. It’s the exact breed she grew up with, so it was an easy choice.
Jenny and Joey, recent dog owners themselves, also bend over and start playing with the puppy who starts bouncing between everyone, sniffing and making little yip sounds.
It’s a low blow even by my standards—using the kids as manipulation tactics is pretty fucked up.
But I’m all smiles as I add, “Drew and Shae, you get your pick between a turtle and chinchilla.
" I researched worst pets, choosing turtles because they never die, and chinchillas because they are nocturnal nightmares of dander and poof.
And it will be way harder on their parents than the kids.
Lance and Duncan will be slapped with the responsibility of keeping these little monsters alive.
Ian raises his hand. “Um Aunt Alana, did my dad do anything to make you mad?” Smart boy.
“No. Your dad is in good standing.” I almost feel bad for him. I’m sure it seems like everyone is getting a cool pet except him. “But you’re gonna get a trauma pony eventually, so chin up.” He curses in Russian and walks back downstairs.
Thiago’s wife hooks the dog up with a leash and walks him into the basement for the kids to play. Once the kids are gone, the power shifts, and Thiago snaps, “What the hell Alana?”
“You attacked my private life, I attacked yours. It’s the basic law of war.”
“No kids, that's the age-old rule.”
“I see nothing wrong with giving my goddaughter a gift.” I grab a carrot off the veggie tray.
“I don’t understand, what’s the problem?” Blue-haired, ADHD queen, Jenny pulls herself off the floor. She offers her hand down to Joey to help lift him up too.
“Thiago knew Alana before she was Alana.” Dimitri answers so I don’t have to, another reason I like him. “And back then she dated Grae, who apparently broke her heart. And now Thiago doesn't want history to repeat itself.”
Jenny blinks a few times and then gasps, covering her mouth.
“I didn’t know.” She fans her face, and her lower lips quivers.
“There will be statues erected to you, Alana.” Huh, what is she talking about?
“Your name will go down in history as the great pioneer you are.” She put her hands on my cheeks.
I try not to flinch from her touch, but it’s so unexpected, I’m not sure what to do.
“You brave fearless woman.” She rests her forehead against mine.
“I didn’t know I had been in the presence of greatness this whole time.
” She wraps her arm around my shoulder and with the other one swings it around in a grand gesture.
“Behold! The first woman in history to be hurt by a man!”
I am so glad she's joined the Four Families friend group. Excellent addition.
Waverly and Katya laugh. Their male counterparts do not.
Then Waverly jumps on the train. “Yes, as we know, men are born with the innate ability to do no harm and always make the right decisions.” She puts her hand on my shoulder mirroring Jenny.
“And what age was this man when he broke your heart?”
I pull back my grin. “Nineteen.”
“Why yes!” Waverly clutches her invisible pearls.
“The mature, fully developed frontal lobe of a nineteen-year-old man never makes mistakes.” She waves across the room.
“Donny was nineteen when he wrapped a family car around a tree. Thiago was in his thirties when he broke his wrist trying to show his daughter how to do a kick flip on a skateboard—which he hadn’t done in fifteen years.
Yes, as we all know, men are the epitome of excellent life choices. ”
Thiago frowns and rubs his wrist like he was remembering the pain. “What’s your point?”
“If women never forgave men for stupid choices, then the human population would’ve been extinct eons ago.”
It’s nice to have the support, but the reality is darker.
“What happened to me has happened to millions of women over the course of time. I’m not that special.
Though it’s sweet that you think I am.” I give Thiago a wink.
“No, I don’t think that has to do with my personal well-being as much as it has to do with any potential inconvenience that this might spark in your own life. ”
“I don’t understand why you think Alana needs protecting,” Katya chimes in, “or even your pity. She’s a multi-millionaire crime lord baddie who chose not to have a boyfriend for a few years and now is choosing to have one again.”
Thiago slams his hand down on the counter, making the wine glasses rattle.
“I’m not keeping the dog!” His phone chimes.
He exhales through his nose and pinches the bridge of it.
I look over at the screen to see a picture of Maria with her arms around the puppy crying happy tears as he licks her face.
He glares at me, and we both know I’ve won.