‘See?’ he said, still laughing a little. ‘Easy as that.’

I adjusted the gun as Nic had done, trying to push away the faint unease inside me. ‘Like this?’ I asked, swivelling to see if the gun was snug enough with movement. It was a little cumbersome.

‘Exactly,’ said Nic, winking at me. ‘You’re a natural with it. I knew you would be.’ Though I knew it shouldn’t, his approval made me smile.

Dom leant towards me, his pungent aftershave mixing with the faint whiff of hair gel that always emanated from him. ‘Maybe with this gun, the next time you shoot to kill, you’ll actually pull the trigger.’

Gino sat up. ‘What?’ he said, blinking at me and then at Dom. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

Nic thumped Dom in the side of his head. ‘Io non ci scherzerei tanto, fratello!’

‘Calmati,’ said Dom, returning a jab to Nic’s right arm. ‘It’s a joke.’

‘I don’t get it,’ said Gino, still glancing between us.

I glowered at Dom. ‘A bad joke.’

‘A dangerous joke,’ cautioned Nic.

Dom shrugged. ‘She should have thought of that before she—’

‘Dom!’ I shouted, casting a wary glance at Gino. He didn’t know about my cowardice at The Sicilian Kiss, but the way Dom was dangling it in front of him, he was about to. And that would be one more chink in the secret, and one more step towards my eviction. Or worse. ‘Seriously, shut up!’

Dom raised his palms to me. ‘Calm down, tetchy. I’m just kidding around.’

‘What’s going on down here?’ Felice descended the stairs, his loafers padding softly on the stone floors, his grin fixed perfectly in place. Even now he was back to his old impeccably-turned-out self, I would never forget the version of Felice that had cornered me in that alcove, the manic look in his eyes, the thirst in his voice when he spoke to Paulie about Angelo. I would never forget how deeply he despised his role in the family, or how little respect he had for Valentino. He was more dangerous to me now than ever, and no amount of forced pleasantries or blithe indifference on his part was going to change that. ‘A special delivery, and no one thought to call me?’

‘We were picking our favourites,’ said Gino, twirling his own choice in front of him. ‘Didn’t want to get stuck with any duds.’

Felice arched a brow. ‘A delivery this precious from New York is unlikely to have any duds, Giorgino, and if the Di Salvos heard you say as much, they’d have your tongue cut out before lunchtime.’

‘Calm down, Felice.’ Nic was examining a longer, thinner gun now, which had a little tripod stand.

Felice hunkered down and took a gun for himself. I didn’t fail to notice the look of disdain he offered to the one sitting in my lap. It was probably the one he wanted. I clutched it harder, indicating just how sure my choice now was.

Elena swept through the hall a moment later, her pixie-like nose upturned at our huddle. ‘What a mess you all make sitting there like vagabonds,’ she said, eyeing the weapons over Dom’s shoulders. ‘Can’t we act like adults and place these elsewhere?’ She frowned at me. ‘And shouldn’t you be in school, girl?’

‘Valentino wants her chaperoned to and from school,’ said Dom, without looking up at his mother. ‘I’ll get around to it once I’ve chosen my favourite.’

‘Boys and their silly toys.’ Elena rolled her eyes and sashayed off into the kitchen, her heels clacking on the ground as she went, her voice fading. ‘And the Lord gave me five of them. La vita sa essere terribilmente ingiusta …’

‘So she doesn’t want a gun, then,’ I surmised.

‘Mama doesn’t get her hands dirty if she can help it,’ Nic supplied. He was still examining his gun. His lips were puckered in concentration, his brows pulled together.

‘A lot of the girls don’t get their hands dirty,’ said Gino. ‘That’s what makes you so cool, Soph.’

Something fluttered inside me. Oh, God. Was I really this starved of praise and acceptance that this was making me smile? The answer: yes. ‘Thanks, Gino.’

‘Yeah, that’s what makes you different,’ leered Dom. ‘Your extreme readiness to shoot people.’

I balled my fists. He just couldn’t help himself.

Felice was staring at me. Before he could interrogate Dom over that stupid comment, Valentino arrived. The wheels of his chair were almost soundless on the smooth floor, but Luca was with him, and their conversation, low and in Italian, preceded them.

‘Good,’ said Valentino, eyeing the delivery. ‘So the exchange went well?’ he asked Nic.

Nic disengaged from the guns and puffed his chest up. ‘And we have the Di Salvos’ support in New York too.’

‘Well done.’

Nic nodded, pride straightening his spine. ‘No problem.’

I stole a glance at Luca. He was staring at the automatic machine gun in my lap. To say he was frowning would be a colossal understatement.

‘Shouldn’t you be at school?’ he asked me.

‘I’m just waiting for Dom,’ I said.

Dom was rotating two guns in either hand and humming under his breath. They looked exactly the same to me. ‘I’m nearly ready,’ he said, without looking up. ‘Just have to make one last decision … or can I just have both?’ He looked at Valentino hopefully.