I paced back and forth in my room, and ate an entire bag of Cheetos. I didn’t want to go downstairs – Nic was there, and I wasn’t ready to have that talk with him, and it was more than obvious he wasn’t ready to have that talk with me. Luca wasn’t due home until much later.

I decided to go back to basics.

I was going to leave him a note.

A poem.

But I was going to out-gesture him and make my own.

I opened my notepad and started scribbling, and before I could talk myself out of it, I slid the note under his door and scurried back to bed.

Luca, I think it’s time I told you something true,

Like how your eyes are the most amazing sapphire blue,

Or how your smile makes me giddy and silly and shy,

How I love your voice and the way that you sigh.

I swear my heart jumps whenever I’m with you,

Because you are my favourite, and I love you, too.

P.S. I almost forgot this last message from me,

I will still never respect your authority ☺

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

DORK

When I rolled out of bed in the morning, a piece of paper had been shoved under my door. I unfolded it, glee quickly replacing exhaustion.

Sophie,

You are such a dork.

I’m keeping that in my wallet for ever.

Come get me when you wake up.

Luca x

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

ALL SOULS

Unfortunately for me and my intended Sunday morning cuddle session with Luca, Valentino had other plans. It was All Souls’ Day, and since we were entering into peace negotiations with the Marino family, that meant we could all go out together on a family outing.

To church.

Kill me.

I was told we were to assemble at 10 a.m. in the foyer, which afforded me exactly twenty-nine minutes to spruce myself up. Dire. I caught a glimpse of Gino bounding down the hallway on my way back from the shower and noted with some degree of horror that he was wearing a suit. I hastily straightened my hair, wound it into a high ponytail and then swiped on some mascara, lip gloss and blusher.

There were more of us than usual today – a few of Luca’s great-uncles and -aunts, some errant cousins, Paulie and his three girls, Cecilia, Pia and Greta. There was Sal, Aldo and CJ, and of course, among them all, Nic. He wouldn’t look at me, and he made sure to stand as far away from Luca as possible. I was thankful at least for the crowd that pushed us apart from one another.

It was tradition, the others told me, to attend church in the city on All Souls’ Day to remember their dead. Today was no different, only this time Valentino had cautioned Nic and Luca to use the outing and the confessional afterwards to bury their problems with each other. A family divided was weak, and we needed to be strong.

I had already gathered that the Falcones were Catholic. Like, super-Catholic. I wasn’t, but the excursion fell under the heading of ‘family business’, and that meant I was a part of it.

I hadn’t spent very much time in churches, but I was pretty sure Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago was one of the most decadent in existence. It was huge – this majestic structure with tall, bright ceilings, vaulted archways and marble pillars that probably cost more than I would ever earn in a lifetime. I remembered the outside facade from the article about Angelo Falcone’s funeral Mass, but inside was even more impressive.

We arrived early and shuffled up the aisle, lulled by the faint sounds of hymnal music floating down on us. It was peaceful, and the tension that had been boiling among the family seemed to quell just a little, replaced by soft melody and candlelight.

‘You’re like a kid in a candy store,’ Luca murmured as we made our way up the centre aisle.

I had been staring open-mouthed at the altar. ‘It’s cool,’ I breathed.

‘Is it?’ he asked, amused.

I nodded. ‘Very Hunchback of Notre Dame.’

His laugh was low against my ear. ‘Why am I not surprised by that comparison?’

I winked at him over my shoulder. ‘I’m just a Disney princess stuck in a Mafia world.’

He trailed his fingers around my waist as we walked, planting a quick kiss below my ear before anyone could see. ‘Yes, you are.’

The Falcone family took up two entire pews. Luca and I sat in the second of the two rows, and Nic was, by awkward coincidence, just in front of us, his shoulders tensed. Elena was on one side of him and Gino on the other. Paulie’s girls were giggling down the far end of their pew, sandwiched between Sal and Aldo, who looked positively miserable.

I was enjoying the way Luca’s leg was brushing against mine. That quick kiss in the aisle had sent my mind spiralling somewhere entirely un-church-like. The trade-off for this wonderful closeness meant I was also sitting beside Felice and was, as a consequence, detecting the faintest scent of honey every twenty seconds. It still reminded me of death. Valentino was on the other side of Felice, positioned at the very end of the row beyond where the pew ended.

As the church filled up, the choir began singing – their soaring voices pealing across the aisles and reverberating inside the sloping arches. Some of the Falcones around me joined in. Felice stayed silent, thankfully. Luca had his eyes closed. He must have been thinking about something serious because there were little ripples forming above his nose.

Elena was the first to notice the arrival of her sister. Her hand flew to her mouth, a gasp only half stifled at the sight of Donata Marino and two of her lackeys right across the aisle. I slammed my fist into Luca’s leg, and his eyes flew open. Whispers rippled along the pews, as half of us turned to Valentino, waiting for instruction.