Katherine
Dear Diary,
I know it’s been eleven days since I last wrote to you, but how can you write about something when you have no clue how to put it into words? Antonio was ripped away from me eleven days ago, and I feel like I’m in a constant haze. The pain is worse this time because I had no say in the matter, and I couldn’t stop what was happening. Yes, I have felt the black hole calling my name, and trying to drag me down, but I’m doing everything I can to not let it take control. Antonio needs me to be strong right now, I know he must be going crazy not being able to be with me. When he kissed me yesterday, I felt everything he is feeling - the longing, the anger. It tore my heart apart to walk away and leave him there, but what choice did I have? What did I ever do to deserve so much hurt?
I’m not sure what’s worse, him being taken away, or the fact no one will tell me what the fuck is going on. I tried to talk to Dominic about it yesterday on our way home, but he wouldn't say a word. He insists, Antonio doesn’t want me to worry, and will tell me when he comes home.
I had to give a statement to Alfio, the family lawyer. It was to verify Antonio’s whereabouts the morning before the police turned up. When I asked Alfio what was going on, he simply told me, he wasn’t at liberty to discuss the issue. He then looked at Dom over my shoulder.
Something bad has happened, or is happening, why the fuck won't anyone talk to me? I know it's bad, otherwise Antonio would be with me now. I'm done, I can't sit around and wait for someone to answer my questions, I need to do some investigating myself. I need my man home with me – now!
I'll think of a way to get what I need and give Sergio the slip at the same time.
Closing my diary, I push it to one side, lie on the bed, and stare through the floor to ceiling windows lining the wall next to me. I watch the water and ships in the distance while trying to think of where to start on my investigations. Maybe when I go to the cafe in the morning, I can slip out the back door without Sergio seeing me. Or, I can go to Gwen’s and ask her for help. I let out an exasperated sigh, where the fuck do I start? Throwing my arm across my face, I groan loudly.
“Aunty Kat." Evie says from my open door.
“Hey babydoll, what are you doing?”
Shrugging her shoulders, she makes her way over to me and crawls next to me on the bed.
“Do you miss uncle Antonio?"
“Yeah Babydoll, I miss him a lot.”
“You know you can always hug me, when you miss him, and Daddy said he'll be home soon.”
“I know." I hug her closer and stare through the windows, we stay like that until Evie pulls back and smiles at me.
“Mommy and me are going shopping to buy stuff to make daddy dinner, do you want to come?”
Her bright blue eyes light up and she bats those damn eyelashes at me. How can I tell her no when she does that?
“Okay, what is mom cooking?" Grabbing my hand, she pulls me upright. As much as I want to lay in bed all day, maybe a little shopping trip with my girls would help.
“Not sure, we should ask.”
We head down the stairs and I come to an abrupt stop when I hear Dominic yelling in his office. I don’t understand what he's saying, because he's speaking Italian.
“Alfio, I don’t give a fuck what that stupid bitch has said, I want Antonio home and the bitch dealt with." There’s a pause before he speaks again. I stay still, listening. “I don’t care what you have to do, Demetri will be at your office at noon, get it done."
I feel sick, my stomach is churning, what the fuck is Dom talking about?
“Aunty Kat come on," Evie tugs on my hand and draws my attention to her. I shake off thoughts of the conversation for now, and head into the living room. I find Brooklyn on the sofa surrounded by wedding magazines, the television is on the music channel.
“Hey Dollface, what are you doing?" I look around at the mess she has made while Evie lays on the floor.
“Dominic had these delivered this morning, and told me to relax, and choose whatever I wanted.”
“Why do you have a strange look on your face, something wrong?”
“I’m fine. There is a lot to consider, and I never in my life thought I could have any of this." She waves her hand over the mess of magazines before continuing. "It’s a little overwhelming, I guess."
Pushing some magazines aside, I sit beside my friend. She hands me one which is open showing pictures of pretty flowers, dresses and cakes.
“I’m pretty sure whatever you pick will be fine, honey.”
“Yeah, I know. I just want to be beautiful for Dom.”
“You will be." I change the subject because she looks like she needs to take a breather. Evie said you were going shopping?"
“Yeah, I’m going to cook a special dinner tonight. Dom’s been stressed lately, and I don’t want him having to worry about it."
I had noticed Dom cooks almost every night. “How about we clean this up, and get ready. I'll let Sergio know what our plans are."
“Sounds good." Brooklyn pushes up on her walking stick and bends over to pick up the magazines. I stop her with my hand on her shoulder just as Dom walks into the room.
“Angel, I have to head out for a bit."
I study Dom when he speaks and notice how tired he appears.
“Okay, Big Man." Brooklyn slowly makes her way over to him. When she is close, he wraps his arms around her waist, pulls her into his chest and whispers something in her ear which makes her giggle.
I glance at Evie, she is sitting on the floor colouring in, but takes a moment to look toward them and rolls her eyes with a smile on her face. I bite my lip to stop myself laughing at the look on her face.
“Come on Babydoll, let's go and get ready." I extend my hand and wait for her to pack up her crayons before we leave the room. I think it's perfect timing when I hear Dom growl something in Brooklyn’s ear.
Strolling the aisles of the supermarket, I ponder the snippet of conversation I heard from Dom’s office earlier.
“Earth to Katherine," Brooklyn nudges me with her shoulder. “What has you off with the pixies?”
I glance toward Evie, she's occupied looking at the flavoured ice-cream in the glass freezer. I turn back to Brooklyn, wondering if she knows what's going on, but isn't telling me. I’m not sure if it would upset me if she knows, and refuses to tell me.
“Do you know why Antonio was arrested?"
“No, Dom won’t tell me."
“So, you asked him?”
“Of course, I did, but he knows if he tells me, I would tell you."
“Would you?”
“Of course, I would, you're my sister. I would tell you in a heartbeat."
I blow out the breath, I didn’t realize I was holding. I'm relieved to know she would tell me. I nod and smile.
“Come on, I need to grab the sauce for dinner, then we can leave. My leg is starting to hurt."
I feel bad that she is in pain, and there's nothing I can do to stop it. I call Evie over, grab her hand and we head to the sauce aisle.
“Aunty Kat, can we buy popcorn so we can watch movies tonight?"
“We don’t need popcorn to watch movies, Babydoll." I laugh at the pout on her face and look at Brooklyn when I hear her laughing. I roll my eyes before looking back at Evie. When I notice her hands together like she is praying, I burst into laughter.
“Please," she begs, batting those long eyelashes of hers.
Why the hell did I teach her that move? I look back at Brooklyn, and notice the, this is your own fault, look on her face. Yeah, big help my best friend turned out to be.
“Will you be okay if we hurry and grab some popcorn?" I speak a little too sweetly causing Brooklyn to crack up laughing.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Go get the girl what she wants, you always do." She laughs again and turns back to the shelves in front of her.
“Babydoll, you're supposed to use that look on your mother, not me," I say as we walk away.
“I do, oh and on daddy too, he can never say no to me." She belly laughs before going on, “and now it works on you too."
I open my mouth to say something smart when I hear Brooklyn scream.
“Noooo, no, no!"
Evie looks at me, terrified. I grab her hand and we rush back to where we left her mother. “What’s wrong? What happened?" I pat Brooklyn down from head to toe, wondering what the fuck happened. Tears stream down her face. I grasp her shoulders. “What happened, Brooklyn. Talk to me." I’m panicking now, she won't answer me, she keeps sobbing. I reach into my pocket, pull out my phone, and call Dominic. Placing it to my ear, I listen to it ring. I’m still trying to work out what the fuck happened.
“Brooklyn, are you hurt? Tell me what happened, Dollface, please”
“Kat what’s wrong?" I hear the alarm in Dom’s voice.
“I don’t know. I heard her scream when Evie and I went to get popcorn and now she's crying full on. She won't tell me what's wrong."
“Brooklyn talk to me," I try again.
Clearing her eyes of the tears, and catching her breath, she points to the shelves filled with sauces.
“Kat, what the fuck is happening, what’s wrong with Brooklyn?" Dom yells in my ear. “Where’s Evie?”
“Standing with us."
“Where the fuck are you? And where the fuck is Sergio?”
I tell him where we are, explain Sergio is waiting near the car, and hang up.
“Brooklyn, Dom’s on the way. Can you please tell me what the fuck just happened?”
Appearing to calm, she looks at me seriously. The next thing out of her mouth has me trying not to lose my mind, laughing. What in the actual fuck!
“They don’t have the sauce I want.”
“What?”
“The sauce I wanted for dinner tonight, they don’t have any left.”
“Are you seriously telling me, you lost your shit because they sold out of the sauce you wanted?" I bite my lip, because this has to be the most fucked up thing I have ever dealt with. “Are you telling me, I just rang your mob boss fiancé, over a bottle of sauce?”
“It’s a really yummy sauce," she sobs.
That does it, Evie and I exchange a look, before bursting into laughter.
“Brooklyn…" She's sobbing hard again and I try to soothe her. Then, I hear people running toward us, and Dom’s voice calls out.
“Angel, what happened, are you hurt?”
“I’m fine now." She moves into his arms.
“What the fuck happened?" He glares at everyone looking on.
“They ran out of the sauce I wanted to use for dinner tonight." Brooklyn explains like it’s the end of the world.
“Angel, what are you on about?”
“I wanted to cook dinner tonight, you've been so stressed and I wanted to do something special for you. But, now I can’t because they haven’t got the sauce I need." She sniffs back the tears, and I try and look somewhere else, because this is insane.
“Si, I get that, but why are you crying?”
“I don’t know, I just really wanted that sauce.”
I am trying not to laugh, but it’s hard when I look at Dom, and he's biting his lip to stop himself from laughing as he pulls Brooklyn into his chest.
“Um, I think maybe her hormones are a bit out of whack. I'm sorry I called, but I thought she was hurt, physically." I use air quotes when I say physically, because I do believe Brooklyn has finally lost her damn mind. Whoa!!! Dom chuckles and when I swing around, I notice Sergio is doing his best not to laugh.
“Si, okay. Angel how about I take you girls home, and we'll order something in. Tell Sergio what sauce you need, and he can go and find it. You can cook your special dinner tomorrow night.”
Brooklyn nods and starts walking off with Dom.
Evie grabs my hand, and we follow behind them. I look down at Evie and know she is confused every bit as much as me. My fucking head is spinning with what just happened.
“Aunty Kat, are my brothers already causing mommy to go crazy?”
“Yeah, I believe so, Babydoll."
We both crack up laughing.
Dom turns toward us and winks; obviously, he's heard what we are talking about.