Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 73732 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73732 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
“I am nothing if not acutely aware of my flaws,” she said. “But, look, I found my manners,” she said, moving forward with an extended hand that Silvano stared down at like it might be booby-trapped before he shook it. “I’m Avery. The house… fucker-upper, I guess,” she said with another of those self-deprecating smiles, complete with an eye roll.
“Silvano,” Sil said, and I could tell even his surly ass was a little charmed by her.
“I didn’t realize there was going to be company today. I can clean this up and do it some other time.”
“No, it’s fine,” I insisted, surprised how good it felt to talk to her after so long of her avoiding me. “We will go talk in the office,” I said, nodding at Silvano to follow me down the hall. “Admit it,” I said when we were behind a closed door. “Even your moody ass can see her charm.”
“If you don’t mind the house being a mess, sure,” he said. Mostly because it was on brand for him, even if he didn’t mean it.
“She’s done a lot so far. Her process is chaotic as fuck, but you have to admit the end product is worth it,” I said, thinking of the second guest room that she had completely decorated, the dining room that was mostly done, save for the some final touches, and even the back garden that was well on its way to being a usable space.
I’d been meaning to tell her not to bother trying to fix the bricks, that I was going to hire someone to come in and level that shit all out, so there could be seating out there.
But she’d cleared out all the beds and had mulched everything. We just needed spring to get a little closer, and I knew she would have that area overflowing with color and interest.
She was good at that.
“Lorenzo is having a family day, or I was told at the door,” Silvano said.
“Yeah. He’s got a wife and kids,” I said in a way that suggested he needed to give the boss a little grace. The man worked nonstop most of the time. “What’s going on? Did you see Cosimo?” I asked.
“No. He won’t see me. He won’t see anybody.”
“Still?” I asked, exhaling hard. “Not even your ma?”
“Nope. The bastard won’t even take in the meals the moms and aunts and cousins are dropping off.”
“What the fuck?”
“I know,” he said. “I’m a dick, and even I wouldn’t do that.”
I mean… who the fuck turned away good food while on house arrest? It made no sense.
“He sees the lawyer still, right?”
“Yeah. Twice this week. And that’s about fucking it. I’m assuming he’s ordering groceries and shit dropped off. But that’s it.”
“I get maybe not wanting to see us,” I said. “Thinking he’s gonna get his ass chewed out. And maybe he would. From you. From Lorenzo. But your ma?”
“Yeah,” Silvano said, shaking his head. “Don’t get it either.”
“We’re looking into it still. The murder,” I said. “But we’re not finding much. Doesn’t seem like anyone has been in Cosimo’s confidence lately. I know you don’t see him much, but did he seem off when you did?”
“Fuck if I know. He’s… Cosimo. Guarded. Dark. That’s always how he’s been.”
That was true.
Cosimo’s old man had been a real sonofabitch. That whole generation of dads didn’t have a lot of winners in our Family. Mine had been alright. And Cesare’s was top-tier. The rest, though. Cold, ruthless, violent.
And because they were raising their sons to be the same, they took no mercy on them, not even when they were small and made stupid kid mistakes.
It was especially hard for Cosimo who went years without a mother figure to try to offer some sort of softness and warmth. Though, yeah, it kinda sucked for Silvano and his mom to get wrapped up in that shithead’s world. Still, their ma was good fucking people. She did everything she could to raise the boys to be good men, to offset the dad’s roughness.
Sure, they still both had their issues.
But their ma had done everything for them that she could. They knew that.
So it was fucked that Cos wouldn’t see her.
“How’s your ma doing?” I asked, getting a head shake from Silvano.
“Think she’d have been fine if the asshole didn’t shut her out. But she’s, you know,” he said, gesturing to his face.
“What? Crying?” I asked.
“All the time,” he agreed. “Ugly crying. Snot and sobs and…” he trailed off there, sighing.
“Alright. I will get my ma to go spend some time with her, see if she can help lift her spirits a little.”
“She’ll prolly do a better job than me,” he said. “I can say this, if he doesn’t stop icing her out soon, he doesn’t have to worry about fucking jail. I’ll kill him before he gets there.”