A MERRY MAFIA CHRISTMAS (GxG)

XLVI

My Christmas List: December 20th
Give me special abilities to suddenly speak Italian.

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"I figured I'd take you back to my home roots," she said, her tone nonchalant.

I gave her a deadpanned look, "Home roots is taking me to a quaint Italian restaurant on third street back in Chicago—Home roots are your parents showing me embarrassing baby pictures of you."

Armani laughed, "Mio caro just enjoy the moment—"

"How can I enjoy the moment when everything has to be done back in Chicago? I have a job to do you know?" I cut her off, raising a pointed brow at her.

She hummed, remaining relaxed even after I interrupted her, "Your job will be okay for a couple of days. I assure you."

I froze, realizing that the real issue here was based on my job and that I was actually worried about it, especially with the event quickly approaching. Otherwise, I would've been happy to up and run to Italy.

"I just like... stability?" I said, my tone unsure and lowered.

Armani nodded, "I know. I see that, but what's fun about doing the same thing every day hm? Let's be spontaneous."

I smiled slightly, nodding hesitantly.

"Is that a yes?" she asked, her smile growing to match mine.

I nodded quicker, "Yes that's a yes."

"Perfect because I have a lot to show you," she said, her tone shifting into excitement.

I smiled, "Yeah, okay," I said, and she nodded, guiding me to her side by my waist.

When we were seated in the black Cadillac I almost questioned if they duplicated it here, but then I remembered her Mafia operates globally—and she also said home roots.

"So you lived here?" I asked, saying my thoughts aloud.

Armani nodded, "Yeah, I grew up here until I was an adult," she said, which made my brows raise slightly. "My father liked keeping us sheltered here in Sicily. Our life was... surprisingly normal."

"Normal?" I said, and it was clear that I didn't expect her to describe it in that manner.

Armani shrugged, "Yeah, it was actually the best part of my life—well until now."

My smile turned into a grin, realizing she was referring to me, "Until now?"

She rolled her eyes playfully, "Yes, until now," she said, leaning into me further.

I hummed contently, resting my head against her chest. "What was it like? Growing up here?"

She strummed her hand up and down my exposed arm, "It was nice—simple you could say. I had attended school with the same group of people since I was enrolled—but high school was when life really got fun," she said, and I looked up at her, urging her to go on. Upon realizing my curiosity, she nodded, continuing on, "My group of friends would meet at a cafe near my house, and we'd get the best coffee and fluffy pastries before heading off to school. We were always let out at around one-thirty in the afternoon, so we always had time to do more with our day. We'd normally take trains to other cities and explore whatever we could. We always made it a mission to eat something different every day—well except for dinner, my nonna would have a heart attack if I didn't indulge in the meal she spent all day making."

I couldn't help but smile at the idea of her nonna, and the beautiful simple life that Armani used to live. We were living two completely different lives as teenagers—hers seemingly being the one that everyone dreamed of.