Bred In Violence (A Mafia Romance Book One) #𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝟏

Chapter 20

Raphael, on the other hand, was the king. A man of rugged beauty. He had a Michelangelo David's face. He was also intimidating, cold, and aloof; his eyes were expressive as they were cold.  He chose what to show and what to conceal. A very manipulative and dangerous man.

The memories of the night he killed a guy outside Aldo's was still at the front of my mind. I wanted to discuss it, but I felt like a million other women who decided to bury their heads in the sand for a while to keep from rocking a perfectly floating boat.  But I knew I would have to ask him about it sooner. 

Nevertheless, they all had a few things in common. They were tall, Italian, and hot. For a second, I allowed myself to imagine them on the cover of GQ magazine. It would make massive sales.

"Is that a dig on my height? Just because I'm vertically disadvantaged doesn't mean I'm not old enough."

"I heard Romano chuckle; I lifted my head to look at him, seated on another small dinner table positioned inside the kitchen; he seemed to enjoy the flowing conversation and the advantage of not participating, which suited his character just fine.

Our eyes met; he had a mischievous twinkle.

"Is that a politically correct way of saying you're short?"

"I'm not short!"

"Of course not!  You're vertically disadvantaged? He emphasized.

"Are you making fun of me?"

"A little"

His voice was deceptively meek, using his thumb and his index finger on his right hand to demonstrate.

I glared at him, moving around to pour some tea.

"Anyway,  to answer your question.  I said as I turned to Address Bruno.

"I love their girl power?"

"What the hell is girl power?"

It was comical, the three of them asking the same question. Even Raphael seemed interested now, not crunching and scrolling his phone, making me jealous by thinking he was texting another woman.

"It's when women independently, successfully, and confidently take on the world and shine. These women ruled Europe at some point"

"I thought the queen ruled Europe,"  Bruno mused.

"No, I think the Beatles ruled Europe."

Romano's drawled, feigning confusion, walking up to refill his coffee. He stood with me,  towering over me, his arm slightly rubbing on my shoulder as he stirred sugar in his coffee. I decided I liked being here. I stole a glance at Raphael, who was giving Romano a look I didn't understand.

"Are you messing with me again?"

"You mean the Beatles did not rule Europe at any time? "

With a fluid motion, Raphael rose, pushing back his chair, noisy "You've become quite chatty"  I could see he was irritated. I wondered If I had done something wrong, said something wrong. He didn't even look at me.  He just left,  walked out, his hands in his pocket with his head held him.

He didn't say goodbye. I was disappointed that every little thing I had imagined doing with him before he left wasn't going to happen. My heart felt crushed. Instantaneously, I wanted to cry, get into the room, and hurl at everything on-site, unseen. But I have never been dramatic or destructive, so I smiled.

I felt a light touch on my shoulder. I turned, and Gabs was standing beside me, her head bent, scrolling through her phone. She didn't speak, but it was comforting.

"So what do you ladies want to do today?"

Gabs longingly said she would love to read a few manuscripts but her boss probably already fired her.

"He didn't fire you; he agreed to give you some time off, as much as you need. Romano stated those words like he was crystal clear.

We both watched as Romano and Bruno walkout in sync. I heard Bruno laugh as they disappeared from the room, leaving Gabs and me; unexpectedly, I felt left out and abandoned. I noticed nonna had left at some point because we were the only two people in the room.

We walked hand in hand to the theater room. This room could fit into my whole house and leave some space. It was huge; the television almost covered the wall.

"Any idea on what we should watch?" I asked Gabriella excitedly as we sat on the same couch.

"I don't know, too many options," she started to lay down on her side of the couch, and I did the same, our feet touching.

Flora strolled into the room, carrying a woolen blanket, and covered us with it. 

"Do you girls want any snack?"

"No, Flora,  we are fine. We just had breakfast."

"Okay. There is a phone on each side; dial 333 and let me know what you need.

We both sat up instantly, at the same time to check.

"OMG, Soph, where are we? I heard Gabs ask; I doubted my mind had the ability to process anything at the time. I was impressed, but I was also bordering on unease.

We didn't have much time to dwell on it; the television's sound interrupted our train of thought.

"You're sitting on the remote." 

"Got it!" I said, "let's finish off daredevil," I said, hitting on play.