My Tragic Mafia Life | ✔️

41

Camillo set down his fork. "I have sisters."

    Some ugly part of her called him a coward. "And yet you don't mention them."

    "They have their own lives, and I have mine," As if that explanation was enough. Valentina was still sulking. "Besides, I can't deal with all of that teenage drama they're going through right now."

    "So they're teenagers?" Josephine tried again.

    "Yes. Already in highschool."

    "That's funny, I think I would've noticed if there was another Russo running around the hallways." She braced herself for the reaction, weighing the risks, then smiled. "Blood-related, of course. No offense, Valentina."

    She just nimbly stabbed at her food while Josephine battered her eyes.

    "They don't go to our school," It was Luca who answered.

At least their existence wasn't foreign, but she didn't understand if it was normal to dismiss siblings. She never had any, and only sought her schoolmates siblings and Mother's own stories as a source. Mother called her sisters shameless and full of greed, while her schoolmates found them inferior and frustrating. Both opinions couldn't be taken seriously. Though she knew disdain was common between banter, in the mafia...

    Lucia said, "We aren't the only highschool with mobsters. There's others around the area."

    A chill slithered down her spine. But if they were willing to answer..."Speaking of that, why are all of you at the same school if your families are, um, enemies?"

    Beatriz smoothly cut in. "It's neutral territory. Our families decided long ago where it's okay to fight and where it's not. Thankfully, that area included our highschool so we could get an education outside of family feuds."

    Josephine cast a dark glance. "And it just so happened to be in the same exact school."

    "I know. Crazy, right?" Houston said.

    Implying that meant something else was going on. "Right."

    She might have lounged with them and enjoyed the company. Charlotte's wasn't so horrid and the food passed her low expectations. They were all colorful and mysterious. Their double-life intrigued Josephine if not for the sense of danger they were in. The red herrings of what their world was outside of school. She would have bombarded them with this or that, starting on the edge of their corrupt business, if not for Camillo saying, "Now that we're all here, I think you should tell us everything that you've found at the bar so we can hurry up this investigation."

    Silence ensued. Dante's expression turned dark.

    "We all know that there's a lot more clues you found at the bar that you're not telling us." Camillo said, continuing with his meal. He was acting as if his demand was like ordering dessert. "I need to know who you're suspecting and why."

"Are we all included?" Luca asked. He had clearly been thinking the same as Camillo. Isla looked away.

Josephine couldn't tell what was worse. To be known that you and your friends were included in crime, or the possibility that they were suspecting you. As of now, both sides were considered. And then of course there was the longing, the wait. That was far worse than any answer. It could be a breathe of relief to some, and a brand to others. It only mattered what they found.

"All of you are under investigation," Dante said.

    Though his friends' reactions were typical, a mixture of betrayal, anger, and confusion, Camillo was eerily calm. "What did you find?"