RUSSO - unedited

57

Kendall Ranley

Tonight was the night of this huge ball Lorenzo's parents were putting on for Marco. Marco had filled me in on everything and in the end it made sense but Marco had still put us through a lot of heartbreak after his 'death'.
Surprisingly, Marco was singlehandedly a better parent then Lorenzo and I combined. He was incredible with Beth, it was quite the sight to see. I had called Michael a few days prior to ask him to watch Beth and he couldn't have been happier. I was slightly nervous for tonight, I haven't seen Lorenzo's father since that 'family dinner' I told him off and stormed out on. I was completely oblivious to how it would go.

"You ready to go babe?" Lorenzo calls out to me and I take one last look in the mirror. I had on a deep red dress with a slit down my left leg. The two front pieces of my hair were pinned back and helped reveal the diamond earring that were displayed on my ears. I coated my lips with a matte red lipstick and buckled on my black heels once I was finished. I walked down the staircase and met Lorenzo at the end.

"I'm never going to get tired of seeing you like this." He looks at me lustfully and I press my lips to his. I hear Beth's little footsteps coming our way and she hugs my leg. I pick her up and hold her in my hip as Michael walks in.

"You look pretty Mommy." She says sweetly to me and my forehead meets hers, she kisses my cheek.

"You look great Ranley." I hear Michael say to me and I look up to him.

"Thank you." I say, "And thank you for doing this, we really appreciate it." I say and eye Lorenzo to make sure he doesn't have a smug look on his face.

"I'm happy to, whenever you need me." He says with a nod and I put on a friendly smile. I put Beth down and straighten out my dress.

"We'll be back." Lorenzo smiles at Beth and ruffles her blonde hair.

"Can I drive?" I ask as we walk out the door and try to reach for the keys in his hand.

"Oh no, we're carrying precious cargo, we can't risk it with your reckless driving." He says and climbs in the drivers set and I settle for the passenger.

"And who is the precious cargo?" I ask with a goofy smile and click my seatbelt in. He turns his head and smiles.

"Me of course."

The drive wasn't long and once we pulled up, it felt extremely nostalgic. I remembered the first time I attended a ball by the Russo's. I barely knew Lorenzo and he took me to a Mafia ball. What the hell were we thinking.

Lorenzo opens the door for me and takes my hand as we walk inside. The place was just as I remembered it. Outrageously stunning and unnecessary large, very Mafia. I saw Maria down at the bar and left Lorenzo to fend for himself.

"Kendall sweetheart, you look incredible." She compliments and pulls me in for a warm hug.

"It's so good to see you!" I exclaim and take a seat on one of the stools.

"Uh a vodka on rocks for her." Maria instructs the bartender, "How have you been darling?"

"I'm great." I say genuinely with a smile, "Busy with work and the little one but everything's been great."

"Oh goodness yes, I need to see that little girl soon." She says and takes a sip from her martini. "I'm a grandmother!" She squeals.

"Yeah." I nod, "It's all pretty surreal." I say and take a swig of the vodka in my glass.

"Yeah take about surreal." She scoffs, "Marco Lombardi is back from the freaking dead." She finish off she sentence with a bit of a chuckle.

"My God I know, It was definitely freaky." I admit with wide eyes and take another sip.

"Seems everything still worked out in the end though." She lightens the mood and I break through with a large smile.

"It did, didn't it."

I finish my drink at the bar with Maria and make my way into the main hall where Stanler stands at the top of the stage. I joined Lorenzo at a table with Frankie and Maria as we watched Stanler begin his speech.

"Thank you all for coming tonight. Tonight we will take the time to celebrate a certain individual in our community who we thought we lost. Yet we have now gotten news that this was a misunderstanding and that he is very much alive. Now, please take the time to welcome back one of our most trusted, efficient men, Marco Lombardi."

Marco walked out into the stage looking as miserable as ever, typical of him. He waved to the room filled with people a few times and that was about it. No speech, no nothing. It was very Marco like.

"He doesn't get out much does he?" I joke around with Lorenzo about Marco and he chuckles.

"You aren't wrong."

My smile faded at the figure I saw walking behind Lorenzo. Their presence was enough to set me off into rage. Or should I say, Sophie's presence was enough to set me off in rage.

I set the glass of champagne I was holding on the table beside me and cracked my knuckles. I turned back and saw he hands smooth out Lorenzo's suit on his shoulder.

"Sophie?" He questioned with a surprised tone and she flashes a petty smile.

"The one and only." She says with a giggle, "I see you kept your dog around, make sure to keep her on a leash."

I slid all my rings onto my right hand, it would hurt a lot more. I pulled my fist back before I swung it square in her face. She fell back on the floor, holding her already bleeding nose. I walked closer to her and nailed a kick right to her stomach, she groaned in pain. She was a crying mess on the floor as we had gathered everyone's attention now. I felt an evil smirk crawl to my face as Lorenzo pulled me away. He didn't say anything but obviously didn't want anything to get too out of control.

"You stay the fuck away from us or you won't be walking out alive." I warn and I hear gasps throughout the room.

Lorenzo pulls me further and further away, "What are you doing?" I ask and try to scramble out of his grip. He doesn't say anything and leads me to a staircase. We walk through a long corridor and he pulls me into a bathroom.

"What are you-" I'm completely cut off by Lorenzo crashing his lips against mine and he pins me against the wall.

He lifts my leg up against his torso and he caresses my thigh, "That. Was. Incredibly. Hot." He says in between kisses and tries to remove my dress but we're interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Lorenzo." A deep voice says through the door which I instantly recognize as Stanler's.

Lorenzo pulls away from me with a groan and opens the door. "What?" He says harshly. Stanler opens the door further until I'm visible

"Welcome to the family Kendall."

//
There's only a few chapters left of this book :(