raised a brow.
“Touché.”
“Ari, babe, there’s beer or soda?”
“I’ll take a soda,” I replied, “please.”
“I’ll take a beer,” Alessia said.
“No,” her cousins barked in unison, and I smothered a chuckle.
“Are they always like this?”
“Worse.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m surprised they haven’t been trailing after you around campus.”
“Actually, I haven’t seen them around at all,” Nora said.
Matteo glanced around Enzo who shook his head.
“What?” I asked noticing the two of them acting cagey.
“Just because you can’t see us doesn’t mean we’re not around.” Matteo uncapped his beer and took a long pull, but I didn’t miss the guilt shining in his eyes.
“So you have been around?” I narrowed my eyes. “Why haven’t we seen you?”
“Nicco thought it would make things easier on you if we kept a low profile.”
“That makes sense, I guess.” My chest tightened. The gossip mill was hot with rumors about the fight, about Tristan being in the hospital, and Nicco’s sudden disappearance.
“Jeez, if I’d have known we were going to talk about this stuff all night, I wouldn’t have bothered.” Alessia grinned at me.
“Sorry. It’s just been a lot to process.”
“I know. But you’re here and you’re safe and I really hoped we could have some good old-fashioned girls’ fun.”
Enzo groaned, running a hand through his dark hair.
“You got a problem with that?” Alessia huffed.
“If it’s going to be like the time you and Bella tried to braid my hair then yeah, I’ve got a fucking problem with it.”
“Come on, E,” Matteo added, “that shit was funny.”
“Maybe you like getting your nails painted and hair braided but it’s not exactly my kind of thing.”
“You really did that to them?” Nora couldn’t contain her amusement.
“We were like twelve. Nicco let me practice putting lip gloss on him.”
Enzo scoffed. “We held him down and let you go at him.”
Alessia rolled her eyes at him. “Your point?”
“You had him wrapped around your little finger.” Matteo shifted in the chair. “And then you grew boobs.”
“Gross!”
“What? It’s the truth. Having a younger sister, knowing what I know about the world, it’s enough to send me to an early grave.”
“My older brother used to say he had two main jobs in the world,” Nora said. “Making me smile and breaking the legs of any guy who ever hurt me.”
Tension crackled in the air as she glanced over at Enzo who was focused solely on the wisps of smoke rising off his blunt.
“Sounds like my kind of guy,” Matteo tipped the neck of his bottle at her. “What say you, Enzo?”
He grumbled again.
“Did your brother go to MU?”
“He’s at UPenn, chasing dreams of pro-football, fame, and fortune.”
“Enzo has a decent throwing arm.”
“Fuck this, I need some air.” Enzo got up and stalked to the door beyond the kitchen.
“Did you have to bring him?” Alessia grumbled. “He’s so—”
“Miserable?” Nora smirked.
“That’s cute.” Matteo narrowed his eyes at her. “Pretending you don’t care.”
“I don’t.”
“We’ll see.” He got up. “Can I trust the three of you while I’m gone?”
Alessia glared at him, and his shoulders shook with quiet laughter. “I’ll be back.” He took off after Enzo.
“Thank God. I thought they were never going to leave.”
“Leave? But Matteo said—”
“Relax. They won’t go anywhere. There’s a fire pit out back, some benches. It’s pretty cool.”
Nora looked longingly at the door.
“Down, girl,” I chuckled.
“Wait a second, you and... Enzo?” Alessia balked. “I did not see that one coming. Have the two of you, ya know?”
“What?” Nora feigned surprise. “No. No!”
“But she wants to.” I grinned.
“Word of warning, my cousin doesn’t date. Hell, I’m not even sure he hooks up with girls in the traditional sense of the word. Enzo is... complicated.”
“What’s his story anyway?” Nora kicked her legs up and stretched out over the chair, making herself at home.
Alessia folded her legs up in front of her. “My Uncle Vincenzo, Enzo’s dad, well he’s kind of a hard ass. It was just the two of them growing up. My mom practically helped raise him. But then she...” Alessia swallowed and I reached over, grabbing her hand and squeezing gently.
“It was different for Nicco and Matteo. They had a strong female influence. They had sisters. But Enzo... he only had himself.”
“That’s kind of sad.” Nora’s eyes flicked to the door again, a look of longing there.
“Yeah. It hardened him for sure. His dad has always enjoyed bouncing from woman to woman, and I guess Enzo is the same. A lot of the men in the Family don’t settle down.”
“You make it sound so normal.”
“It is normal, to me, at least. Our