“Please do.” She quickly dabbed at her eyes then waved me off.
Vinni had moves that I didn’t think were humanly possible. It was a combination of the robot, country, and some kind of worm roll. How he didn’t hurt his back was beyond me. All I did was laugh while he spun me around and made a horrible attempt of teaching me the steps. I considered myself a coordinated person, but Vinni was not.
“Wow, Sienna,” Niccola handed me a large water after the song ended and Vinni claimed another friend as his next victim, “you should win a medal for sticking out the entire song. Most bail, and he doesn’t even notice.”
“It’s his birthday. It’s the least I could do.”
“You’re good people.”
“We’ll see about that.”
“Meaning?” he asked through a long sip of his water.
“I don’t know. I thought having my mother back would be so different. But it’s all dark and mysterious.” I shrugged. “She really hates your family.”
“A lot do.”
“I get that, but why would my mother?”
“What did she say about it?”
“She only alluded to something about a hit that happened years ago.”
“Do you know when?”
“Yes.”
“Did it happen before 1999?”
“It did.”
“In that case, you’ll have to ask Piero. I only could help with the more recent ones.”
“Can I do that?”
“What, ask? Of course. If he can’t share it with you, he won’t, but asking never hurt anyone.”
“Thanks. I appreciate that a lot, Niccola.”
“Any time, but,” he lowered his voice when the waiter came toward us, “Sienna, we don’t ever take a life easily. We would only call a hit because that person deserved it. It is not for the sport of it. So, maybe your next question to Elenora should be, if we did do the hit, why?”
“Yeah.” I chewed on the inside of my lip.
“Just something to think about.” He patted my hand before leaving me.
My head spun, and I felt like I needed some air, so I headed toward the French doors when suddenly I slowed my walk. I watched as Elenora brushed a hand down Francesco’s arm, and his expression softened for a hair of a second. Goosebumps broke out on my body as I continued to study them. I started to walk through the sea of people, the entire time keeping my gaze on them. He seemed to comfort her, and what was even more strange was she was doing it with Oscar nearby.
Could he be…I couldn’t finish the thought. How could I? That would mean my own flesh and blood had been near throughout my younger years. I couldn’t go there.
I stopped mid-step when Elio’s Aunt Noemi came into the room. She froze like a deer in headlights as she glared at Elenora.
Wait. What?
When Elenora spotted her staring, she quickly dropped her hand from Francesco and looked like she’d seen a ghost.
All the noises around me faded, the guests disappeared from my view, and all I could hear was my heartbeat and air rushing through my lungs as I watched the interaction between them.
I felthiseyes on me, and it took all my strength to meet Elio’s worried expression.