Page 74 of The Taste of Deceit

“Ma would put me to bed, kiss me goodnight, and tell me to stay there. Then she’d go sit in the living room and wait for him.”

I picture Sofia sitting alone in the dark, watching the clock.

“How would you know that?”

A small smile tugs at the corner of his mouth.

“Because I was nosy.” He lets out a soft laugh. “I’d sneak down the hallway and peek around the corner when she thought I was asleep.”

“Carmela caught me once. I thought she was going to drag me back to bed and rat me out.” He shakes his head. “Instead, she sat down beside me against the wall.”

His smile fades.

“We waited together until Pop finally walked through the front door. Ma was beside herself that night.”

I squeeze his hand.

His throat bobs.

“I don’t remember what they said. I was too young.” He looks down at our hands. “I remember Carmela taking my hand, leading me to her room, and letting me sleep with her that night.”

He looks over at me.

“The next night, he was gone.”

Silence settles between us.

He doesn’t look away, but I can almost see him somewhere else.

“I found out later he took a job.” His jaw tightens. “One he had no business taking. The odds were against them from the start, and he went anyway.”

He shakes his head.

“He thought they were taking territory from a rival family.”

His voice is quiet now.

“The Amatos weren’t as powerful back then. They walked into a shootout.” He swallows. “Pop never came home.”

He looks down at our joined hands.

“He left Ma to raise two kids by herself.”

“Luca…”

“Uncle Dante had no idea Pop had even taken the job.” His gaze drifts across the room. “If he’d known, he would’ve stopped him.”

He’s quiet for a moment.

“Instead, somebody showed up to tell him his little brother wasn’t coming home.”

His expression hardens.

“Uncle Dante declared war.”

He pauses.

“Hit after hit. Week after week. Every time the other family thought they’d caught their breath, another one of their men turned up dead.”