Chapter 36

Ambrosio had a limo waiting for us when we got downstairs. After we all climbed in and the driver started down the road, Ambrosio opened a champagne bottle then passed us all champagne glasses and filled them. We all clinked our glasses together and took a sip.

We barely got a block down the road before my purse started to buzz. I tried to discreetly look in my purse to see the Italy area code on my screen. I declined the call and looked up to see all three of them staring at me. I cleared my throat and lifted my glass and said,

“HAPPY NEW YEARS!”

My brother looked at me through slits in his eyes for what seemed like forever before he finally raised his glass and the other two faintly followed. We all awkwardly took a sip of our drinks and the rest of the 7 minute drive to the hotel was silent.

When the driver let us out, I bolted out of the car and nearly ran into my aunt's arms when I saw her. She looked incredible in her long sleeve, long, black velvet dress with a sweetheart neckline. Theía Sophie held me close for longer than I expected, but the warmth of my mother was very needed. She finally let me out of her embrace but held me by the arms to get a good look at my dress. Aunt Sophie’s jaw dropped and she told me I looked beautiful and said,

“Your mother would’ve been proud of herself for making such a beautiful woman, and proud of you for being an incredible creature.”

Why would she say something so emotional to me right now? My eyes began to water when I felt a hand on my back. It was Dario, wordlessly implying his presence. My theía looked past me and asked,

“And who is this *gorgeous* man?”

She reached her arm out and Dario gently grabbed her hand and kissed it. Ambrosio and Keegan must’ve walked up with Dario because my brother’s voice nearly startled me when he answered,

“This is Dario, the *help* we talked about.”

Theía raised her eyebrows and looked Dario up and down while she kept her hand in his. She smiled and said,

“Very good job, Ambrosio. He looks like he could get the job done.”

Theía shot Ambrosio a wink and I was suddenly suspicious. Aunt Sophie let Dario go and we followed her as she led us into the great hall which was decorated to the nines in gold and black. Round tables scattered everywhere wrapped in black cloth, crowned with gold place settings. The centerpieces were simple with black roses wrapped in gold lace.

My purse started to buzz again and I had to stop myself from banging it against the table to make it stop for good. I didn’t even look at my phone before I declined the call. Theía showed us to our table and then skipped off to greet her other guests. The place was littered with men in black suits. The ones who knew who Ambrosio was would give him a nod.

Ambrosio liked to keep a low profile while in America. To obviously protect theía and me, but to also keep Keegan in the dark. He didn’t want her to know he was the king of the family. She had her suspicions, but never really had proof. I think she knows we’re some type of mafia, but she has no idea our family- Ambrosio, theía, and I- are mafia royalty.

We took our seats at our table and were immediately greeted by a waiter, eager to take our drink orders. We quickly looked over the small menu and ordered. The waiter scattered off then came back with our drinks almost instantly. We thanked him as he passed them out then he disappeared to give us privacy.

My purse buzzed again and I quickly went to decline the call when Ambrosio said,

“Apántise sto gamiméno tiléfono.”

*“Answer the fucking phone.”*

I protested,

“Ambrosio-“

“Apántisé to!”

*“Answer it!”*

He growled through his teeth. My internal hurricane whirled inside me and I took a deep shaky breath and pulled the phone out of my purse. I went to put the phone up to my ear when Ambrosio said,

“Válte to sto icheío.”

*“Put it on speaker.”*

My hands shook violently as I put the phone on speaker and Emiliano’s voice spilled out of it,

“Hera?! You can’t answer my call but you can post on instagram? And who the fuck was that man in the photo with you?”

“Emiliano-”

“I swear to god, Hera, if he as so much as touches you, I will personally kill him.”

I shot a look at Dario and I thought he was going to break his teeth as clenched as his jaw was. I thought about all the times he touched me today, including the last time, when he held me in his arms as I unleashed my hurricane in his sculpted chest. I went to yell back at Emiliano but he continued,

“Hera, my son died today! I need you, now! I told the jet to turn around. It’s an hour away. You need to come back!”

Ambrosio had heard enough and leaned out of his seat to rip my phone from my hands and he said,

“She’s not coming.”

Ambrosio slammed my phone against the ground. The sound of it hitting the concrete floor and smashing to pieces made me flinch. I looked at Keegan and she kept her eyes on the floor. This is as mad as she’d ever seen Ambrosio and I could tell she was as frightened as I was.

I didn’t dare look at Dario. I figured he was fuming. A direct threat from the Don of a family. I wasn’t aware of Dario’s exact position, but Ambrosio was the head of the Greek family, so that took “Kýrios” (the *Don* equivalent in Greece) off Dario’s current resume.

The hurricane inside me was way past the thunder in my ears, the waves reached my throat and I thought I was going to throw up everything I’d consumed in the last couple of hours. I could hardly breathe. Ambrosio tapped Dario’s chest with the back of his hand and they both silently stood from their chairs and walked off.

I looked at Keegan. Her eyes watered. I apologized,

“Keegan I’m so sorry.”

She took a shaky breath and asked,

“He’s going to have to leave again isn’t he?”

Her question confused me. Why wasn’t she afraid of him? Then I realized I was never really afraid of Emiliano. Until now.