*Caterina*
I managed to hop in my car and drive off before my mom or Elio could stop . I sped away, not sure where I was going, my mind racing through my entire life, wondering how it could be possible that they had kept such a massive secret from .
dad was in the mafia?
Elio’s entire family ran the mafia?
How could it be possible?
But when I really considered it, everything started to make a lot more sense. The family connections in Italy, the extre wealth, the way that my mom had always glossed over questions I had about my dad... all of it was evidence that sothing weird had been going on, but I had never really questioned it.
I had never thought that the two people closest to would be keeping such a huge secret. Why would I? The turmoil in my heart was killing . I couldn’t stand to be alone any longer.
Even though I had literally just left her house, I called Anna. She picked up right away, probably waiting for to call with an update about Elio.
“Hey, girl, what’s up?” she asked.
I wanted to break down into tears the second I heard her voice, but I just barely managed to keep it together.
“Can I co over?” I asked, my voice wobbly.
It was obvious that she could tell I was almost to my breaking point. “Of course! Co on over, I’ll get out the ice cream!”
Luckily, I was only a couple minutes from her apartnt, so I was able to get there before totally breaking down. But the second I walked in the door and she looked at with concern, I burst into tears. She rushed over and wrapped her arms around .
“Oh no, what happened?” she asked.
“My whole life has been a lie,” I sobbed.
She was visibly confused, but like the great friend she was, she held her questions and led to the couch, letting get my emotions out before asking to explain everything to her.
I sat and cried in her arms for a few minutes, taking comfort in the fact that at least she had never lied to the way my mom and Elio had.
“Alright, what’s going on?” she asked once my sobs had subsided for a few minutes.
“You’re never going to believe what I’m about to tell you,” I said, “Hell, I’m not even sure how much I believe. I an, it’s genuinely crazy.”
“Just tell , I’m sure it’s not as crazy as you think.”
“Elio knows who killed my dad.” I decided to start with the easiest to digest information.
“What?!” Anna gasped. “Is he still around? Why isn’t he in prison? Why didn’t Elio report him?”
“It gets worse,” I added. “The guy is here, and he burned down one of Elio’s warehouses to send him a ssage. Now Elio is sure that I’m in danger too.”
“Oh my god, Cat, that’s terrifying! Why is this guy after you?”
“Brace yourself, this is the most insane piece of information of all. Elio and his entire family are involved in the Italian mafia, and so was my dad.”
“What?!” Her eyes widened in shock, but after only a second or two of thinking, she said, “You know, this actually makes a lot of sense.”
“Makes sense?” I asked. “Tell how this makes sense to you because from where I’m standing, this doesn’t make sense at all.”
“Well, think about your life,” she said. “I an, you grew up in Italy but then suddenly moved to the States after your dad was suspiciously killed. You know Elio’s family is, like, insanely wealthy and has all these connections in Italy. Plus, I’ve t Elio’s dad, that guy is basically straight out of a mafia Don movie.”
I chuckled, but she was right. Gio really did seem like the stereotypical old mafia boss. I had just assud it was because he was Italian and had an obvious affinity for wearing suits everywhere he went.
The more I thought about it, the more this whole mafia thing made a lot of elents of my life make more sense. It definitely helped explain why my single mom had been able to afford to pursue her dream job in television. It also explained why Elio had helped us out all these years. It wasn’t just because he was a family friend. It was also because he felt an obligation to help after my dad had been killed as a way to hurt his family.
It made sense, but it didn’t change the fact that I was still hurt about being kept from the truth. I felt like I would always struggle to trust my mom and Elio. Knowing they had been able to keep such a huge secret from all these years made wonder what else they had hidden from .
“I really think that the worst part of it all is the only reason I know now is because I walked in on Elio and my mom talking about it. They’ve been keeping this from my entire life, and they didn’t even consider telling now, even though it could put in more danger to not know the truth. Elio had asked if my mom and I would move in with him for a short ti, but I refused because I thought he was just being overprotective. If he had just told the truth, I wouldn’t have been so stubborn.”
“I know it hurts that they kept the truth from you, but think about it, Cat. It wouldn’t have been safe for you to know, not if so crazy asshole was after you and your mom after he already murdered your dad. Them not telling you when you were a kid was the best chance you had at safety,” Anna said.
She was always so practical. I appreciated that she knew exactly what to say to make feel better, and talking to her had definitely helped with a lot of my fears.
“I know, I know,” I said. “And trust , they said all of that too. It’s not that I don’t get why they left out of it when I was a kid. Of course, I understand that. My problem is that I’m an adult now, but they’re still trying to hide shit from as if I’m a child.”
“I get that, but I wonder if they were going to tell you eventually but just hadn’t had the chance to discuss how to break it to you. I an, obviously it’s a really huge deal. They probably wanted to break the news to you more delicately, but you found out before they had the chance.”
She got up and went to her freezer, pulling out a pint of our favorite chocolate ice cream.
“Alright, here’s what’s going to happen,” she said in her get-shit-done tone of voice. “We’re going to sit on the couch and watch so mindless reality TV show while we eat this ice cream, and then you’re going to go back to your mom and Elio and let them apologize to you for lying to you all these years. And you’re going to forgive them because you know they were just doing their best and that they love you.”
I laughed at her declaration. When Anna went into fix-it mode, there was no arguing with her. She had decided what I needed, and it was in my best interest to just follow along.
She grabbed two spoons and settled onto the couch next to , handing a spoon and the ice cream while she grabbed the remote and turned on sothing about wealthy housewives who loved to argue every ti they went to dinner together. We laughed as the won all argued over who had breast implants—it was obviously all of them—and Anna turned to .
“See,” she said, “at least you have real shit happening in your life and don’t have to make up drama just to feel a bit of excitent from ti to ti. These won are the perfect example of what happens when life gets too boring.”
“I guess,” I acquiesced as I took another spoonful of ice cream. “But I think this might be a little too much excitent. I an, seriously, the guy who murdered my dad could be out there trying to find and my mom. That’s really scary.”
“You know what else is scary?” she asked, a wicked grin on her face.
“No, what?”
“Your brand-new boyfriend is about to move in with you and your mom!” She squealed.
I grabbed the couch pillow behind and threw it at her head, just barely missing. She giggled evilly.
“Oh my god. I do not need to be thinking about that right now,” I groaned. “Besides, I’m not sure where Elio and I really stand right now. My whole ltdown freak out about all of this might have been a bit too much for him.”
“Oh whatever, Cat. He’s head over heels for you. And he knows how you are. Do you really think the way you reacted was a surprise to him? Because I don’t. And after seeing him defend you against Paul, I’m pretty sure he’s very attached to you. The way he looks at you, it’s just so obvious how much he cares.”
I felt myself blushing as she went on and on, but I hoped she was right about it all. I wanted this thing between Elio and to be real. I cared about him too much for it to just turn into a short-lived fling.
“Alright, now it’s ti for you to get back to your boyfriend,” she said, practically singing the last word, “and let him tell you exactly what he’s going to do to keep you safe. And listen to him! I know you’re stubborn, but I love you too much for you to get taken out, okay?”
“Okay,” I said reluctantly.
She was right. I needed to swallow my pride and let Elio handle this. It wasn’t about him being older. It was about the fact that he understood this life and I didn’t.
With another hug, I was out the door and headed back ho. While driving, my phone started going off. I pulled it out, expecting to see Elio’s na, but instead it was Paul.
A sick anxiousness filled my stomach at the na. Would he ever leave alone? I declined the call and spent the rest of the drive feeling like I was being watched. I tried to chalk it up to anxiety over the whole Antonio thing, but if I was being honest with myself, Paul felt like a more present threat.
I hated the hold that he had over my emotions, and the whole thing had glad that I was heading back to Elio.
I was sure that Elio could keep safe.
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