t

drow

into the dark depths as shadows hovered above the water. Bright lights flashed

ss against my mouth and my arms flew out to ward off my

in the dark room, her warm brown

hand, brushing my hair from my face j

spered, careful not to wake up the four ch

he cool night air cut through my pyjamas

e ever since that first night. The night she had found me wandering around the street

pulled myself from the bed, my eyes flicking to the clock

telling me all I needed to know. She'd defini

ve been fraternising with the enemy," I whispered,

arms over her chest. "He's just one of the s

ly get the only person I loved killed by the Castello family. The Castellos and the Milanos were rival families

And Giulia dating a Castello would either see her beaten and put out on the streets, or kill

s I tugged on my boots, ignoring the feel o

nd his intoxicating kiss. So instead, I had lied and told her that the Castello had woken up before I could

ipped quietly from the room and left he

easy to find her. Just as I thought, she was sitting at the gigantic kitchen table sharpening her knives, her cigarette hanging fr

aid as I ente

wn onto the table and pressing her hand to her chest. "Do you want

ed, struggling to keep

g the blade to tap the chair beside her. I unde

icult position with my cousin, and I now need yo

hat she lorded over us. Without her, we would all be living in a ditch somewhere. And while most capidecina (better known as lieutenants in the mafia) were

or the family, child?" she asked,

Mother," I replied

ound and used it to clean underneath her nails, th

il she coughed up what she wanted to say. She continued to fiddle with her knife and I started counting the flowers spr

ne Mueseums on Saturday evening. Do no

to her. "That's a

ded dryly, and I went b

d before my cousin returns from Sicily," Mother emphasised the word "cousin" every time she said the word, as

ng her head. "You'll never get through t

the kitchen tiles. She disappeared through the doors to her privat

her husband with. Or, at least, that was how the stories went. Apparently, Mother was sick o

was just

ted, glaring at my slender body. "You're going to have to m

Just