Page 10 of The Capo's Nymph
It will be my first time caring for the twins on my own, but my confidence has blossomed again. Lucia no longer bawls her eyes out when I pick her up, and I’ve learned to always burp Amadeo halfway through his bottle.
Thankfully, their father won’t be there glowering at me.
“You don’t have to do anything special, just feed and change them, the usual. Oh, and tummy time if you can manage it. Be sure to grab some breakfast on your way out. You can’t learn on an empty stomach.”
Nodding, I head toward the kitchen, smiling over her mothering ways.
“Buongiorno, Matilde.”
“Good morning, Primo,” I reply to the young guard. Then, I get a good look at him. “What happened to your face?!”
He blushes, a thing I wouldn’t expect of a Made Man, though he’s only a year older than me. “My punishment for driving the Capo’s daughter to her husband’s Tribunal.”
“They beat you for driving Caterina to the meeting?” I ask, horrified by his swollen eyes and busted lip.
“Not exactly. Nico made me spar with Dante yesterday.”
Nico’s brother has only shown me his charming side so far, but I’ve heard the Beast is a savage cage fighter who’s even more unpredictable on the streets. He’s been out of town lately but must have returned. That Nico would make this boy fight him is too cruel. Not that I’m surprised.
“That’s terrible!”
Primo’s voice drops to a whisper. “No, the old Capo would’ve taken a finger for what I did if he’d heard. Nico called me a stupid boy and showed me leniency instead.”
Clearly, poor Primo is brainwashed.
“Do you want some help with your math class? It was my best subject in school,” he offers, already forgetting about his beating.
I shake my head, picking out a breakfast pastry. “Math is easy.”
“Okay. Do you want a cappuccino from the cafe this morning?”
Nodding, I hoist my bookbag onto my shoulder. Primo likes driving Signore Morelli’s limousine to ordinary places so people will gawk at us when we pull up, as if we might be celebrities. We both laugh about it.
“Your birthday is soon. Do you know what you want for a present?”
I shrug in response, but I know the answer -To find my sister.
Maybe I could get Primo to help me. It would be safer that way, though I don’t want to get him into deeper trouble.
“You look very pretty, Matilde. You always do,” Primo stammers as we reach the backdoor. He’s blushing again, and I give him an awkward smile in return, suggesting we go so I won’t be late.
It’s not as though I’ve never had a boy show interest in me, even if my father forbade dating. Primo is cute and he's sweet – maybe a littletoosweet for the mafia – but I can already tell I’ll never feel any butterflies around him.
***
“The babies are still napping. Stay inside. There’s a guard parked in front of the house, and Nico has set the alarm. You’ll be safe,” Zeta instructs after Primo drives me to Nico’s townhouse after school.
Once they’re gone, I work on my homework. Just as I hear Lucia sigh quietly, I realize I need to pee. I don’t know which closed door down this hallway holds a bathroom behind it.
But the double doors of his bedroom stand wide open.You can’t use his toilet,I scold myself. All the same, I’m too curious not to take a peek inside.
I catch the faint scent of his cologne when I enter, warm and woodsy. Why shouldthatstir the butterflies in my belly? Picking up the bottle, some insanity tempts me to spritz myself with it.
On his bureau, there’s a mahogany tray holding his expensive wristwatches, cufflinks… and a switchblade.
He showed me his favorite, but he said he had many. An image of Nico rolling out of bed each morning already impeccably dressed to conquer the world in a three-piece suit while concealing numerous weapons makes me snort. And excites me more than it should.
If I had this knife when those men took me, what would I have done? What wouldn’t I have done?
