<h4>Chapter 677: Chapter 677 : Landing in Italy</h4>


    *Caterina*


    I pulled my sunsses from the top of my head, letting them fit snugly on my nose as the world turned into shades of gray. Darkened, it was a relief because the sun above us was somehow worse than in LA.


    Elio waited for me at the end of the catwalk, a smile on his face as he discussed things with a nearby guy in a suit. I didn’t recognize him, but he seemed friendly enough as I stepped down next to my boyfriend.


    He nodded at me as I stepped onto the cement and went right up to Elio.


    I let out a little breath of air, unsure of how I was feeling. I’d been nervous abouting back to Italy, but now that I was here, it didn’t really feel that much different from California.


    It was a warm, dry heat overhead, and I could smell the familiar scent of the salt of the ocean on the wind but otherwise, I feltpletely normal, to my surprise. Elio sent me a questioning nce and I nodded to let him know I was okay, grabbing his hand and intertwining it with mine.


    He gave me a little squeeze, turning back to the unknown guy as they both rapidly said something in Italian. I was surprised to hear it again. It had been a long time since I’d been in Italy. My mom wasn’t a native Italian speaker, so though I learned it in school, English was always morefortable for me. Once I moved to the States, my Italian fell to the wayside.


    Elio and the guard were interrupted by arge SUV that rolled up, and both men went silent, simply staring at the car as they waited. I wasn’t entirely sure what they were waiting for until the car pulled to a stop in front of us.


    The doors opened and out stepped a few men in ck suits with sunsses covering their eyes and looking rather more like bodyguards with how stiff their movements looked. One kept looking around us, speaking slowly to what I thought was himself, but I quickly spotted the wireless Bluetooth in his ear.


    A familiar face popped out of the backseat. I breathed a sigh of relief as Alessandro stepped out wearing nothing but jeans and a T-shirt, looking more casual than Elio at the moment.


    He grinned widely as he saw us, opening up his arms. “My favorite nephew!”


    He pulled Elio into a hug, taking the chance to rub his fist along his head. Iughed to myself, a little bewildered by the warm wee but happy to see the gruff and annoyed look on my boyfriend’s face.


    “Enough!” Elio pulled out of his grasp, crossing his arms impatiently. “And don’t let Tallon catch you saying that, or he’ll beat your ass. Their kid is adorable.”


    “True, but you’re still my favorite. Just don’t tell Tallon.” He winked, a grin on his face.


    A few of the men behind him cracked smiles, some even hiding their faces behind their hands.


    Alessandro turned to me. “Hi, Cat. I’m d you coulde.”


    “Thanks,” I said, returning his one-armed hug.


    Though I knew Alessandro well, it still felt strange to be in Italy making pleasantries with the head of the Italian mafia. I knew that my father had worked with the previous leader, Tallon, who was Alessandro’s younger brother.


    I wasn’t sure how things had gotten messed up so that the younger brother was the leader first, but it wasn’t really any of my business. I’d met Tallon but hadn’t seen him as much as Alessandro since he lived on the other side of the country and when Alessandro was in the US, he was near us.


    I noticed the men around us had gotten our bags from the ne, already loading them up into the back of the SUV.


    “I’m just d to have you guys over,” Alessandro said. He looked at me. “Mia’s excited to have someone to y dress-up with, so be prepared for that.”


    I smiled at the thought, though I did remember his wife from the party, her eyes gleaming as she shoved me into the dress. I’d been grateful, but she was a bit overeager.


    Still, I imagined that with everything in the open now, I could probably pick her brain about what it was like to be the wife of a mafia Don. With Elio running the US side, I knew I’d be in a simr situation. So far, the “industry” was a bit too heavy on the male side, and the idea of having someone to share some girl-talk with was pleasant.


    “Well, get in. We’re heading to myplex, where you’ll stay while you’re here,” Alessandro said, moving to take the front passenger seat.


    Elio tugged me along to get into the back and we buckled up. I was surprised by how nice the car was—cushiony andfy.


    “I think I remember that ce,” Elio said with a thoughtful look. “I stayed there as a kid, right?”


    “Eh, briefly. You were young, and it’s changed a lot since then, but it’s big enough to house everybody,” Alessandro answered casually as the driver got in and the car rumbled to life. “We’ll have dinner with the associates tomorrow night, so today you should be free to do whatever you want. I have a great chef I can rmend for dinner if you want.”


    His words went in through one ear and out the other as I stuck my head right next to the window, pulling my sunsses up to rest in my hair. My eyes widened as I stared enchantedly at the city passing before us. It was just like I remembered—old and intricate, with every building looking like it came from a different time. There was a special magic to it that made it seem like the city had a life of its own.


    It was a lot different from LA, which I supposed made sense. LA was new, rtively speaking. While things were clearly modern in this ce, there was something about that intricate, older architecture that made everything about the city seem timeless.


    As Alessandro and Elio chatted, my mind wandered back to my childhood—our little house where Mom and I lived, the streets I would walk every morning to get to school. Mom worked a lot, but she never failed to make time for me, taking me shopping in the square whenever I felt down, getting gto in the smallest, dingiest-looking shop.


    I couldn’t remember the name of it anymore, but Mom always used to say they had the best gto, telling me stories of her first date there with Dad, and how he swept her off her feet and they made me in a single night. The greatest gift they had ever received, Mom used to say.


    But as the good memories flooded back, so followed the bad ones like a shadow—all those hours I would stare out my bedroom window, hoping to see a hint of my dad pulling up, and the disappointment when Mom told me only hourster that he couldn’t make it that night.


    I thought about the birthdays and parties he missed, always bringing home an apology gift a few dayster. I remembered having to ster on a smile, hoping he wouldn’t notice how upset I really was. There had always been a fear in my heart as a kid that if I expressed my disappointment with him, he would disappearpletely.


    And I remembered one of myst days in Italy, when the rain fell around us as I tried to keep my exhausted and weeping mother from falling apart. I could still feel the emotion as dozens of strangers dressed in ck told me how great of a man my father was as if they knew him better than I did... and the empty realization that they did.


    I hadn’t really known my father at all.


    There was a squeeze on my hand, warm and steady and I flinched, ncing over at Elio. He sent me a worried look and I smiled.


    Right, I wasn’t alone anymore.


    We arrived at the saidpound and my jaw literally dropped at how massive it was. I’d seen mansions, but this was more like a massiveplex of houses all joined together. It was amazing.


    Alessandro gave us the tour. I could tell that Elio found the ce somewhat familiar as he kept telling me the whole time that this is where he grew up for the first few years of his life, back when his dad was the Don. After the tour of the massive building, Alessandro showed us to our room, which he informed us was where Elio’s parents used to live.


    It was surprisingly more down-to-earth than I expected, nothing toovish and no fancy statues or oil paintings. It was kind of simr to the penthouse back home but with the added feature of a back door leading straight to the gardens.


    “I’ll let you guys get settled.” Alessandro winked. “Let me know if you need anything.”


    He shut the door and as soon as he did, Elio turned to me with an expectant look, crossing his arms unhappily.


    “What’s wrong, Cat? You’ve been acting weird all day,” Elio said firmly. “And don’t do that thing where you pretend you’re fine and I have to spend all night trying to guess. Just tell me.”


    I sighed, knowing I couldn’t keep it in any longer. I didn’t even want to, either.


    “Nothing’s wrong really,” I confessed while taking a seat on the bed. “It’s just being back here. I’m happy of course because I grew up here. I have a lot of good memories attached to this ce, but also a lot of bad ones. Thest time I was here, I lost my father. And this ce... it’s a reminder that until his death, I didn’t know anything about my father. It’s just taking its toll on me is all.”


    Elio nodded, taking the seat next to me as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder, bringing me into his chest. “I thought it might be that. I’m sorry you’re having such conflicting feelings. If it’s too hard, we can stay somewhere else.”


    “No,” I said firmly, breaking from his embrace to stare into his worried eyes determinedly. “I’m okay, really. We can make new memories here, good ones this time, and though I’m sad, this city is still the closest I’ve felt to my dad for a long time. Plus, I really am excited to see the city together.”


    He smiled, the fondness in his eyes sweeter than candy as heid a peck on my lips, barely waiting before he offered his hand to me. “Ready to go now then? I’ve nned the whole day out.”


    “Sure,” Iughed. That was just like him. “But can I shower first?”


    “Only if I can join you.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.