Eleni I rip all the slices of onion off my face while looking at Mama.“Go,” she says, impressing on me with her eyes that I’m not to make the boss who’s house we’re standing in upset. “I’ll get the ‘zucchini balls’ finished for you.”I stand and join Dante in the doorway. He immediately steps into the hall, then leads me deeper into the house than I’ve been before. Now, having been in the kitchen, I can see the touches of opulence everywhere. That blue-and-white vase on an end table is probably antique. The plush carpet we pad over is probably from overseas. The leather chair in a nook is probably real.A door opens ahead of us, and I jump back a step as a beautiful woman in matching leggings and a sports bra steps out. Her long, pitch-black hair curls nearly to her waist, and her dark eyes are emphasized by smoky shadow.“Oh, sorry.” She kisses Dante on the cheek.

EleniI roll over and tug on the heavy blankets covering the king bed Mama and I decided to share. They don’t move, and Mama’s light snores issue through the darkness. She’s finally fallen asleep. Part of me is thankful, and the rest wishes I had enough blankets to cover myself. As soon as she finished the zucchini balls, she collapsed into one of the tall seats at the kitchen island, weeping. I’ve been at her side, holding her and offering her toilet paper because I couldn’t find tissues, since. Exhaustion still drags off my limbs, reminding me that I haven’t really gotten a good night’s sleep since the night before the auction, but I can’t sleep. I just keep thinking of the smell of blood, and the stories about Baba Mama kept trying to tell through her tears.With a sigh, I push the covers off and climb out of bed. I didn’t take Dante up on his offer of new clothes, but two new nightgowns appeared on the end of the bed between when Mama and I picked it, and when we finally decided t

Eleni I wake slowly the next morning and yawn. I can’t hear Mama and Baba in the kitchen, so I’ve slept in a little, but there’s not enough sun filtering in through my closed eyelids to be truly that late in the day. Exhaustion clings to my limbs like I stayed up all night finishing a paper, but the tables won’t wait themselves. I open my eyes and sit up.My heart slams the brakes. I’m in a huge bed in an even bigger room decorated in simple, neutral tans. Where are the soft blue walls I picked out when we were redoing the restaurant, and Baba found a buy-one-get-one sale on paint? Where is the creaky twin bed I’ve slept in my whole life? Where are Mama and Baba?At the thought of them, memories start to filter back in. The auction. Sneaking home with enough money to save our lives. Baba’s heavy expression as he carried the baseball bat to the door. The smell of Baba’s blood–and Frank  &nbs

Dante A few days later, I stride through the quiet main floor of Piacere a few hours before opening with Tony at my side.“So, this is it, then,” he says. “You’ve finally lost it.”I chuckle. “I haven’t lost it. You’re just not seeing the whole picture.”“Oh, okay.” He holds his hands up sarcastically. “No, you’re right, please tell me what I’m not seeing in plain sight, Dante. Turn a Greek Schoolgirl into a Staten Island Saint? Is she ex-FBI, or a ninja, or?”I slug him in the arm. “You’re a douche. She’s something Luca Lombardi wants, something he doesn’t know we still have.”Talking about Eleni like this feels wrong, but Tony’s been on my ass since I told him in the car on the way back from the restaurant, and I’m tired of having this argument. At least, if he understands her as a chess piece, h

Eleni My mouth falls open. The boss of the Staten Island Saints is licking his lips and telling me he wants me.“I—yes,” I say. “Please.”He smiles wolfishly and dives in to kiss me again. Distantly, I’m glad the fireplace isn’t lit. Dante generates so much heat, ignites such a burn in me, that I think I’d disappear if the room were any warmer.Still, somehow, I’m surprised when he runs his hand up under my shirt. He was warm at the shooting range. Here, his touch is a flame against my skin. I arch up into him as he grazes my ribs and sets off another cascade of heat.“Responsive.” He smiles as he kisses along my chin, down the line of my neck. “I like that.”His praise makes my heart hammer. I want him to smile with his lips on mine. When he gestures me up and grabs the bottom of my shirt, I don’t hesitate. No one has ever seen me like this bef