They Spoke Sicilian Over My Head, So I Called My Don Grandfather novel · Chapter 1 of 24
Chapter 1: The Calm Dinner
Remo and Cinzia talk Sicilian across the table because they think Fiora is too stupid to follow, and she hears all of it; she leaves, then calls her grandfather and learns Remo's Wednesday deal is with him.
At the best restaurant on the waterfront, my boyfriend and my best friend were laughing in a language I wasn't supposed to understand.
I kept my eyes on my plate and cut my steak into smaller pieces.
Remo leaned toward Cinzia and said, "Keep going. Fiora is too stupid to follow a word of it. Act like she isn't here."
I looked up and frowned, like a girl who had heard her name in a language she didn't know.
Remo switched to plain English at once, his voice soft.
"What is it, baby? Is the steak bad?"
Every time the three of us sat down together, those two spoke Sicilian, the old tongue of our city's crime families.
They had grown up on the same street, and both their fathers belonged to the Cammarata family.
When I asked what they had been laughing about, Remo always gave me the same patient look.
"Mafia business, Fio. Not telling you is for your own good."
Cinzia topped up my water glass without being asked, then turned back to him and went on in Sicilian.
"Are you sure about this? Last month she had a fever and begged you to come home. You spent the whole night at my place. What if she starts asking questions?"
Remo laughed through his nose.
"Asking with what? She's an ordinary girl from nowhere. Who else does she have but me?"
My fork stopped halfway to my mouth.
He didn't know my mother was the daughter of the Ruggieri family's Don.
He didn't know I had been born in Palermo.
He had never asked, and I had never told him.
"Fiora, what are you thinking about?" Remo said in English. He set a shrimp on Cinzia's plate. "If you don't like the food, say so. I'll have the kitchen make you something else."
I looked over the table.
Every dish was one of Cinzia's favorites. Shrimp, mussels, a whole crab on ice.
Five years together, and Remo still didn't know I was allergic to shellfish.
Cinzia said in Sicilian, "Does she really not understand? You have some nerve."
Then she looked at my face, the way she had at every dinner since we were twelve.
"Relax," Remo said. "Look at her. Does she look like she understands?"
I chewed and swallowed and kept my face calm.
Remo pinched my cheek, pleased. "My Fiora knows her place. She never asks what's none of her business."
That part was true.
The waiter brought two desserts.
Remo pushed the tiramisu to Cinzia and slid the ice cream in front of me.
"Cinzia's stomach is delicate. You can have the cold one."
Cold food puts me in bed for a day. Remo knew that. He forgot it whenever Cinzia was at the table.
Cinzia took one bite and pressed a hand to her middle.
"Ow. My stomach really hurts."
Remo went rigid. "Do you need a doctor?"
He turned to me and held out his hand. "Fio, your stomach pills. Quick."
He used to tease me for carrying them, his walking pharmacy.
I took the bottle from my bag and put it in his hand without a word.
He gave it straight to Cinzia.
When she took it, her fingertip hooked against his palm, and neither of them looked away.
I stood. "I need the restroom."
In the mirror my face was the color of paper.
I remembered the night last month when I had a fever of a hundred and two and called Remo.
He had put me on speaker in front of his men.
"Baby's sick? That breaks my heart. I'll come straight home."
He never came. I had waited up until the sun came through the curtains.
When I came back to the table, Remo was cracking a crab leg for Cinzia, picking the shell off in careful pieces.
In five years he had never peeled anything for me.
He didn't look up when I sat.
"Babe, I'll have one of the guys drive you home in a bit. Cinzia's sick, so I'm taking her myself."
"I'm sick too," I said.
He frowned. "You were fine five minutes ago."
Cinzia covered her mouth and laughed, and said in Sicilian, "She's jealous. She's faking."
"Ignore her," Remo said, in Sicilian. "I spoiled her."
I looked at the crab laid out so neatly on her plate.
"Remo," I said, "what did you mean just now?"
He wiped his fingers on a napkin. "About what?"
"The last thing you said to Cinzia."
His face closed. "A shipment the feds seized. Business. You wouldn't understand if I explained."
"Then say it again in English."
"Are you doubting me?" His voice went hard. "You're better when you behave. Why start a fight tonight?"
I opened my mouth to argue, and shut it.
If I said one more word, I would have to say who I was.
Not yet.
I wanted to know how long they would keep lying.
Outside, Remo helped Cinzia into the passenger seat and rolled down his window.
"Text me when you get home, babe."
As the glass slid up, I heard her ask, "When are you leaving that commoner?"
"What's the rush?" Remo said. "Her record's clean, and with the feds on us I still need her to move my money. She's useful for now."
The car pulled away.
I stood on the curb, my hands cold.
Last year he had put three buildings and a large account in my name and called it a gift.
I had believed him.
I had only ever been a place to hide his money.
My phone lit up.
Remo: Home yet? I'll be late. Go to sleep if you're tired.
I didn't answer.
I scrolled my contacts to the one saved as Grandfather.
On Monday Remo had bragged over breakfast that the Ruggieri family was sending a man to Port Alder next Wednesday to talk weapons.
If he closed that deal, he would be made underboss.
He had no idea the Don of the Ruggieri family was my grandfather.
So I pressed call.
He answered on the first ring.
"Fiora," said the old voice. "Finally."
"Nonno, who are you sending on Wednesday?"
"Massimo Greco," my grandfather said. "And I want you in the room."
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend