Five Years of Sicilian Whispers

Seeing that I remained silent, he suppressed his impatience.

"Genevieve, what's wrong?"

"Did you hear some rumor that's bothering you?"

I finally reacted.

"What, are you afraid of what I might have heard?"

Nico's flustered gaze darted around, unable to find a place to rest.

"Moving our little nest egg last night was just to deal with a cash flow issue."

"Genevieve, I love you. I've been working hard for our future."

"Alright, last night was my fault. Let me take you to the pier where we first met to clear your head."

After my mother passed away, I was still little and would always cry for my Mamma. My father would take me to the pier, telling me that if I spoke to the sea, my mother could hear me. So over the years, whenever I was in a bad mood, I would go to the pier. Nico knew this habit of mine.

But halfway there, his phone buzzed. After a brief call with a friend, he turned to me.

"Change of plans. There's an underground auction. Let's go see if anything catches your eye. My treat."

As soon as we stepped into the auction house, the air was thick with perfume. Bianca Capone materialized before us. Nico instinctively dropped my hand, shooting his friend a venomous glare. A setup.

Bianca swept forward, staking her claim by looping her arm through Nico's.

"Nico, who is this?"

"Genevieve Griffin."

Then he looked at me, a hint of awkwardness in his expression.

"This is Bianca Capone. Her father is a Capo in the Capone family."

"She grew up in this circle. You can ask her for some advice on the rules of survival in the mafia world."

With that one simple introduction, he made the difference in our importance crystal clear.

Bianca and I sat on either side of Nico. At first, Nico's body was still angled toward me, occasionally pouring me a glass of water and telling me about the auction items. But as Bianca held court, her confidence drawing him in, his attention drifted away from me.

It wasn't until I choked on my water that he snapped back to reality and gently patted my back.

From behind, I heard the malicious whispers of his underlings.

"A commoner has no place here. Look at her, choking on water."

"Probably just a stunt to get his attention. Pathetic."

"Nico is a Rinaldi now. Between Bianca and Genevieve, it's a no-brainer!"

Nico's lips were pressed into a thin line, but he said nothing to stop them. For the rest of the auction, he subtly shifted his chair closer to Bianca's side.

Just then, the auctioneer brought out a painting.

Bianca immediately sat up straight, her excitement palpable.

"I heard this is an original Monet, lost during the war. It's the only one in the world."

"Nico, the heir of the Griffin family is returning soon to formally take over the family business. I heard she loves collecting Impressionist paintings. How about we buy this as a welcome gift for Miss Griffin?"

"That way, she'll be sure to look favorably on my father, and maybe the Rinaldi family can get a piece of the action too."

I glanced at the painting on the stage.

"It's a fake."