Undressed By The Mafia God novel Chapter 39

Chapter 39: Time Got Away From Me

Nonnina was waiting for Luca to arrive. She couldn’t sleep a wink. Whenever he wasn’t home after dark, she was always worried. The man had been shot more times than she could count.

She sat in her chair by the window, rosary wound around her fingers. Every passing car made her straighten. Every distant siren tightened her chest.

He had once spent a year in the hospital, recovering from a gunshot. Tubes everywhere, machines breathing when his lungs refused to, doctors whispering words they thought she couldn’t hear.

He had once been in jail for months. That nearly broke her more than the bullets ever did. Jail meant walls she couldn’t cross, doors she couldn’t push open. It meant waiting for phone calls that came too short and ended too fast. It meant reading his moods through the tone of a single "I’m fine, Nonnina," knowing damn well he wasn’t.

So she worried. Constantly. Worry had become her second heartbeat.

Whenever he didn’t come home, she waited. Always waited. No matter the hour, no matter the ache in her knees or the scolding from the doctor about sleep. Luca might command fear in the streets, but in this house he was still her boy. Her diavolino.

So when she heard the car roll in at about three in the morning, tires crunching softly against the driveway, she heaved a sigh of relief. She slipped her feet into her flip-flops, and shuffled toward the stairs.

"Keeping an old woman awake until dawn. This boy will kill me yet."

She had a speech prepared. A good one too in Italian.

But then she saw him step out of the car slowly. And in his arms was Veronica. Her head tucked against his chest.

Nonnina stopped.

Her anger died instantly.

Her diavolino had finally become a man.

She could see it. In the way he held her. In the way he adjusted his grip unconsciously, shielding her from the cool night air. In the way his face softened when he looked down at her.

Most of all, she saw it in his eyes.

"Madonna santa," Nonnina whispered.

He didn’t see her at first.

Who was this woman who had got her diavolino wrapped around her thumb?

She was glad. Truly glad. She had prayed for this moment longer than she cared to admit.

But she also knew the price.

The Genovese men frowned on love because love was a weakness the world would happily exploit.

Luca walked toward her. "I’m sorry, Nonnina. Time got away from me."

Nonnina watched him as he passed.

"I’m still waiting for my captain’s approval for this case," Voss muttered, rubbing his eyes and attempting to regain composure. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦