ALINA
Early the next morning, my mother returned from her vacation. She called me as soon as she got home.
"Hello, Alina?"
I sat up in bed, my heart thumping a little harder. "Yes, Mother?"
"I'm in Chicago. Come to the house when you're free. We need to talk."
Anxiety tore through me. "Are you sick, Mother?"
She laughed. "No. Be here before noon if you can."
She hung up without another word. I sat there for a while, feeling uneasy. To distract myself, I picked up one of the books Luca had gotten me and tried to read. It helped a little. I needed the distraction after the way I'd lost control last night.
That wasn't like me.
But it seemed running the Mafia was changing me.
I could even understand now why Luca was called The Monster.
I had just stepped out
