Kissing The Moon Goodbye - A Midnight Mafia Novel

Sixteen

Alessio

It was late when I left Padre's office and set out onto the grounds. Katherine was already asleep. On the property line from our house to that of the Moretti Mafia, a great ally, there was a single tree, right smack dab in the middle. It both divided and connected us, part on their land, part on ours.

"I thought I might find you here." I directed to Aria.

She was sitting up in the tree. "I hadn't realized I was lost, nor was I looking to be found."

"You're mad at me."

"Nope." She said popping the P.

"Come on Ari." I sighed. "I brought you a Mars bar." I held it up and waved it back and forth. She wasn't biting. "Your favoriteeee." I teased. Still nothing. With a sigh I took out a second one. "Alright, you caught me, I brought two."

(A Mar bar is kind of like a milkyway)

"Fine. I won't push you out of the tree if you come up."

It had been quite some time since I'd climbed this tree. As I made my way up Ari stood and moved further down the thick branch to make room for me. Years of dance and gymnastics made the process look natural and flawless for her. I sat on the branch with my back against the trunk. I wasn't as graceful as Ari. I wouldn't try to deny that.

She laid on the branch perfectly aligning her spine with the splintering wood and let one leg dangle. "What do you want Alessio?" She asked with eyes closed.

"To talk."

She snorted.

"I'm serious Ari."

"You don't want to talk to me right now Alessio."

"Sure I do."

She sat up and the branch beneath us swayed a bit. "No, you don't. Because if you wanted to talk to me you'd have face up to the fact that you neglected to tell me you were getting married." She held up a finger. "You'd have to explain to my why you neglected to stand up for Sergio again." She held up a second finger. "And you'd have to explain to me why you've been in Italy for months and didn't tell me!" She raised a third finger.

"I haven't been here that long. I mean, I guess we moved in awhile ago but we did a lot of traveling before actually staying put here." I offered her one of the Mars bars and she took it begrudgingly. I waited for her to take a bite, knowing the caramel goo would wear down her anger at least slightly. "Sergio is a big boy. He can take care of himself. You weren't there when we went to talk to Padre. Padre just asked him to sit down and Sergio refused, he was incredibly disrespectful."

"Because Ugo has done so much to deserve Sergio's respect."

"Don't. Don't turn this around on my father like it was his fault."

"Isn't it?"

"No. It isn't. He made his own decision."

She snorted. "Not Ugo's fault."

"I didn't say it was fair or right, but it is what it is. This is our family, this is our life, Sergio chose to turn his back on this. That is his fault. He is a coward."

"Have you ever stood up to Ugo?"

"I was taught better than to disrespect my father."

I could practically hear her eye roll. "You were taught to obey. You moved to the states when we didn't want to, you took control of the family when you didn't want to, you're still in it now and don't you dare tell me otherwise because I know you Alessio. You're in it."