Chapter 16
Lorenzo and Sofia’s marriage survived the wedding.
Barely at first.
Not because they doubted each other.
Because both families kept trying to turn the incident into strategy.
Sofia eventually banned business conversations from their home for one month.
I laughed when Lorenzo told me.
“What?”
“She banned you too.”
My smile disappeared.
“Unreasonable.”
He laughed.
Good.
They needed a marriage that belonged partly to them.
Not Bianchi.
Not Marlowe.
Not harbor maps.
A month later, Sofia invited me to dinner.
No capos.
No route discussions.
Ruby came with Clara.
Halfway through dessert, Ruby dropped her spoon.
Everyone looked.
She froze.
Old memory.
Then Lorenzo picked it up.
“Five-second rule?”
Sofia stared.
“No.”
Ruby laughed.
The tension disappeared.
Small moment.
Important.
Nobody blamed her.
Nobody shouted.
Nobody turned a child’s accident into a public story.
I realized then how much of our family culture depended on immediate narratives.
Who caused it?
Who looks weak?
Who pays?
Sometimes a spoon is just a spoon.
Sometimes a cake is just a cake.
May you like
We had forgotten how to allow ordinary accidents because everything in Mafia families gets interpreted as meaning.
Ruby was teaching us otherwise without trying.
