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made the sign of the cross, always the superstitious Catholic. “She left a will with her lawyer.”
    “Oh, do you have any idea who she left her estate to?”
    “She didn’t tell a soul her plans before she passed. The family is meeting with her lawyer to have the will read and I think you should come.”
    “Who else is going?” I asked.
    “Most of our extended family. It’s pretty well known that your aunt was squirreling away money for years. At the end, she was very wealthy.” He sighed, “I expect there’s going to be a lot of drama over who gets a cut of the pie.”
    “I’m sorry.” It was difficult to see my father stressed over family drama. He had more than enough to worry about, being a highly respected crime boss. Having to deal with–Rossi family issues did not help.
    “She liked you,” he said, “You were the first girl born to our side of the family. You also visited her often when she was on her deathbed.” He paused, rubbing his salt-and-pepper beard. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she left you a good chunk of her estate.
    My eyes widened. I hadn’t realized that my great aunt would leave us anything.
    “Thanks daddy,” I said, standing up and walking over to give him a kiss on the cheek. “When is the will being read?”
    “Tomorrow morning,” one of his strong arms wrapped around my shoulders and squeezed me. “For now, your mother wants me to run some errands. I’ll see you at dinner.”
    With another kiss on the head, he was gone. The door closed with a light click.
    I stared at the door, thinking about what it would be like to have money of my own. It was all a lot to take in.
    With my family being wealthy, I usually wanted for nothing. Except freedom. My allowance was the same it had been in high school, and my room was the same as it had been when I was a little girl. Yes, I had gone to college, but my parents had only let me take online courses. Whenever I brought up the subject of having my own job, they would would roll their eyes.
    It wasn’t the woman’s position to get a job, unless I wanted to be a nun or something. What they wanted for me was a good husband, but that was about impossible with the ridiculous standards my brothers had for me.
    With a few steps, I found my king sized bed and dropped down onto it. It was billowy and soft. On the opposite wall, I looked at my cork board filled with magazine cut-outs of places I wanted to go to. There was a large section sequestered off for pictures of New York City.
    Ever since our family visited New York when I was a little girl, I had always dreamed of making a life for myself there. Maybe try to become an actress. But the life of an actress was way to risqué for my Catholic parents.
    Sometimes it felt like my only option was to become a nun to get away from them.
    If my great-aunt had left me a good chunk of money, it would give me what I needed to become the independent adult that I wanted to be.
    Then I could choose the man I wanted to marry without the watchful eye of my brothers. As I thought about the prospect of having a love life, I was reminded of Lance.
    His taste, the feeling of his rock hard abs, and the masculine sound of his voice were seared into my mind. Oh fuck, how I wanted him.
    My phone sat in my pocket and I tried not to check it. I knew what it would tell me. Lance hadn’t texted me for the last few days, after I had told him to back off until my brothers were off working jobs.
    Our texts before then had been flirty. It wasn’t like me, but I even sent him some nudes late one night. I groaned at the thought of my naked body being in electronic form. Lance had bewitched me so much that I hadn’t even given the possible downsides a second thought.
    Did I even know this guy? I trusted him with photos that could shame me and my family. For all I knew, he was a totally different person than I knew in high school. Even in high school he had left without a word, breaking my heart. Was I so sure he