Callista Genovese never wanted to be part of the family business. She enjoyed the anonymity of being a teacher in a land where she was not the killer queen. But like always, family tends to ruin everything.
Callista was dragged back to New York with...
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The sounds of Castor Luciano stomping all over his man cave forced Callista to look up from the sketchbook on her hands. She saw him kneeling in front of the LED television, yanking several tangled cords in one go.
"Cas, can you get any louder?" She complained and began sketching again.
"You said you wanted to play GTA?" Castor's irritated tone filled the basement. He marched towards her and slumped on the black leather couch, giving up on his previous task. "Or you just said that because you didn't want me to blow up with your request?"
Caly cleared her throat. They knew each other too well.
"What are you doing?" He seized the sketchbook from her hands when she kept mum. Castor's brows creased as he tried to understand what she drew. "What's this? A tree?"
"It's an arrow!"
Cas glanced at her, conflict visible on his emerald eyes. "Uhm, well, it looks okay and..."
Caly rolled her eyes. "You can be honest."
He burst in boisterous laughter. "It's worse than a grade schooler's drawing. I mean, it can't be this thick. It looks like a trunk and---"
Caly slapped his arm. "That's too much honesty!"
Her best friend rubbed the tears at the edge of his eyes as Callista snatched the sketchbook back. She aimed a cutting glare at him. "Okay. Stop it. You had your fun."
"What is it for anyway?" Cas inquired still chuckling at her expense.
"I also want a tattoo." She pouted and started another design, making sure to lean away from Castor's prying gaze. "Don't look."
"Let me do it." Castor's reflexes won out in the end. "If you want a tattoo, it better not look like trash." He twisted the pencil on his fingers, face in deep concentration. Caly smiled when his fingers moved in confident strokes. For such a heavy and rough hand, his attention to detail was top-notch. "Look all you want, you'll never get this good."
Callista rolled her eyes and decided to prepare a milkshake for both of them. Aside from the huge TV and the air hockey table, the basement that Castor designed himself had a small bar on it. Black walls and warm LED lights completed its dusky look.
She began working, silently praying that Cas would take a long time to finish the art. After her disastrous date with Franco, it was Castor's turn to spend time with her. And she knew how much he looked forward to it but Caly preferred they play games instead. Her best friend couldn't really say no.
