ONE

I look?" I twirled around in my summer dress and blew a kiss for dramatic effect.

Lucas grinned. "You look like you're wearing a beautiful dress that won't even be seen under those robes." He pointed to the long black clothes hanging on the back of my door, shaking his head.

I pouted. "You can kind of see it underneath."

"And you're kind of going to be late to your own graduation if you don't hurry up."

I checked my watch and sure enough Lucas was right. I applied a thin coat of lip gloss and then slipped the robes on over my flowery dress. "Is Rachie ready?"

Just then the little girl came running into my room from the corridor, a wide smile on her face. "You look like a wizard!" she pointed eagerly at my graduation attire.

"I am a wizard!" I reached my hands out to tickle her and she let out a scream of glee, giggling and trying to escape my grip.

"Did you magic those flowers outside the door?" She stopped abruptly and looked up at me with her big blue eyes.

"What flowers?"

She rolled her eyes dramatically. Definitely Lucas' niece. "Outside, silly, look!"

I stopped my tickling assault and walked over to the doorway where, sure enough, a huge bouquet of flowers sat. There must have been one hundred red roses there, at least. Just sitting in the corridor like they had every business being there.

I leaned down to pick them up and saw a small white card attached to them.

Congratulations, Florence x

That was all it said. No name, no information. An uneasy feeling settled in my stomach but I tried to push it away. Nothing was going to ruin today, not after I had worked so hard for this. Not after everything I had been through.

Lucas was the only part of the mafia that remained in my life, and I had only just, in the last few months, forgiven him for what happened. He was implicit in the plot that almost got me killed, but he had begged me to stay away...he had tried to warn me. And ultimately, he had saved me.

I placed the flowers on my windowsill and Lucas shot me an uncomfortable glance. "What?" I asked, arranging them so that they could soak up the sunlight.

"Doesn't it make you feel a little weird? You don't know who they're from."

I shrugged. "They're beautiful. I'm not just going to let them go to waste."

Thankfully he let the issue drop, but I could tell it bothered him. If I was being honest, it bothered me too. Ever since my involvement with the Mob, I had spent every day worrying and looking over my shoulder. I was definitely more paranoid than any twenty three year old should ever be, but I was trying.

Trying to move on. Trying to get over him. Trying to live a normal life.

Lucas drove us to the place where I was going to graduate. It was the beginning of summer and England was just beginning to heat up; the sun shone gently all around, casting a pale yellow tinge on everything. It felt like anything was possible.

"I spy with my little eye..." Rachie sang in the back of the car as Luke and I continually tried to guess whatever it was she had spotted.

When we pulled up in the car park, exhausted from the heat, a huge crowd of people had already arrived and a sense of dread filled the pit of my stomach. I wasn't certain why, but crowds always seemed to make me feel a little nervy since the events of three years ago. There was something disconcerting about a large number of people surrounding me. I pushed the feeling away.

"You ready?" Lucas asked as he helped Rachie to climb out of the car.

I bit my lip and looked out at all the fellow graduates and their families. My father was too busy running things in New York to be here today, not that I was sure I'd have wanted him here. It was sad that I had nobody else left.

"Ready as I'll ever be." I nodded and let out a deep sigh. "Thank you for coming all this way for me."

Lucas grinned and ruffled my hair. "Couldn't say no to a holiday."

"I want ice cream!" Rachie exclaimed with glee as she spotted a nearby truck. The queue was so backed up it looked like it went on for miles.

"Maybe later," Lucas told her. "After Flo has got her award."

"I got an award at school once..." she began rambling again, off in her own world as we strolled over to the seating area. I was grateful that the event was going to be held outside.

Lucas and Rachie got comfortable in their seats and then I left them to sit at the front where my fellow graduates had already congregated. We sat in alphabetical order and prepared to go up and receive our diplomas. The sun was beating down and already I felt too hot and uncomfortable in my gown. Maybe I would have to take Rachie up on that ice cream later...

"Florence Loretta Genovese."

My name was called, making nerves twist in my stomach as I rose from my seat and walked to the small stage that had been set up on the field. A beautiful crumbling castle provided the backdrop for the event, and I admired it as I stepped up to avoid thinking about all the eyes that were on me.

I was handed my diploma and I shook hands with the man awarding it with a smile. I had done it. My eyes searched the crowd for Lucas and Rachie, eager to wave at them like I had promised I would. I scanned row after row until–

It felt like my heart had stopped in my chest and picked up double time. If my stomach had been knotted before, it was tearing itself in half now. The whole world seemed to freeze. I couldn't move, I just stood there on the stage, staring, as everyone else wondered if I was having some sort of break down.

Right at the back of the crowd was a man wearing an expensive looking suit, standing in front of an even more expensive looking car. I would have known him from miles away.

It was Arturo.

But Arturo was dead.