"Where are we?" Sophia asked as we stood outside and waited for someone to let us in.

"Your gramma's home," I sighed. Don't get me wrong, she seemed like a really nice person and all, but it was hard to make a connection with someone when they didn't speak a word of English. I also wasn't a fan of the food she stuffed down my throat.

"Don't sound too excited, amore mia," Angelo suppressed a smile.

The door swung open and a round, balding man surfaced. He looked confused, as did Angelo and even Sophia. I could care less, "Chi sei?" (Who are you?)

Angelo went off in Italian, it sounded kind of like a rant, but I couldn't be so sure.

"You're Angelo?" The man asked in butchered English. At least he spoke it at all though. "Oh, I've heard a lot about you," he said as if slightly frightened, "Come in, come in. Lemme get your mama," he ushered the three of us inside before closing the door behind us and going off into a back room.

"Is your mom dating him? Who is he?" I asked Angelo quietly, thinking that he may know the answer. He talked to his mom at least once a week, I don't know why she wouldn't tell him this. He seemed like her favorite child by far.

"I don't know," he actually looked really confused. "I hope she's not with him."

"Why?"

"He looks disgusting."

"You're so judgmental."

"I'm looking out for my family. If Sophia comes home with a guy like that one day, you best believe he's going to get popped in the head. Because much like my mother, she deserves so much better."

"Ok, well, what if I was fat and ugly when you first saw me."

"I would've 'kidnapped' Sienna and had her get me the money I wanted but never did get."

Disgusting.

"And fallen in love with her?" I asked.

"Of fucking course not. I love you, my feisty little criceta. Now, lets stop talking about hypotheticals. They're a waste of both our time."

Mia madre and her new male companion came out into the living room where Chloe, Sophia and I were standing. I haven't seen her in four years and she wasn't how I remembered her at all. She had gone dangerously thin.

She rushed over to me and threw herself in my arms before planting several sloppy kisses all over my cheeks, "My baby," she said. (Since they both speak Italian, I'll auto translate to English but just know that Chloe has no idea what anyone is saying.) "I missed you," her eyes left mine and slowly traveled down to where Sophia was cowering behind my leg. A loud shriek left her thin lips, "Sophia," she held her arms out, "Come here, little one."

Sophia didn't move and only held onto me tighter as my mom tried to pull her into a hug. She was shy, tired and terribly stubborn. The three of those didn't make a good combination. "No!" She screamed as I tried to gently remove her, and then she ran over to the most confused looking Chloe I've ever seen.

The Madre stood up completely straight and gave me an angered look, "This is your fault! If you'd come home more often, she wouldn't do this! Lorenzo comes around here with Eloisa (his daughter - couple months younger than Sophia) and Sienna more often than you do!"

"Well, Lorenzo does nothing but sit around and do nothing all day anyway. He even lives here. I'm busy."

She gave me the look no one wants to get from their mother, "You're never too busy for family, Angelo."

"Enough about me," I said, "What about you? Who's he? Why didn't you tell me about him?"

"That's just Alfio," she shrugged, "I have no babies at home anymore, no one visits me, the three of you hardly even call me. I needed company."

"Ah. I see."

"He's a good man, Angelo. Better than that father of yours. He doesn't treat me like scraps that fell on the floor."

I guess I'd give him one chance than.

"I'm hungry," Sophia whined while loosening her grip around Chloe.

"Come, let me make you some food."

I watched as Sophia scoped the people out. Gianna (Angelo's mom) decided to throw a little get together party in her home and invited just about everyone she knew. I sat, wedged in between two random Italian speaking people on the sofa, with Sophia on my lap. She had zero interest, much like myself, in these people.

"I wanna go home. I miss puppy," she whined, a tear almost escaping her perfectly wide eyes. The little girl seemed to hate Italy almost as much as I did.

I missed Bandit too though. Someone was supposed to be bringing him over, but I haven't seen him yet. Angelo hasn't said anything about him either.

"I don't think we're going back home, baby."

Based on how I've heard Angelo and some others talking, I've come to the terrible conclusion that we will not being going back to New York anytime soon. There was a mafia house here. A bigger and better one supposedly. I didn't know anything could be better than the other one because it was complete perfection.

"Why?" She asked just as the front door of the apartment opened. I watched in horror as a man I never wanted to see again walked inside. Hardly anyone seemed to notice his presence, and the few that did obviously had no idea who he was.

I got Sophia off my lap, held her small hand tightly in mine and stood up, looking everywhere for Angelo. I found him over by the small hallway talking to Alfio. Usually I wouldn't have thrown myself into someone else's conversation, but this was kind of urgent. "Hey...babe," I tapped his arm and he looked at me. "We have a small problem."

"What?"

"Your...dad is here," I tried to say relatively quietly incase someone else was listening.

Angelo immediately turned around and started looking around. His eyes stopped moving, telling me that he had found him in the room. I followed his gaze and saw Mr. D'Amico standing in the center of the room, talking to Lorenzo, Dominica and a distraught Gianna.

"Fuck," he mouthed angrily.

"Well he looks pretty occupied. Maybe we can just sneak out," I said just as I made eye contact with Mr. D'Amico. "Ok. Never mind."

It wasn't long before he dismissed them and started walking over to us.

"You," Angelo pointed at a very confused and scared looking little Sophia, "Don't say a single word. Not even if anyone talks to you. Capisce?"

She nodded, let go of my hand and hid herself behind Angelo just as Mr. D'Amico stopped right in front of us, "Ciao famiglia."

No one said anything.

"I haven't seen or heard from either of you in quite some time. I was starting to worry."

Still, neither of us said a single word.

"I heard about your bambina. I even sent gifts, but they never got to you, no?" He waited for a response but after realizing that he wouldn't get one, he continued on, "How are you today gattina Sophia?"

I shot her a look. She didn't like talking to people but she didn't like ignoring them either. Angelo didn't want her to talk, so she better not start talking. She looked down at the floor, held onto Angelo even tighter and didn't say a single word.

"Have you all gone mute!?" And again he waited, but got nothing. He did what any angry mafia man would do and whipped out his handgun, pointing it at the leg Sophia hid herself behind. "If you don't stop hiding, I'm going to shoot your padre, little Sophia."

I saw the look of absolute horror wash over her face, and she quickly came out to be seen by all before Angelo could say anything against it, "No!" She screamed.

"Not so fearless, is she?" Mr. D'Amico chuckled while slowly aiming his gun at her. "She isn't a true D'Amico than."

It took no time whatsoever for Angelo to take his own gun at and aim it right at his father's head. By this time, everyone that had been invited to Gianna's party, were all looking at us, shocked and scared. "For every second you keep that gun on her, that's a bullet I'm going to fire off into your brain," Angelo growled.

Mr. D'Amico just stared at Angelo with that disgusting pleased smile of his, "How many seconds is that so far, bambino?" He waited a brief moment, "Look at how children turn on their parents. Give it a few years. She'll be too much trouble for even you. She'll go bad, like kids do and try to run away. Maybe she'll spill the family secrets to the cops. I can't have a kid ruining everything I've put into this family. I won't have it."

"You are bat shit crazy!" I screamed, "She's a little girl and you're making her sound like the emperor of evil!"

"They don't stay little for very long."

People, including myself, screamed bloody murder as gunshots went off.