The Chronicles of City Lights and Modern Love

It was at least a week before Freddie came back from dealing with the "work stuff" he'd left to take care of, and I had very quickly gotten bored with my surroundings and the lack of contact with the outside world, or with anyone at all. During any of the very few times Carmine left my side, there always seemed to be a maid or maintenance person intently carrying out chores in whichever room I happened to be in at the time, as though they were there to keep an eye on me. They rarely spoke to me though.

I briefly struck up a friendship with the gardener, a cheerful 24 year old man with a penchant for belting out Elvis songs while mowing the lawn when he thought no one could hear. That was, until Carmine pointed out that he too was affiliated with the mafia and that his gardening job was the only task Neil had deemed him capable of carrying out.

So, confined within the boundaries of the house, I borrowed Carmine's sunglasses, a pair of beaten up Oakley Frogskins that I kept having to push up because they would slip down my nose, and sat by the pool on a large daybed, reading a musty smelling encyclopaedia that I had found on one of the very few bookshelves in the house.

It was hot out, but a cool breeze was starting to blow through the trees, caressing my face. In the heat, I was finding it more and more difficult to ignore the snores and snorts of Carmine, who had come and laid beside me to keep me company and then promptly fallen asleep.

"What are you reading?"

I turned to the source of the voice to see Freddie as he sidled through the wide french doors leading out of the kitchen and onto the pool area.

I sat up and couldn't help but smirk a little as I saw that the cut on his lip had not quite healed. "Believe me, the encyclopaedia was definitely not my first choice in reading material!" I said incredulously. "Daytime television is horrendous and there was nothing else for me to do".

"I think I'd rather sit and twiddle my thumbs..." he replied with a scoff.

"Rather than learn, you mean?" I asked. "Understandable, I guess. I'm sure your brain is already full to capacity..."

Freddie frowned, but did not say anything.

"Look," I said, "does Neil have anything at all planned for me, or did he just think that I would benefit from some uninhibited reading time?"

Freddie snorted, before replying with, "Funny you should ask, actually."

"I get the impression that your idea of funny is very different to mine..."

Ignoring my comment, he continued. "I've just gotten off the phone with the airline, and we're going on a trip!"

Finding his enthusiasm a little unnerving, I asked hesitantly, "A trip?"

"Yes a trip. Tomorrow, we're Sicily bound!"

'Yay, Sicily bound," Carmine said groggily, waking up and propping himself up on his elbows, squinting between his brother and I.

Freddie walked back inside to fix himself some food, leaving Carmine and I alone again. I couldn't believe this misadventure of mine was going to land me in Sicily, at the heart of Cosa Nostra territory.

I must have had a concerned look on my face, because Carmine, who had been laying there watching me, suddenly said, "Stop frowning. You're so much prettier when you smile."

I tore my eyes away from the bird I had been watching in one of the trees just outside the pool fence and surveyed him.

"Stop it," I said after a moment.

His forehead creased a little as he frowned. "Stop what?"

"Stop making it so hard for me to hate you," I replied quietly, laying back to gaze at the clear, blue sky.

He chuckled as he lay down beside me, his hand brushing against my own.

"Now, why on Earth would I do that?"