The funeral director appeared in front of us to remind us there was coffee, tea, and water in the next room, along with some cookies and other snacks. My father thanked him, his eyes going to my mother as she sobbed in another woman's arms. The pain in his eyes was for her, for the way she was suffering, even though I knew he did, too. "Dad, can I get you a coffee or anything?"
"No, honey. Thank you." Tearing his eyes away from my mother, they went back to the large exposure of my sister's face.
"Okay. I'll be right back." Indicating to Sammy I was just getting a drink, I picked my way around the crowd surrounding my mother, accepting condolences and noticing a few looks of surprise when people saw my face.
Ignoring the stab of pain those looks caused, I found the ladies' room and shoved the door open, then locked it behind me.
It was stupid to feel this way. To be surprised that half of my mother's friends had no idea I existed. She'd treated me like this my entire life. Like an afterthought. One that came miles behind my sister and all of her many accomplishments.
I did my business and washed my hands, then wiped at my eyes, using the time to get myself together. Maybe it was just the rawness of my emotions causing me to be so sensitive to my mother right now. Because even though I'd known of my sister's death for weeks now, and I'd grieved her all alone, being here, in this place, with these people, made it all so real. Nicole was really gone. And I'd never see her again in this lifetime.
It was a sobering thought, and a lonely one, that I would face the rest of my life without my twin. And I felt guilty. So, so fucking guilty. I'd wished for this very thing many times, never thinking it would actually happen. Well, not her death. But just that she would be out of my life. Yet, I thought she'd be here always, ganging up with our mother to make me miserable.
Tucking a tendril of hair that had escaped my hair clip back behind my ear, I took a bracing breath and opened the bathroom door. A quick glance toward my father assured me that Sammy was still sitting by him, so I made my way over to the table with the beverages.
I'd just finished stirring a little creamer into my coffee when a familiar voice said in my ear, "Hello, Veda."
Chills scattered across my skin, and my head jerked up. In the reflection of the mirror on the wall behind the table, Mario was staring at me, his eyes red and blotchy. My stomach tightened until I thought I was going to puke all over the cookies.
Oh my god. How long had he been here? My hand went to my bag to find my phone.
"I wouldn't do that."
Slowly, every cell in my body screaming in protest, I opened my fingers and dropped my phone back into my bag.
I watched in the mirror as his eyes went to my mother. Being here at my sister's memorial had obviously resurrected his grief, but seeing it from him stirred nothing inside of me. "You know, your mother is still a beautiful woman. I can see where you both got your looks. But your sister..." His eyes roamed up and down my mom. "Yeah... Nicole had her spark. It was just something inside of her, ya know?"
He looked to me as though for confirmation, but I kept my expression carefully blank. I knew what he was doing, and it wasn't going to work. I told myself he wouldn't be such a fool as to do anything that would bring undo attention to him. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to mourn my dead fiancée, of course." A slick smile teased the corners of his mouth. "And to see my second favorite sister." His smile fell. "I think we need to talk."
"No, we don't." My teeth began to ache, I was clenching my jaw so hard.
His eyes hardened, and he wrapped an arm around my back, his hand squeezing my hip painfully as he led me away from the table. To anyone who was watching, he appeared to be a concerned friend, a distant relative maybe, leading me outside to sneak a cigarette or just to get out of the crowd of people for a few minutes. I let him do it. The last thing I wanted to do was make a scene at my sister's memorial. My mother would never forgive me. She wouldn't care if I was in danger, as long as I didn't upset the last party she threw for Nicole.
But I wasn't a complete fool, and I dug in my heels when we reached the front lobby. No one was hanging out there, but there were plenty of people who would hear me if I so much as raised my voice. "I'm not going outside with you." There was no way in hell I was leaving the safety of this building.
When he saw he wouldn't be able to move me without making a scene, he acquiesced with a tight smile. "Fine. We'll talk here."
"There's nothing for us to discuss."
"No. There's not. There're only consequences. Because you haven't been living up to your end of the deal."
"There is no fucking deal." Not anymore.
One eyebrow went up, and I would've laughed at the surprised look on his face if I didn't think he'd pull out a gun and shoot me for it. Witnesses or no witnesses. "I'm going to go ahead and blame your sudden bout of amnesia on the fact that you're dealing with a lot right now. Ya know,"-he waved his hand around-"helping your sweet parents put together this lovely
tribute to the woman who was going to be my wife."
"Until you killed her." I slammed my mouth shut. Surrounded by people or not, I knew better than to push him too far.
That slimy smile was back. "Do you want my precious brother to end up in a coffin at the front of that room? Want your tears to be for him? Because I can make it so. It would solve one of my biggest problems, nice and easy."
He was right. It would. "So, why don't you just do that? Why go through all this bullshit?"
My response seemed to take him by surprise. "So anxious to have him out of your life already?"
"No," I assured him. Or maybe it was myself. "But it seems the easier thing to do. Or do you both just like fucking with innocent women?"
He watched my face for a few moments, studying me. Then he leaned in so close it was all I could do to stay where I was. "I'll let you in on a little secret, Veda," he finally said. "He doesn't deserve you. And I know he's putting the pieces in place to take over as boss, even if he has to off me to do it." He paused, and I saw a flash of something tender in his eyes. "But he's still my little brother. I want him gone, but I don't want him dead. Not if I can avoid it. And that's where you come in. All you need to do is give me something on him that will get him the fuck out of my hair, and you will save both my brother's life and my honor with the family."
Honor. It was all about their fucking honor. Everything they did. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him that Luca kicked me out and he'd have to find himself another rat. But if I did that, he would know I wasn't under Luca's protection anymore. And he would have no reason to let me live knowing all that I know. "I can't get you anything," I told him instead. "He keeps everything locked up. I can't get access to it."
Leaning in until I could smell the coffee on his breath, he looked me dead in the eye. "Try harder."
"I can't."
"If you don't, I will kill him, though it will break my heart." He managed to pull off a regretful expression. "However, I'm giving you this chance to save him. And yourself." He tightened his grip on my arm, and his lips brushed my ear. "Get him out of my hair, and I'll allow him to live." Leaning back, his eyes dropped to the modest neckline of my dress. "But don't forget"-lifting his free hand, he traced the letter "M" over the scar on my chest with his fingertip-"you will always belong to me."
"If I were you, brother, I would step away from the lady. And I would do it right fucking now."
My head whipped toward the doors and my heart banged loudly in my chest as Mario stiffened, his grip on my arm tightening until I knew I was going to have bruises.
"Luca." His name on my lips was nothing less than an answered prayer.
Enzo and Tristan flanked him on either side, and I squeezed my eyes shut tight for a moment, never so happy to see the three of them as I was now. But my relief was short-lived when Mario's guys appeared from nowhere, trickling out of halls and doorways to surround our little party.
Luca appeared unconcerned by his brother's show of force. His blue eyes warmed only slightly when they turned to me. "I thought I would come and pay my respects, if that's alright."