Sergio
Gianni and Phoenix’s home was perched on the cliffs of Santorini. For the last hour I’d been standing on the wide-open terrace, which had beautiful bougainvillea flowers spilling over the cobalt railing, contemplating how to deal with tonight.
The stone terrace arched along the cliff. And as the sun dipped below the horizon, it painted the sky with golden hues. The light, warm breeze off of the sea was laced with salt that stuck to my skin, but I didn’t care. Standing out here was better than being inside, acting like we all liked each other, knowing that wasn’t the truth.
When I agreed to attend this shitshow, I thought I could handle tonight, but the longer I was here, the more I doubted myself. Iloved her. I would always love her. Now, I had to endure a few hours as she smiled in another motherfucker’s face while I had another woman who would do anything for me on my arm.
“This is so fucked up.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I shouldn’t have come.”
Church bells echoed in the distance, and the distant hum of boats sliced through the air as the sea stretched out before me like an endless void, shifting from sapphire to obsidian. I gazed at the whitewashed rooftops tumbling down the hillside, their blue and terracotta roofs catching the last rays of light before night settled in as I asked myself what in the hell made me agree to this.
“Are you alright?” Gianni asked when he stepped next to me.
All I wanted was to be alone before all hell broke loose, but of course that wouldn’t happen. He was always concerned about how I was doing. What the hell did he want me to tell him? That I was happy? I wasn’t but I was here.
Gianni stuck out the tumbler of whiskey, and after a moment of hesitation, I grabbed it. I turned my attention back to the view while I took a sip of the amber liquid. As he took a sip of his water, his gaze went back to the stunning view.
He’d been sober for a while now. I didn’t see how the hell he did it, especially with two kids and a pregnant wife to deal with. I’d need a strong drink just to function in his world.
It took a while for us to get to the place where we could even be in the same room with one another without trying to kill each other, especially after ‘the incident’ as I liked to call it. He fucking shot me.
Twice.
At the time I didn’t think he had it in him, especially being a priest. But he surprised the hell out of me. Now, I didn’t blame him for what he had done, but back then, I wanted to kill him.
We’d always had a very standoffish relationship. While he was my brother, he didn’t like me, and I didn’t like him even though he was trying to mend whatever this shit we shared was called. Right now, we just tolerated each other, so I guess that was better than nothing.
My attention shifted back to him. “Why wouldn’t I be?” I asked even though I knew why he asked the question.
He was worried about how I was dealing with the entire situation.
“I know this has to be difficult for you.”
I scoffed, then took another sip of the whiskey, enjoying the burn of it sliding down my throat. “It is what it is, big brother. We’ve both moved on.”
I heard the bitterness in my words, but what the fuck did he want me to say? She was fucking married to a motherfucker whose throat I’d love to slit. And I was in some sort of relationship. We weren’t together and would never be again. End of story.
He faced me and sighed. “Have you moved on?”
I frowned. “What the fuck does that mean?”
“Rachel, Sergio. I’m talking about Rachel.”
“What about her? Everyone wanted me to move on. Everyone told me to get over Seraphina because she wanted to have nothing to do with me. So, I found a girl. Now you’re still questioning whether I’ve moved on?”
“You don’t see it, do you?”
I bowed my head and released a deep sigh before looking back at my brother. I wanted him to get to the fucking point. My head was already pounding, and I didn’t have the energy to solve fucking riddles.
“Spit it out, Gianni.”
“Rachel looks like Seraphina.”
I just stared at him, then burst out laughing. “Get the fuck out of here. No, the fuck she doesn’t. I don’t know why the fuck everyone keeps saying that.”
He sighed. “She does, whether you want to admit it. It’s caused some concern with Phoenix because of your history with Seraphina.”
“Of course it has,” I mumbled.
