“Being one of his girls wasn't all it was cracked up to be. See, by then, Bucataru had quite depraved tastes, and we were his favorite outlet.” She pauses and shudders before shaking herself.
“So, when I found a chance to escape, I did. I raided his stash of drugs, took a chunk of cash from the safe in the sex room, and came back to Hartford. By then, Diane had graduated highschool, and she was excited to see her big sister regardless. I never told her the truth, you see. I just told her that I lived in a lavish mansion with a rich man and everything was awesome. She had no clue that I needed drugs to get through most days. Turns out my mother and I weren’t that different, and when she discovered I could provide her with recreational drugs, she welcomed me home with wide arms.” The woman grimaces. ”Diane was such a fucking goodie two shoes. She had a job working as a PA for that bitch Melinda and was good friends with her and her husband. And she was dating Brad, who she’d met through Chuck. Her life was good, and she had somehow done well for herself despite being left behind with our mother. Ihatedseeing that. How dare she! But because I was her big sister, who she worshiped, it didn't take much to convince her to party with us. She was always desperate for me to approve of her.”
Raquel wiggles impatiently on my lap, and I grunt at the pain in my knees. They hadn’t been spared when I had been beaten earlier. “Oh, for fuck’s sake, Raquel. Get off of him and go sit with your sister,” her mother growls, yanking her off of me and pushing her toward the steps.
“Ouch, do you have to be such a bitch?” Raquel sulks as she makes herself comfortable next to Cecelia. Harlow’s aunt rolls her eyes and turns her back to her daughters, facing us again, before continuing her story.
“Diane and I looked very much alike, and one day after she had passed out on the couch, she got a message from Brad, telling her he wanted to see her. I messaged back, pretending to be her, saying that I was drunk and he should come get me. She’d never brought him around to our place for a reason.”
“When he got there, it was dark. Our porch light was broken, so when I went out to greet him, he thought I was Diane. She hadn't told him that she had a sister, of course. As much as my little sister loved me, there was a certain sense of… self-preservation at play. She wouldn’t have wanted to scare him away by letting him see our home or knowing the truth about our mother or her wayward sister. I tried to seduce him, but he kept pushing me off, saying he wouldn’t take advantage of her when she was drunk. Little did he know that she was high the last few times they’d been together. I got angry and told him I never wanted to see him again, screaming at him to get out of my life. He left, telling me he would return the next day when I was sober.”
Peter comes back downstairs, and she pauses. “Julia, I need to go out. I’ll be back in a little while. Don’t start anything without me.”
She waves a hand at him. “Don’t worry, I’ve still got a bit of story to tell.” He pulls her to him and kisses her passionately. Raquel gags, and Jacinta, Harlow, and Cecelia all look as grossed out as I feel when he starts feeling her up in front of us all.
“Fuck, I can’t wait to get access to my uncle’s sex room. The things I’m going to do to you,” Peter growls at Julia, who turns away from him, hiding the terror that has risen in her eyes at his words. He leaves, oblivious to her feelings.
“I need a drink before we continue this. Cecelia, get us a drink and some party favors. I think everyone will be a little more relaxed if we indulge.”
Cecelia huffs. “Fine, Mom, but can you hurry it up? This trip down memory lane is nauseating.” She follows her stepfather back upstairs while Julia looks around the room.
“I thought there were more chairs down here,” she says to Raquel.
“There are a couple of plastic ones in the bathroom,” she replies, not looking up from her phone.
“Well, don’t just sit there being useless. Get me one. And grab one for your sister, too.” Raquel gets off the step and flounces toward the bathroom, grumbling as she goes.
Harlow gasps again. “If you’re my aunt and they’re your daughters, that means Cecelia and Raquel are actually my cousins.”
Raquel appears, carrying a stack of plastic chairs, and sneers at her. “Wow, you can put two and two together.”
She puts the chairs down and separates the three of them before slouching down in one. I breathe a sigh of relief that she doesn't resituate herself on my lap.
Julia takes a seat and smiles at us, the crazy in her eyes plain to see. “Now, where was I?”
“You told Brad to go away,” Jacinta points out helpfully. I smother a snort of laughter. Despite our terrible situation, my sister cannot resist a juicy story, and this is certainly one of those.
“Oh yes, so after he left, I made myself look ravished, ripped my shirt, messed up my hair, and smeared my lipstick. Then I stumbled back inside loudly enough to wake my useless sister. I told her that Brad had seduced me, and she was still fucked up enough to believe it.” Her smile is filled with a sick pleasure, but then it drops, and I see that glimpse of fear in her eyes again.
“But that night, the count’s men found me and dragged me back to L.A. where he punished me for my disobedience.”
“But what has that got to do with me or Jaxon or Harlow? Why start this vendetta or whatever this is? Why did you try to kill her?” Jacinta just doesn't know when to keep her mouth shut, and I don’t miss the glare Julia shoots her way, clearly not appreciating the interruption.
“I was friends with your mom for a little while. Did you know that?” She ignores Jacinta's outburst and turns to me. I mean, I can kind of believe it. She seems like a bit of a terrible person, and with the way she keeps bouncing around, she comes off as slightly unhinged.
“She was one of his girls too, but when he saw that his son had taken an interest in her, he made her focus on him. He thought he could control Dragos through her. Carmen was beautiful and popular, and Dragos never knew she was a whore.” She thinks about it and shrugs. “Or maybe he did and just didn't care. Anyway, she told me that she and Dragos were going to run away together. They had a plan. He was going to steal some gold from the vault, and they were going to use the tunnels to get away.”
“So what, you betrayed your friend to get back in the count’s good books?” Harlow blurts out, and Julia looks at her niece, a smug smile on her face.
“Hey, in this world, it’s every woman for themselves. I told the count, and he and I were there to intercept them. He sent Carmen back upstairs, telling her he would deal with her later. The vault was already open, and I couldn’t believe what I saw in there. All the drugs and guns and pretty, pretty expensive things… not to mention the stack of gold. While they were busy arguing, I picked up one of the guns and shot them both. Then I shoved as much as I could in a bag, closed the vault behind me, and made my way out, following one of the tunnels.”
“So you killed my dad and grandfather?” I say to her.
She grins. “You bet your ass I did.”
That’s interesting. She obviously doesn't know we only found one body. We didn't make that public.
“And I guess you thought you could come back whenever… until you realized you needed the combination and some blood.” I smirk at her, and she jumps to her feet and starts pacing.
