Closing the laptop, I gave her my full attention. “What?”
“You heard me, Scarlett.”
“I did,” I said. “But I don’t understand.”
She lifted her hands, and a second later, they came down with a slap against her legs. “Apparently he doesn’t agree with a couple living in sin. We either get married or we have to leave.”
“That makes no sense! He was married when he had children from other women.”
“His wife was barren. He had the right.”
“Like hell he did!”
“That’s what I said! I mean, not to his face. But I was thinking it!” She plopped down in the seat across from me. “We’renotliving in sin though. We’re living together for the sake of the kids. We don’t even share a bed.”
“Did Mitch explain this to him?”
“He started to, but he refused to even listen. He seemed to know all our history. He said his son considered Mitch family, therefore, so did he. He would not have his ‘family’ living in sin. We have a week to give him our decision.”
I opened my mouth to respond, then closed it. I wanted to say how ridiculous it was—a man who has no qualms murdering another man caring about others living in sin. What about him and Maggie Beautiful?
Oh damn.
“I will not play the whore, Luca.”
One thing Luca wasnotwas a hypocrite.
“Scarlett?”
Violet was staring at me, plainly trying to get my attention.
“Can you talk to Brando about this? I’m not going to lie. I’m terrified. On the ride here, I saw a man. His clothes were ripped to shreds and he was bleeding. Whoever or whatever got to him meant to hurt him, not kill him. I guess whoever was making an example out of him. I thought maybe it was the guy who scared you. What if the maniac after you comes after us? My kids. He’s searching for people to kill because these people keep killing his people! And it’sthator marriage!”
“How does Mitch feel about this?”
She hesitated, clearly not expecting that question. Turning her attention to her pants, she picked at a spot. “He asked me what I wanted to do. I—after Mick. How am I supposed to get married again? Is that even fair to him? He’s dead! My husband is dead.”
“I know,” I said softly. “I’m sorry.”
We became quiet, lost to our own thoughts. I had no idea how to deal with this or make this right. If Luca made the effort to go to them with this proposition, he meant it. In some strange way, I wondered if he did this to absolve them of guilt.
Even though they loved each other, their guilt over Mick stood in the way of any chance they had. Seeing this, Luca probably decided to take matters into his own hands. If they blamed him, they couldn’t blame each other.
Not the most romantic way to start a new marriage, but I wasn’t sure what else could have possibly motivated him to do this.
“He—he said something about Mick.” She looked me in the eye. “That if it were him, he would be honored that his brother would take care of his wife. Then he started asking questions. ‘Is it true that he was leaving Viola before he passed? He had another child? Another life waiting for him?’” She tried to mimic his voice, but it sounded nothing like him.
“He brought that up?”
“Yeah.” She nodded. “Mitch didn’t deny any of it.”
“How could he? It’s the truth.”
“The truth.” She scoffed, going back to picking at her pants. After a minute, her eyes became hazy. “I think he wants to. Marry me, I mean.”
Her voice came out timid, much quieter than the voice of the woman who had existed inside of her. She hadn’t calmed entirely, but Mick’s death had knocked the wind from her. It had changed her in irrevocable ways.
“He’s always wanted you,” I said, tears blurring my own eyes. “But life happened.”
