This was not meant to be my job, but at the rate Luc was going I couldn’t overlook the fact that there was the distinct possibility that he would continue to make things worse. Plus, this was a Moretti-free weekend, allowing us a little more privacy than usual. “Xavier has it out for Mia.”
“I know. It’s because of—”
“No,” I cut in before he could continue. Everyone thought Xavier was pissed at Mia because she’d left. They had no idea how deep it ran. “He had it out for her before she left.”
Luc looked confused. “That doesn’t make any sense. They seemed to be alright.”
“She found out something.”
“What?”
All of a sudden, I wasn’t sure that I could do this. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to be the person responsible for pulling my brother’s world from underneath him. This was meant to be done at home, at the office with the three of us together. Not as a slip of the tongue in the side street after a Christening.
“What, Dante? She found out what?” Luc pushed.
And if I felt like this after knowing him for so long, then how had Mia felt at the prospect of unleashing this secret into the world?
“Mia,” I started, quietly, “found out that Xavier had an affair.”
“Shit.”
That in itself was bad enough. Extra marital affairs weren’t uncommon, but no one flashed them in public. They were carried out behind tightly locked doors, and Xavier had always maintained that the sanctity of marriage was of importance. We found loopholes for every other rule in the book, but this was meant to be non-negotiable.
“With your Mom.” Even I was surprised at the lack of tact that was delivered with. If silence was a killer, we would have been dead at that moment.
“I’m sorry?” Luc said, drawing himself to full height.
“She overheard a conversation between Maria and Xavier.”
The realization dawned on his face. “God, please don’t tell me...”
I didn’t need to confirm it. Luc had connected the dots quicker than I had expected. This hadn’t just been an affair that was one and done. It had a messy complication that stood in the form of my boss and brother in front of me.
“He threatened her life,” I continued. “Told her he’d make her miserable.”
“Hector. Mia,” Luc breathed, letting the pieces fall into place. When he looked up at me, I felt a chill run through my body. Luc’s anger usually sat at the surface. He was rage personified: slammed doors, trigger happy, screaming in your face. It was red and vibrant and pulsing. This was a step beyond all of that. This time his anger had settled over him in a serene manner. For the first time in all my years of knowing Luc, I couldn’t anticipate his next move.
“Luc.”
“I’m going to kill him.” His voice didn’t hold a single waver. Luc started to walk, and it took me a moment to realize that he didn’t mean when we returned home after the festivities. He meant immediately.
Breaking into a run, I skidded to a stop in front of him. “You need to think about this,” I told him, panicking.
“There’s nothing to think about. He orchestrated this whole situation. I’ve been separated from Mia for months while she’s been pregnant with my child. He wants me to believe it’s Gabriel’s. He still wants me to kill her after she’s given birth.” The nausea rolled in my stomach, hearing how far Xavier was prepared to go in order keep his secret. “I’m not asking you to get involved,” Luc told me. “I understand if you have concerns because of your loyalties.”
Vittoria. This was her family we were discussing. We were casually talking about how Luc might just go and kill his biological father, who coincidentally was also hers. My head spun at the thought that Tori, Gabe and Luc were all related. Not just Godsiblings but related by blood.
“If she asks, I’ll say you had no part in it,” Luc concluded.
I loved Vittoria. I was pretty sure I’d loved her when we were teenagers and I messed it up the first time. She was a force of nature that kept me in line, and I knew one day I’d make it official, make her an Atwood. But Luc and I had a relationship that couldn’t be explained. I had vowed to put my life on the line for him; we were blood without any being shared between us and I would choose him over everyone.
“I’m not asking that of you,” I said, putting my hands on his shoulders to keep him in place. “I’ll stick by you whatever you decide to choose, but I mean it when I say we need to play this smart.”
Luc’s eyes locked with mine and then he said, “Keep talking.”
I dropped my hands from him, grateful that he was willing to listen to me. “Going there now and facing off against him won’t do you any favors. We need to think this through.” I was back in the position of being the voice of reason, just as I had been when I convinced Mia to come back with me. We couldn’t do things in the heat of the moment without suffering the consequences, which would most likely be fatal. “You need to fix things with Mia,” I said, and I watched his face soften. “Your family needs to come first from now on.”
It was inevitable that change was on the horizon. Luc and Mia were about to have a baby. A new generation was about to be born and our priorities and responsibilities would shift. We could no longer be trigger happy and act off emotion. Not when there was so much more on the line than just our lives. The chapter of wild and reckless days was about to be closed and succeeded by more calculated choices.
