Chapter Thirty Two
Dante
Flopping down on the couch, I let out a breath. If anyone asked me, I would profess that moving a body was easier than moving to a new house. Luc dropped down beside me and closed his eyes. The last of the boxes had been moved in and it was all official. Luc’s absence from work had been explained in the form of the new property that had Mia’s signature drying on the deed.
“I never thought the day I’d see you move out of Charlie’s,” I said to him. The most surprising thing to me had not been that Luc and Mia had gotten back together, or even that they had picked up where they’d left off, but that Luc was selling his childhood home. Most of our memories of Charlie were held within those walls and I’d thought Luc would hold onto it as part of his portfolio. Never to be sold, never to be occupied by another inhabitant, but a memorial to his father.
Turning his head, Luc opened an eye and said, “Too much ahead of us to keep looking back.”
“Oo, how profound!” I squealed, surprised at his view. “Put that on a fridge magnet for Christmas please. Oof!” Luc had smacked me in the stomach, and I doubled over. “You’re a prick!”
“So are you.”
Just over a week, Mia had been back in Luc’s life, and I’d witnessed the way he’d changed again. There was more ease in his movements, Lydia was back in his employment, and our relationship had improved. Mia was his better half in every way imaginable and that only boded well for our future plans. “Have you told her yet?” I asked.
“Told me what?” Mia asked, making me jump.
“Jesus.” I clutched at my chest. “You’re going to need to wear a bell if you come into a room that quietly.”
“Sorry.” She kissed the top of my head as she passed behind the sofa. Luc tipped his head back, never taking well to being excluded, and Mia dotted a kiss on his lips. “What do you need to tell me?” She came around the sofa and perched herself on the edge of the coffee table in front of us.
“It’s nothing to worry about right now.” Luc straightened up and looked at her. Mia didn’t look like she believed him.
“You can’t just spring it on her, Luc,” I said, leaning back again and putting my feet on the table. Mia quickly brushed them off, forgetting that she’d put a hole in my couch not so long ago and that my offense barely compared. “I think the both of you need to exercise some honesty going forward.”
He turned his head to look at me. “How did Tori take it when you told her we’re planning to murder her father?”
I flinched at the words and felt the nausea sour my tastebuds. It was a little hypocritical for me to be discussing honesty and offering relationship advice when I was hiding the mother, or father if you wanted to be clever about it, of all secrets from Tori. “That’s a little different and you know it.”
“I won’t blame you if you decide to back out, but I need to know sooner rather than later.”
There were fleeting moments when it was just Tori and I that the guilt constricted my heart and lungs. I wasn’t sure I’d felt, truly felt, guilt since my childhood; in trouble at school, mischievous at home with Mama to reprimand me. These days the trouble was so much more pressing that the guilt had even been frightened off. Until now. The deep desire to confess everything to her often sat on the tip of my tongue and was only overridden by the reminder that there was a bigger picture. Tori knowing of our plans would lead to me losing my family because Xavier would never let this lie if he found out. And my family took precedence.
“I told you before, you don’t have to worry. I’ll be with you whatever you need.” Then I considered the options and added, “Unless you fight with Mia, then I’m taking her side.”
“Traitor.”
“He knows who feeds him,” she said with a smile before turning to Luc. For a split second I wondered if I should leave the room and give them some privacy to have this conversation but Mia dove in before I could move. “You want Xavier’s position when he’s gone, don’t you?”
Luc quirked an eyebrow and even I was surprised that she’d cut right down to it. Mia had walked into our lives without a clue about what went on. We’d seen her flinch and recoil over jobs that didn’t even cause us to bat an eyelid. Mia cried while we slept peacefully over the stunts we pulled to get by in life. Yet somewhere along the way, Mia’s soft soul had started to harden. She was sharper with her words, quicker to think her way out of situations, and beautiful to watch.
“And what if I did?” Luc rested his elbows on his knees and leaned forward.
“Wouldn’t you be happy just living your life, knowing you’ve gotten rid of Xavier?” she asked in return.
I mirrored Luc’s position and Mia’s eyes moved to me. “Sweetheart, what’s the alternative? You said yourself Gabe’s already set his sights on it. He’s not going to make life easy if he gets it. And if he doesn’t take it, then we’re at the risk of someone who isn’t too fond of us moving in and life becomes a little less cushy.”
“That’s a dangerous game to play.”
“Not if we play it right,” Luc said, taking her hand into his. “We need to make sure people trust us. Favor us.”
“Luc’s done enough work for the family that they know he’d be able to take it on. Plus, Charlie’s legacy is a big help,” I chimed in.
“Carmen said we’d have her family’s support,” Mia admitted in almost a whisper, looking between us.
“You have been busy,” Luc said, moving to the edge of his seat. “You and Carmen talking about future ambitions?”
She started to turn pink. “We were discussing the state of our relationship and it was brought up in conversation.”
