"Tori." Certain things had been hardwired into my brain, so I reached over and kissed both her cheeks. She tensed under my touch and I took a step back to give us both space. "Are Gabe and Chas here?" I hadn't seen them in the house, or his shock of blonde hair in the yard either.
"No. They went home."
"But you stayed." If Tori had decided to come to ours rather than go home, there was a possibility that we could salvage something from the ruins around us.
"Not for you." Her tone didn't match mine. Icy and cold, it shattered any hope I held that she might be less swayed by her family name.
Her eyes flicked past me to the group that Dante was a part of. I glanced back over to them to hear Dante's laughter rise above the rest along with the words 'go fuck yourself, Luc'.
When I looked back to Tori, her face was pinched. "It's like he doesn't even care."
"He cares more than you know," I told her.
Dante had been quieter than usual, and this was the first time I’d seen him at ease. Link continued to prove he was the remedy to any ailment. That, and knowing Dante, a hearty dose of alcohol.
“He’s spoken to you about it? That’s no surprise. You three are as thick as thieves.”
“He hasn’t been himself since you broke up.”
“He seems completely fine to me,” she said bitterly.
“Because we’re all used to showing our cards to the world?”
That must have struck a nerve because Vittoria responded with, “You are the last person I want to discuss this with." It was sharp and short and a way to get rid of me, but I wasn’t going anywhere. She didn’t have the right to be in my home and dismiss me.
"I'm sorry. I'm sure you'll have a heartfelt conversation with Gabe about your heartache."
"There she is," Tori almost hissed at me and I felt my cheeks burn red. "You look like butter wouldn't melt but you're as vicious as the rest of us."
"I wanted to help you. You're the one snapping at me, Vittoria."
"Help me?" She laughed. "You and Luc are only interested in helping yourselves."
"You're about to condemn us for the same sins you and your family commit? That's a little hypocritical, don't you think?"
"We haven't been trying to destroy your family in a process."
"You have no idea."
“If this is about what happened when you left, about how Dad reacted, what did you expect, Mia? His job is to protect this family. He didn’t know if you’d give away every secret we had.”
“No. He wanted to protect his secrets,” I told her before I could stop herself.
“What?”
“Nothing. Vittoria, you don’t know the full story. I’m not doing this out of spite.”
"Then tell me, Mia," Tori said. "Let me into the damn circle. I can’t get a straight answer out of you or Dante or Dad.”
"I can't," I said, fire dying down. "It's not up to me."
"You used to be able to tell me anything. When did that change?"
I missed Vittoria desperately and I wanted to admit everything to her, but it wasn't my secret to tell. This belonged to Luc and he refused to tell anyone the truth. My loyalty to him ran deeper than any friendship I held.
"Dante needs to know he can trust you," I said, changing the topic.
Vittoria blinked at me and sighed. "Can you truly trust anyone here?" she asked me. She sounded tired and I knew the feeling. Vetting every single sentence, depending on who was around you and what connections they had, was exhaustive business that made me want to take a vow of silence. It would be easier to never say another word. "If you told me what was going on, then I could make a proper decision about who I'm meant to trust." She'd expertly brought us back to where we were.
