I tipped my head towards the ceiling, resting it on the back of the couch and pinched the bridge of my nose. It was rare, these days, that I had anything to do with my family. It was safer that way; from fatalities for them and from judgement for me. I might not have liked them, but I wasn’t quite at the point that I wanted them to meet a sticky end. But Luc had asked, and nothing would deter him, which meant that I'd spent the last hour convincing my cousin to visit because I couldn't discuss matters over the phone. His initial reluctance had soon been swayed by the promise of a negotiable price.
The news of Chas being targeted on the same day as Mia had left us highly suspicious of everyone, but we were keeping our search close to home for the time being. We had potentially underestimated the ambitions of other family members, and so Luc was outsourcing the work. In lieu of family we could trust, we turned to blood. There was no guarantee that Angelo would agree to help but every man had a price, and he was the only one close enough that had the skills we required.
A key in the lock made my ears prick but I refused to lift my head. Luc and Mia had an equal run of the house in the same way I had of theirs. They could show up and make themselves at home. No effort required on my part. I’d done enough for the day.
"Do you want to tell me what the hell Luc's playing at?"
My head snapped up so quickly that I pulled something. "Fuck!" I uttered, rubbing the side of my neck before my eyes landed on Vittoria. She stood in front of me with her arms folded across her chest. "No call before coming to visit?" I asked her as the sharp pain morphed into an ache.
The keys to my place had been, one of many, Christmas gifts. Perhaps naïvely, I'd believed that things would play out differently. Trying to bridge the gap between family and Tori had proven increasingly difficult and then New Year's Eve everything had changed. We hadn't spoken since that night, the weight of the secrets we kept pulling us apart. With Tori's unexpected arrival, she had ushered in all the unresolved tension we'd so expertly avoided, and it filled the room, making it grow uncomfortably small.
"When have I ever needed to call?" Her eyes narrowed, playing ignorant to the truth of our crumbling relationship.
Pushing myself away from the back of the sofa, I rested my elbows on my knees and leaned forward. "It's been a while since we've actually had a conversation."
"Did you forget how to pick up the phone?" she asked, jaw set.
"Did you?"
I didn't usually bite back. I was known for keeping an even temper, not wired in quite the same way as my brother. Whereas the smallest things tipped Luc over the edge and into rage, my general attitude swung towards 'why the fuck should I care?' and I had known Tori long enough to get used to her sharpness. No matter how she wanted to dress it up, those razor edges still managed to catch and cut when they wanted to. It was what made her so appealing when I was a teenager. Vittoria had no desire to impress anyone, but everyone I knew wanted to impress her, and I longed to be the one to succeed.
"Luc had no right barging in and accusing Gabe," Tori said, pointedly ignoring my volley. She wasn’t here for a balanced argument. She was here to prove a point.
"That's a discussion that you need to have with him." I pulled myself up to my feet and stretched, letting my spine crack. "And as you can see, he's not here, so you can see yourself out." Angelo had used up my patience for the day and I didn’t think I had the capability to play nice with Vittoria right now.
As I made to move past her, Tori caught my arm. The look in her eye softened a fraction as she told me, "You're going to get yourself killed."
"Don't act like you'd care."
Her entire face dropped. "Of course, I'd care!"
"Would you?" I asked, unable to keep a hold on it. "Because you seemed pretty happy to let your dad jet off and leave the dumbass in charge of the family."
"That's my brother you're talking about," Tori hissed, letting go of my arm. The vulnerability had been there for a split second before it hardened again.
"My sister got shot at!"
"She's not your blood!"
My face drew closer to hers, mood darkening. "I'd be very careful what you choose to say next."
Vittoria realised her mistake and changed course quickly. "Chas was shot at."
I’d already been filled in on the news by Luc, so it didn’t come as a shock. "That's a glowing reference for Gabe's leadership skills. Two women used as target practice in the first week he takes over."
"Dad will sort it when he gets home."
"When is that?"
"I don't know," she said, her eyes dropped from mine for a moment, but I knew she was telling the truth. Xavier had only fed his family what he wanted them to know.
“Business taking a little longer than expected? What is it that he’s doing exactly, Tori?”
“It’s none of your business,” she told me, walls coming back up. “Why don’t you tell me what you’ve been doing? You, Luc and Mia. And don’t try and tell me it’s nothing.”
“Just like your family’s business is nothing to with me, my family’s business is nothing to do with you.”
The lines in the family were usually blurred. Whether you wanted to or not, you knew about what was going on. Whispers trickled down the grapevine even if they weren’t embedded in the truth. Luc had drawn a clear line between us and the rest of the family. No one knew any more than we wanted them to and that meant that there were probably more than a few spiteful rumours knocking about the place.
