“Are you responsible for this?That’s all we want to know.”Rocco sounds tired, put out by all of this.I’m sure it’s an unwelcome complication.“And if you are, I would like to know why we weren’t made aware of it.This sort of connection, a man with that kind of money and power, which he enjoyed during his life, could translate into retribution for his murder.You are working for this family, and therefore, it would be expected of us to offer protection if it came to that.”
“Bullshit,” Luca snaps, shoving himself away from his brother and backing up a few steps, fists clenched while his eyes burn holes through me.“He doesn’t deserve protection if he took this job without disclosing all of the facts.We’re not going to shelter you, you fucking psychopath.”
“One more outburst like that, Luca…” his father warns, “… and you will leave this house to go cool off.Do you understand?”
All right, I probably shouldn’t let Luca see me smirk, but fuck him.Watching the little prick get put in his place is quickly becoming my favorite pastime.
I should tell them.They should know what was on that yacht and who called the authorities to have them go out there.I did everything I could to handle the situation as cleanly as possible and accepted the chance that something might go wrong.Clearly, something did.I didn’t think about the goddamn CCTV footage.
“Well?”Rocco prompts.“This is your chance to tell your side of the story.How did you get off that yacht?Did you have a plan in place from the beginning?Was it an argument that blew up all at once?”
“Stop giving him an out,” Luca practically whines, throwing his hands into the air.“I swear, it’s like you’re trying to coach him through this.
That’s it.I’m going to rub it in this smug asshole’s face.Not that I owe him an explanation, but I want him to understand.I want to watch him as he learns why I did what I did.He’ll have to scramble for an excuse to keep up this self-righteous act he’s got going.
Rocco’s desk phone rings, and he scowls until he sees the number on the screen.“Let me take this,” he murmurs before picking up.Almost in the same second, there’s a bang from the direction of the entry hall like a door slamming.
“Dante?Dante!”A woman’s voice raised in what could be panic.It can only be Sophia, which means I am out of the room before he is.
When she sees me, she stutter-steps before releasing a silent sob.“Oh God,” she whimpers, rushing to me with her arms outstretched.“I don’t know how to feel.I don’t know what to think!”
“About what?”My arms close around her when she crashes against me, shaking.“What happened?”
“You don’t know?”She looks up at me, her eyes shining with tears that now start rolling down her cheeks.
“What the hell is going on?”Dante asks, touching her shoulder before we exchange a concerned look.One thing we have in common is Sophia.I do believe he cares for her, that his concern is real.It’s pretty much the only thing I can say in his favor.
“Dad,” she whispers.Her chin trembles, and the tears flow faster.“Dad is gone.He died this afternoon.”
At first, it doesn’t compute.Like something shut down inside.
Dad?Dead?It doesn’t make sense.
Dead.The word rings out like a gong inside my skull, reverberating through me.I’ve only been truly shocked a few times in my life.This is one of them.To hear the last thing you expected, even if you had to know it was coming soon.To find out the only world you ever knew has ceased to exist.
All I can do is pull her close, wondering like she does how I’m supposed to feel.
Knowing how different this day was supposed to look for me before everything that was supposed to be mine fell apart.
17
GIULIA
Me: How are you feeling today?
Me: Is there anything I can do for you?
Me: I’m sorry, I know I’m being annoying.I just want you to know I’m here.
I don’t know why I bother.He’s left me on read for the past three days while he’s at home, helping his mom plan Giorgio’s funeral.Three long, lonely days.Days filled with longing for Alessandro, wishing he would suddenly show up, staring at the back of a random guard’s head while he drives me to and from school.
“Sophia offered to help with the planning,” Dante confides over fresh lattes on the back patio Saturday morning.Steam rises from our mugs in the crisp air.It’s officially November as of today.And to think, I was so sad over not being able to go to Halloween parties with my friends last night.As it turned out, I wouldn’t have had any fun if I tried.I would have been too concerned about Alessandro the whole night, not to mention Sophia.
He shakes his head, scoffing.“You know what my delightful mother-in-law told her?That she should go home and take care of her husband because that’s her job now.”
I have to wince.The few times I’ve crossed paths with Mrs.Vitali make it easy to believe she would say something like that.Emotional intelligence is not in her wheelhouse.“That had to hurt,” I murmur, looking across the lawn to the little house where my sister-in-law is either still asleep or trying to function through the confusion and pain that came from her dad’s death.A man as sick as he was can’t be described as dying suddenly, but it did come abruptly.One minute, he was watching the replay of a football game on the television, and the next, he was gone.No last words, nothing.Just death.
And his kids don’t know how to mourn for him because he never showed them any love.That’s why Sophia is so lost and conflicted in her grief.The little bits and pieces I’ve managed to put together over the months she’s been part of my family paint a pretty grim picture of the way Giorgio treated her.He was abusive, physically and verbally, while her mom basically ignored her.
