“So you don’t get yourself killed,” he snarls.
She crosses her arms and glares, mirroring his stance. “What difference does it make? I’m already dead!”
He sighs. “Don’t say that.”
“Why not? It’s the truth. Even your ownwifebelieves I’m dead. You couldn’t even tell her the truth? Are you really that ashamed of me that you’d rather I don’t exist?” Julianna pushes past me, running along the hallway.
I level my gaze on Maximo. “She really is your sister.” I’m absolutely sure of that, because only siblings fight like that. Now the question running through my head is why he’s kept his sister a secret from me? “You have some explaining to do.”
“I know.” He reaches for me and I let him hold my face between his warm palms. “I never meant to worry you. I’m sorry. The situation’s complicated.”
I nod.
“Come. I need a drink, then I’ll tell you everything.” Lacing his fingers through mine, we walk into the living room, where Julianna’s made herself at home in an armchair.
In the full light, I instantly spot their similarities. How did I not see them immediately? She has the same black wavy hair asMaximo, and those piercing blue-green eyes. Though he’s twice her size, the resemblance is strikingly obvious.
Now I feel stupid for jumping to the conclusion that she was his lover.
“Hi,” I say to her. “I’m Elena.”
She offers me a watery smile. “Please don’t let him send me away again, Elena.”
“Why would he send you away?” I ask her, but Maximo answers the question.
“Because the fewer people who know she’s alive, the better.” He takes in my pointed look. I’m through with his vagaries.
With a drink in hand, he continues, “When Julianna was born, she was betrothed to Nero Mosetti. He is eight years older than her. The joining of our families is something both had always wanted. Everything was fine until Nero grew into a vicious man.”
Maximo sits in the remaining armchair and I take the sofa, eager to hear the rest of this story. Julianna hasn’t moved an inch, her expression vacant.
“I don’t mean vicious in a good way,” Maximo murmurs. “At eighteen, already a made man for seven years, he slaughtered his entire family and declared himself don. Then he came for Julianna.”
I glance at the girl. She was only ten years old, surely he didn’t…
Her gaze stays fixed on the fruit bowl that decorates the table top.
Maximo swallows down his cognac. “Our father managed to convince Nero to wait until she was fifteen to marry her. That bought us some time. But the next four years Nero only grew more destructive. We were all sure that if we turned Julianna over to him, he’d kill her—or worse. Breaking the engagement was out of the question, so…”
“So you faked her death,” I finish for him.
He nods.
Julianna finally speaks up. “That was six years ago. I’m tired of hiding from Nero, from the world. I can’t live my life like this any longer.”
Maximo leans forward, jaw clenched. “If he finds you, then everyone’s in danger. He’ll know what we did and he’s not the forgiving kind. He’ll take down our entire family; Papa and Mama, and our brothers. I don’t want to even think about what he’ll do to you.”
I shiver, dread settling in the pit of my stomach. No wonder he attempted to keep her existence a secret.
Julianna’s expression matches her brother’s. “I want him dead. If you won’t help me kill him, then I’ll do it on my own.”
He growls, “You don’t know what you’re talking about. He’s powerful. He has at least twice the men we do.”
Julianna doesn’t back down. “I’m going to kill him, even if the only way is to turn myself over to him and slit his throat while he sleeps.”
“Don’t you fuckingdare,” Maximo warns. “I will never let him touch you.”
She stands up. “I’m not a kid anymore, Maximo. I’m a woman.”
