Melani huffs shortly. “I doubt there’s anything to actually settle.”
“Oh, there’s plenty,” Rayna disagrees, face beginning to turn red. “It will never be settled, though. Being in the same room as you makes me fucking sick.”
“I think we should all take a breath,” Dad suggests calmly. Looking at our guest, he adds, “Rayna, if you wouldn’t mind clarifying. Clearly you think you know something that we’re missing. Who have we neglected and why do you think it involves Melani?”
I would also like to know.
“Yes,pleasetell us,” Melani drawls.
Rayna stares at her and finally bites out one word.
“Sienna.”
Melani flinches.
“SiennaBianchi.Does that ring a bell? Or have you wiped your little sister from your memory entirely? You sure act like you have.”
“S-sienna?”
“She has a sister?” Jade whispers, nudging my side.
“I honestly didn’t know,” I respond quietly, utterly confused. I know everyone. How the fuck don’t I know that Melani has a sister?
“Let’s take the kids out of here,” Cassio discreetly tells Ana. The two of them quickly gather the little ones, taking Cesar from my arms, and Isobella from Ivan’s. They usher all of them out of the room without making a scene.
“Youabandonedher,” Rayna continues through clenched teeth. Standing up from her chair, she smacks her hand against the tabletop hard before pointing an accusatory finger at Melani. “You knew how awful your parents were and you still left her there without a second thought. You haven’t talked to her inyears. You didn’t even invite her to your wedding or say goodbye.”
“My relationship with my family is none of your business.” Melani’s voice cracks, the confidence from moments ago being swept away by new and shocking information.
“The hell it isn’t!” Rayna shouts. “She’s my best friend, and she’s being tortured by your cunt of a mother while you live the good life. The mother who youstilltalk to, by the way!”
Elio flinches hard and I wonder what’s going through his head. He’s friendly with Rayna, more friendly than him andEmilio—his own twin—have been for years. Is he mad at her for lashing out? Or upset at what he’s hearing?
“Don’t speak about my mother.” Melani exhales shakily. “Sienna has always been a spirited girl. I don’t know what she’s told you, but I’m sure she is fine.”
“Oh, I get it,” Rayna spits out, laughing without humor. “You’re so deep in denial about how shitty your mother was toyou, that you can’t admit that you haven’t even thought about what she could be doing to Sienna now that you’re gone.”
“We need to dial this back—” Emilio starts to say, but his identical twin isn’t having it.
“No,” Elio snaps. “Let her say it.”
Does he know what Rayna is going to say?I wonder silently, eyes swinging between him and Leon. If Elio knows, Leon might as well. But Leon doesn’t seem to be any less confused than I am. Did Rayna only confide in Elio?
“You’re here surrounded by a loving family that would do anything to protect you. Yet it seems to me that you didn’t evenaskif they’d help Sienna too.” Rayna shakes her head, hurt sparking behind her eyes. “They lock her up in that awful house, and she can’t do anything without being monitored.”
“Which is entirely normal for mafia daughters—” Melani begins.
“I’m not finished!” Rayna yells, voice straining. “You’d know exactly what I’m talking about if you ever bothered to see her after you got married. One look at her face, and you’d know. Or should I say,yourface.”
“What?” Elio asks what we’re all thinking.
“Ever since Melani snagged a Moretti husband, her evil bitch of a‘mother’has been forcing her to get fucking plastic surgery to look more like you. It’s beenyears.”
My jaw actually drops, but Rayna isn’t done yet.
“She tells her it’s the only way she’ll bag a proper husband likeyoudid, and she’s convinced your dumbass father that all the changes are Sienna’s idea. That she wants to have a new nose, cheek filler, and body modifications too. She has to dye her hair, wear contacts, and your fuckingfaceand body now. She’ll never be able to breastfeed her future children because of complications that happened after her boob job, by the way.”
Jade grabs my arm, her hand closes hard around my wrist—like she might fall over at the table if I don’t keep her stable. The horror of what Rayna is describing is probably almost too much for her to hear, and I don’t blame her. My appetite is officially gone, and that almost never happens.
