“He is now.”
That’s what I wanted to hear.
Smiling facetiously, I close the space between us and press my finger against her sternum.
“Right. Then, why do you need to marry me off if he’s part of the family? With him on board, the Gallos should have enough influence and power to overcome anyone.”
Tilting her head back, she looks at me, intrigued.
“Where did you get that idea? We don’t need anyone to protect ourselves. We’re rich beyond belief and have enough power.”
As ridiculous as it seems, her outrage seems genuine, which makes me think she’s in denial, which never bodes well in our family. She can’t be that dumb to think I’m that dumb, but I go along with it.
“Nowhere. It was a simple observation. It doesn’t matter. Our family has always liked to collect things,” I murmur, pulling away from her and going back inside.
My reference to Julian leaves her speechless.
There’s nothing new there. She could never give me a good reason as to why he had to keep living with us, especially after his father passed away.
14
LELANI
The room is lesscrowded when I walk inside.
The Sandoval brothers are gone, and so are a few other people.
I guess I wasn’t the highlight of the evening after all.
Callum is still at the table with a drink in front of him.
The older men are still at the table. They’re old to me, even though they’re in their prime for everybody else.
No one looks at me when I claim my seat, slide my dessert closer to me, and start eating.
Sylvia follows me like a shadow and slides into her seat as well.
The silence becomes oppressive at our side of the table before I hear her talking.
“Where is Vittoria?” she asks across the table, and my eyes furtively climb off the table and float over the face of the man in front of me.
He shifts his focus to my grandmother, ignoring me.
With his drink frozen midair, he seems to ponder an answer.
Why is it so hard to respond?
“Weren’t you supposed to attend a different party in town later?” Sylvia asks as his answer fails to arrive.
“There was a change of plans,” he says after taking a sip and setting his drink down, elusive and hard to grasp as always.
Only liars give generic answers like this.
Tapping into a deep well of wisdom, Sylvia quickly drops the topic.
It’s safer that way.
She focuses on her food, while I watch him, chewing slowly.
