Seconds later, he and Karina step into the living room. The first thing I notice is how tightly my brother is clinging to his wife’s hand, the shifty look in his eyes. Is he nervous?
And then his gaze lands on Juliana, and he freezes. Seconds pass, and he just stands there, immobilized. I’m not sure if he’s struggling to find the right words to say or if he’s just been struck dumb by her resemblance to our late mother. Now that I’m no longer actively trying to come up with a million reasons why Juliana can’t possibly be our sister, I see it too.
“Hey,” Juliana says softly.
Still overwhelmed, Marco doesn’t respond, but Karina does.
“Hi,” she says. “This is Marco. I’m Karina, his wife. We were at a house showing on the other side of Napa, otherwise we would have been here faster. Nice to meet you.”
Juliana studies Karina for a second and then silently nods.
“Why don’t you two take a seat,” I tell Karina, motioning for her to hustle Marco into a chair so he can try to get his shit together.
I’m anticipating more awkward silence, but then Dante and Frankie arrive, right on Marco and Karina’s heels.
“Sorry we’re late,” Frankie says breathlessly. “Dante left work and came to get me, but then the baby needed to be changed right as we were walking out the door, and—well. We’re here now, anyway.”
Dante has baby Lili in his arms as Frankie babbles, and he gives Juliana a long, assessing stare—which she boldly returns—before turning to me. I subtly shake my head to deter him from asking any questions, and then he and Frankie and the baby get settled on the love seat.
Our family is arranged in a rough circle now. The tension in the air is thick.
“So. Now that we’re all here, I won’t draw things out,” I begin. I clear my throat and then pause, making eye contact with my brothers before I speak again. “The DNA results came back, and…the test confirms that this woman is our biological sister, Liliana. Or, I guess, Juliana.”
The uproar I’m expecting doesn’t come. Karina pats Marco’s hand reassuringly. Frankie covers her mouth as if she might cry. Other than that, everyone just sits there in stunned silence, staring at Juliana as if expecting her to give a speech or something.
I go on, “Juliana, you obviously met Marco and Karina already. It’s not my place to get into detail about it at the moment, but Karina was raised in Sergio Bruno’s house here in Napa. He’s her uncle. Her mother’s brother.”
As I let my words sink in, Juliana’s eyes widen. She clearly doesn’t know much about Karina, even though they share the same “uncle.”
“I thought you looked familiar,” Juliana says wonderingly, addressing Karina. “You’re the girl from the photos. I didn’t have much contact with Unc—with Sergio, when I was growing up, but every now and then I’d get a package with a few photos, some generic holiday card, random cash. I figured you were a family member, just another kid in the background at Christmas and Easter. I didn’t know you grew up in that house.”
“It was no picnic,” Karina says bitterly.
Juliana smiles sardonically. “Maybe we can talk about it sometime.”
Karina offers a tight smile. “I never saw any pictures of you, and I never heard anyone mention your name. Also…I spent my childhood with my nose in a book, pining for friendships with other girls. So I’d definitely remember if we’d ever met. Sergio kept you well hidden.”
“Yes. He did,” Juliana says, her voice strained. “I grew up being told that there were mob men who’d kill me on sight if I tried to go home to Napa. Sergio had to plan each of my visits down to the last minute, and I could never stay more than a few days because of supposed enemy spies and surveillance and…God knows what else. But he was gaslighting me all along. He’d dodge my questions, saying the phones were tapped. Every time I’d ask when I could come home, he’d tell me it wasn’t safe, maybe in a few more months, I was too precious to risk.”
“I’m sorry,” Karina says. “I know what he’s like. I know exactly what he’s like. Marco is the one who saved me. If not for him, I would’ve been in your exact same situation. Married off to a terrible man to settle mafia politics. But I got out of there. So did you.”
Juliana’s hands curl into fists on her lap. Her shoulders tremble with pent-up emotion.
I catch her eye and gently shift the conversation back on track. “As I’m sure you have gathered, this is your oldest brother Dante and his wife, Frankie.”
Dante gives a curt nod, and Frankie scoots forward on the love seat with baby Lili on her lap and tells Juliana, “This is your niece, Liliana Grace. We named her after you. I know this is a lot to take in, but I’m glad you’re here. Welcome home.”
Juliana offers a tight-lipped smile and then looks away from the baby.
Now that we’ve all been formally introduced, silence falls again. Normally I’m at ease taking charge of these family meetings, but I’m lost. This revelation about Juliana is a shock to us all. It radically alters everything my brothers and I thought we knew about our family.
Marco finally speaks up. “Do you remember anything about our mother?”
Juliana shrugs. “I don’t have much of a memory that doesn’t involve my extended Bruno family. Everything before that is…fuzzy. I never thought that was abnormal. Nobody remembers much before the age of five or six, right? Except now I’m starting to question that.”
“What did Sergio tell you about your parents?” he asks.
“That the Bellantis burned our house down, and my parents both died in the fire.”
