It doesn’t take long for Sal to come in with the best man named Florin in tow. He is head of the security detail for the Sala Clan as well as a longtime friend of Philippe, if Philippe has ever had such a thing as a friend.
I don’t even wait until the door closes behind him before I am on him like white on rice, my face probably bright red from my boiling over temper. “Where the fuck is my fiancé, Florin?”
His face is stoic and his voice quiet as he answers me, and he doesn’t seem surprised at all which makes me even more fucking pissed. What game is he playing at?
“I had hoped that Philippe would make it here, but it seems he hasn’t. Look, my guess is that Luna is doing something to keep him from being here. She’s been blackmailing me to keep her secrets, but once I found out how serious they were, I couldn’t anymore. I recorded a conversation we had earlier where things sounded suspicious, and I have done some of my own digging on her. I was going to tell Philippe after the wedding because I didn’t want to ruin his big day. I know he cares about this and about you.”
I am seething. I am not going to accept this man buttering me up when he has information. I take my stiletto and dig it into his designer shoes, making sure to hit his toes as I come down with force. He curses in Romanian but then recovers. “I am not going to have you bullshitting me. Tell me everything you fuckin’ know.”
"Firstly, there is a good chance the baby is not Philippe's. The two of us have had relations before any of this happened, and there is also security footage from the night they had sex showing that Luna drugged him." I tap my foot, trying to keep myself from going bridezilla on her ass and choking her to death baby or not. What the fuck is wrong with this woman? She belongs in a mental hospital. But I knew there was something not right about her. "When I did some digging I found out Luna is not her name at all. Her name is Ivana Bădescu, and her sister is Galina Bădescu, but she has been going as Greta on the streets," he continues.
"Where do I know that fucking name?"
"Greta is the bitch that has been bringing drugs from the Czech Republic," Sal speaks up. Yeah, I remember now because Philippe has been in contact with my brother about finding out what the hell she is up to and where she came from all of a sudden. So, Luna and Greta are related. Go figure.
"Yeah, well, I think it’s all just a front. The Bădescu Clan existed before Ion and Mariana took over as king and queen of the Clans, when Mariana was still missing. They were wanting to have Mariana declared dead so they could take over the Clans instead. The families didn’t take too well to that, and they were disgraced and sent packing, exiled to the Czech Republic. These are their daughters, and if I remember right, one of them was supposed to be promised to Philippe. These people were evil, ruthless, nothing like the respectable Clan families now."
My head is killing me, and I rip out my curlers angrily. I don’t even care right now. " Is Luna here?" I ask, afraid of the answer. I grew up with assassins in the family. I know how this shit works.
"No."
"Fuck! Florin, Sal, Nicola, get everyone the fuck out of this church now. It's a death trap. I can feel it. Everyone needs to get out."
I head for the exit myself, knowing Sal will take care of things for our family. Nicola will get Phoebe, and Florin will handle the rest. I can only imagine what today was all about, but if I can help it, it won’t happen on my watch. Once everyone is out, then we can use my brother's resources to find Philippe and get him away from that crazy bitch. I can’t believe I have let this go on for so long, listening to him when he said I needed to give her the benefit of the doubt. That she has worked with him for years and wouldn’t be like this. She has infiltrated a Clan and has been at it for years. How fucked up is this?
I make it outside, and little by little people begin to come out, some getting in their cars while whispering. The rumor mill is going to be rough for a while, but that’s better than them all being dead.
I spot Aria and her daughter and then Enzo coming out followed by Sal and my father. I breathe a sigh of relief until I see that my mother is not with them. My father has a cigar in his hand, and I go up to him, hitting his shoulder hard. I don’t give a fuck what he thinks right now. "Where is Mama?" I scold him, and he shrugs. I was smoking a cigar when I saw the others come out, so I followed. I assumed she would already be here."
My eyes meet Sal's, and before I can say a word, he is kissing Aria’s forehead and running into the church. I hope he has enough fucking time to get Mama and get out because my instincts are telling me that something bad is going to happen here today.
I lead Aria and the kids further away from the church just in case and turn just in time to see a familiar man jogging up to us, looking like shit. It's Philippe.
"Where the hell have you been?"
He answers with his own question, out of breath and holding his head. "Why the hell is no one in -" His words are drowned out by an explosion as the church that holds so much history that Philippe wanted so badly to be married in goes up in a pile of rubble, and Sal and my mother are nowhere to be seen.
Epilogue
Carla
I look out the window and smile as I can see my new home from where I am standing, which so happens to be one of two new branches of my restaurant. Yes, my restaurant that I mostly left behind when I had to move to Munich. I think that Philippe thought it would be a good apology for all the things that have happened to me since becoming his fiancée.
A hell of a lot has changed since that day that was supposed to be our wedding. Only a few days ago we ditched any formalities and eloped because I couldn’t stand the idea of going through a big production again after how many lives were lost attempting the first time. No matter whether they were people I cared about or not, every single body blown to shreds felt like my family somehow even though I knew exactly whose fucking fault it was. I had always known there was something wrong with that crazy bitch, but I didn’t see her trying to end lives that way. It is sickening, and I think it has made me softer, seeing death and destruction like that on a day that’s supposed to be about new beginnings.
Right now, I am supposed to be thinking about how I want the new restaurant to look. It is just a bare building now, and Philippe thought that it might be a good place to start rebranding with, right here where I call home now. He is on the phone with who I can only assume is one of the members of the Clans. I don’t even want to know.
I used to like the idea of being a part of all of it because I like to make people pay for their indiscretions against me, but right now it’s just too soon.
I feel a hand wrap around my waist and smile. "What do you think?" Philippe asks in my ear. I don’t turn away from the window as I answer.
"I think it could be something great. I really appreciate it. I am just not sure how I am going to run one here, New York, and L.A.," I tell him with a light chuckle, though it doesn't fully reach my eyes. I hope he doesn’t notice, because none of this is his fault, and I think he has been beating himself up too. For being so naive about it all. But there is something loveable about that part of him.
"That is what we hire people for," he jokes, making me laugh for real. We just stand there in silence for a moment before he breaks it. "Have you heard the rumors?" he asks suddenly.
I look at him strangely. Normally, I would be in the loop of such things with the friends I keep, but we have all been more distant since the explosion. "What rumors?"
"People are saying that Isabella works for the feds."
"Isabella, as in Aria’s best friend? the one madly in love with Marcellus?" He nods. "No shit?"
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Ruthless (The Clans Book 8) Page 13