by Lisa Cardiff
My exploration of Gian’s house at an end, I selected a cold-pressed juice from the refrigerator, an apple, and a paring knife from the kitchen. I flipped on the television and meticulously carved the apple into tiny wedges and popped them into my mouth one by one.
I flipped aimlessly through the channels, not really watching anything in particular. Instead, I stared blankly at the flickering screen, questioning everything and everyone without a single available confidant on speed dial. I’d systematically burned through every relationship I’d made since moving to New York.
After I hurt my ankle, I gradually stopped reaching out my theater friends. Being around them was too hard. With every passing accomplishment that belonged to them and not me, jealousy and regret multiplied until I couldn’t stand it. When I stopped returning their phone calls, they got the hint and followed suit.
I still had Carmela and Kevin, so I pushed on, filling my time with meaningless wedding details and helping Carmela get over the death of her fiancé. Now, I had no one. Gian didn’t count. If everything worked to plan, he’d be out of my life by the end of the summer.
When I realized I’d paused on an infomercial on skin care for a good half an hour, I turned off the television. My eyes heavy, I slumped against the arm of the sofa. I draped one hand over my face, and the other hand dangled above the floor, still clutching the stupid knife.
Like everything else, going to bed involved a choice. I didn’t know if I should go to the guest bedroom or Gian’s bedroom. The weak part of me wanted to avoid the choice altogether and fall asleep here. It’d be easier, but taking the easy path over the last year landed me in this mess in the first place. I pulled the gray throw blanket over my legs, promising myself I’d make a choice soon.
As my eyes drifted closed, the loud crash of exploding glass from somewhere near the entry ricocheted through the house. My heart skittered to a stop. The air whooshed out of my lungs in a half-scream and half-exhalation. I scrambled to my feet then fell onto all fours, tripping over the throw blanket tangled around my legs.
With my eyes wide and my blood chugging like a freight train, I scrutinized every shadowed corner of the dimly lit room. Coming to my knees, I grabbed the discarded paring knife, gripping it so tightly my knuckles whitened. My jagged breaths echoed through room, competing for attention with the hysterical drum of my heart.
I waited…
Listening for a creak of the hardwood floors, a bang of a kicked in door, or more shattered glass. I stayed that way, with one arm raised prepared to slash at anything in my vicinity, my eyes wildly searching and scanning for anyone or anything.
I heard nothing except the steady tick tock of the clock over the fireplace mantel and the constant whirr of the furnace. After I had managed to compose myself, I pushed to my feet and tiptoed to the foyer where the stairs were located.
With my back pressed against the wall, I stopped dead. A strong breeze blew through the glass panel inset in the upper half of the front door. Tiny silvers of glass littered the gray and white marble floor, and a rust-colored brick was perched on its side. Black letters in all caps stained one side. The low light and angle of the offending chunk of clay prevented me from making out the words.
“Oh my God,” I mumbled, panic inching up my throat. I swallowed it back and sucked in what I hoped would be a calming breath. I didn’t have time for a breakdown right now. I needed my phone. I needed to call Gian, and I couldn’t do either unless I went upstairs.
Shivering, I sprinted up the stairs, my bare feet slapping against the cold treads. When I reached the third floor, I snagged my purse off the dresser and dumped it contents on the floor. Hands fumbling, I called up Gian’s name from my list of contents.
The call went directly to voicemail. I tried two more times with identical results.
Dammit, answer your phone. Where are you?
If I lived with a different man, I’d call the police, but something told me Gian would lose his mind if I went that route. I scrolled through my contacts, pausing at Carmela’s name. I hesitated, recounting our conversation last night after I fainted. While she hadn’t done anything overtly rude, there was a big fat wall between us, and I didn’t know if I’d ever scale it.
Sadly, she was my only option because my mom couldn’t do a damn thing from halfway across the country and my brother was deployed on the other side of the world. I pressed her name and waited. Unlike Gian, she answered on the second ring.
“Hello?” she said over a steady hum of voices.
“Carmela, it’s Evie.” My voice warbled.
“Evie, are you okay?”
“No.” I lowered my voice. “Someone threw a brick through the glass in the front door at Gian’s house.”
“Where’s Gian?”
“I don’t know.” I rolled my head in a circle, mentally pushing away the icy grip of fear. “He went out with a friend, and he’s not answering his phone.”
She didn’t respond for a beat, then, “Did you call the police?”
“No. Of course not.” I frowned, dragging my free hand down the back of my neck. “Do you think I should?”
“No. No. It was probably a couple of kids playing a prank. I’ll be there in a few minutes. I’m not that far away.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.” I leaned against the side of the dresser, trying to relax the knots in my shoulders. “Are you sure you’re okay with coming here? If you’re busy—”
“Jesus, Evie, I’m not leaving you there alone. I know things are weird between us now that you’re…” she paused, and my heart constricted, “with Gian, but you’re still my friend. My best friend.”
“I miss you.” It escaped my mouth without forethought, and it was the truth. Without question, I missed her, more than I ever imagined possible.
Horns honked in the background and cars revved their engines, and for a second, I wondered if she’d heard me.
“I miss you too, Evie. Sit tight, I’m already on my way there. In fact, I’m less than two blocks away.”
“Will you stay on the phone until you get here? I’m scared. I don’t think anyone is around, but—”
“I wouldn’t dream of hanging up. We can hang out at my house until Gian gets home. Okay?”
“Yeah.” I rested my head on top of my knees. My muscles felt like limp noodles as the adrenaline leeched from my body. “That sounds perfect.”
“I’m sorry if I haven’t been supportive of this thing with my brother.” She blew out a breath. “It came out of the blue, and I didn’t know how to handle it. You’re my best friend and all, and as bad as I want you to move on from Kevin, I don’t like that you’re doing it with my brother. I mean, you’re engaged. How did that happen?”
My teeth clamped together to halt the urge to spill the truth about my relationship with Gian. At this point, a confession would only drive a bigger wedge between my best friend and me. “I don’t know. I couldn’t explain it if I tried. It just did.”
“Yeah, I didn’t expect you to.” She snorted. “You gotta admit this is awkward on so many levels.”
“I can’t disagree with you.”
“Is it weird that I’m torn between feeling protective of you and my brother? I want you to have a rebound. You deserve it. Everyone should go a little crazy after dating a piece shit like Kevin, but I don’t like the idea that you’re using my brother to—”
“It’s not like that,” I interrupted, tugging on the hem of my pants.
“Yeah, I don’t want any details. Okay?” She sighed dramatically. “And honestly, my brother is the last person who needs my protection. He doesn’t exactly have the best track record with women. I swear he has had a revolving door in his bedroom since he turned sixteen.”
Although it wasn’t anything I hadn’t suspected, my stomach dropped like an elevator with a severed cord, and I kind of felt like I wanted to hurl. “Wow. That’s exactly what every woman wants to hear about her fiancé.” I forced out a chuckle so I didn’t soun
d needy and pathetic. I was done being that person. “Thanks.”
“My pleasure. I like to take cheap shots at him whenever possible.” She laughed. “I’m walking up the steps now. Come open the door.”
CHAPTER
TWENTY-ONE
Gian
“Hey, Nico.” I slid into a dark brown leather booth, opposite him. “How are you doing?”
“Good, good. You?” He leaned forward, resting one elbow on the table and the cutlery clattered. A chunk of dark brown hair covered one of his brows. Most women considered him attractive with his sharp, angled face and dimpled chin. To me, he looked like a smug bastard.
I shrugged one shoulder. “Other than last night, everything is great. Fucking wonderful.”
He brushed a hand down the front of his charcoal suit, looking like Satan in the flesh with his vacant, icy blue eyes crawling over every inch of me. “You want to tell me what happened last night?”
A waiter placed two glasses on the table and a bottle of wine. Not my first choice of drink, but if I wanted to make it through tonight without getting in a fight, I needed something to relax me.
I draped one arm along the back of the booth. “There’s not much to tell. I think you’ve heard what happened, and as of right now, I don’t have a single thing to add. This meeting is a waste of time.”
Nico’s nostrils flared. “Listen here. You don’t get a special pass because Dominick is your uncle. You have to play by the same rules as the rest of us, and that means reporting shit like this to me. First Tommy Calvo and now this. In case you didn’t notice, this isn’t the Gian show. This do ‘whatever you feel like’ shit has to stop. End of the fucking story.”
I took a deep drink of my glass of wine and slammed it on the white linen covered table. Smirking, I squeezed my hands into fists to dial back the anger bubbling in my gut. Punching Nico in the face wouldn’t get me anywhere.
“You have something you want to say to me?” he taunted.
“I didn’t clip Tommy.”
“Doesn’t matter.” He leaned forward, his face within spitting distance of mine. “You need to control the guys under you, or you will be replaced. It’s as simple as that. Some of the guys didn’t think you were ready to be a capo, and now I’m wondering if they were right.”
I ground my teeth together. “I can handle my shit just fine. I don’t need you to babysit me.”
“Fine.” He waved his hand. “Then start handling it, and tell me what happened last night because I don’t have all fucking day to play patty cake with you.”
I shot Nico a humorless smile filled with venom. “A black Escalade rammed us on the way home last night and took a few shots at us. I went down a one-way street and lost them. That’s all I know. Tony and Sal are looking into it.”
“So who the hell did you piss off this time?”
The furious tone of his voice hit me like a bullet to the chest. We hadn’t made it to dinner, and I was fed up with his patronizing ass.
“Other than you?” I slanted forward, my lips curling up to expose my teeth. “Apparently, every fucking moron under me who thinks they have a right to my job, so if you’re looking for suspects maybe you should start there.”
He tugged on his blue tie and grinned like a shark. “Are you accusing me of something?”
“I don’t know? Should I be?” Taunting the resident sociopath probably wasn’t the best choice, but I refused to back down like a pussy. There was a fine line between showing him respect and handing him my dick wrapped with a giant glitter-covered bow.
Nico’s eyes burning dangerously, he steepled his fingers together on top of the table. “Are you done with your poor-me tantrum so we can get on with business?”
“What business? I told you what I know, and I’m sure you already have a mental list of my enemies, so I’m not really sure why you summoned me here. Do you care to enlighten me?”
He leaned back. “What about your fiancée?”
“What about her?” I snapped.
His brows raised and his lips twisted into a sneer. “Does she have any enemies?”
I snorted. “Fuck if I know. She’s only lived in New York for a couple of years, so she hasn’t had much time to piss people off. She does have an ex-fiancé. I can’t imagine him trying to gun us down, though. He’s some pansy ass artist.”
“Yeah, maybe so.” He glanced to the side. “Dominick has Tony digging into her past just to be sure.”
“Great.” I tossed my napkin on top of the table and stood up. I’d lost my appetite. For longer than I could remember, I wanted to follow in my dad’s footsteps, make him proud, and lead his crew. Now, I didn’t know if I’d made the right decision. This was bullshit. I’d never get rid of the shadow over my head. “Tell him to have fun with that.”
“Where are you going?”
“Home to my fiancée. After last night, I’m a little reluctant to leave her home alone. I’m sure you understand.”
I didn’t wait for his response. I didn’t need to hear anything else from him. I got the message loud and clear. Dominick didn’t approve of Evie. He wanted her gone, and the thought pissed me off so much, I wanted to keep her around purely to spite his nosy ass. My family wanted me to marry a good Italian girl within our circle of associates. I always thought I would too, but the more time I spent with Evie, the more I resented the idea.
My life had been scripted from the moment I popped out of my mom’s womb. I’d go to school, join the family business, marry a girl from the neighborhood, and pop out a couple of kids, hopefully boys. Then the cycle would start all over again. I never questioned it…until now.
I pulled into the garage in the basement of my home and ran up the steps to the main level.
“Evie!” I hollered, a twinge of unease raising the hairs on my forearms. When I reached my main floor, glass crunched under the soles of my shoes.
What the fuck?
“Evangeline? Where the hell are you? Are you hurt?”
I ran up the stairs, taking two steps at a time. If someone hurt her, I would find him and rip him apart limb-by-limb with my bare hands. A sickening brew of rage and fear bubbled up my throat.
When I reached the landing, she stepped into the hallway, my overnight bag tucked under her arm and Carmela trailing behind her.
“Oh, crap.” She came to an abrupt halt, her hand flying to her chest. “I didn’t realize you were here.”
“What the hell is going on?”
She glanced at Carmela from the corner of her eye. “Someone threw a brick through the window in the front door, and—”
“I noticed. Why the hell didn’t you call me?” Itching with the need to touch her, my hand edged toward her then paused mid-reach. I didn’t know how to act with my sister’s gaze boring into me with the force of a high-powered microscope.
Evie leaned her hip against the doorframe. “I did. More than once, actually, and it went to voicemail every single time. Luckily, your sister was in the neighborhood.”
“What’s your problem, Gian?” Carmela asked, her finger pointed at the center of my chest. “There’s no need to be an asshole. Evie was scared, and I was in the neighborhood. I asked her to come stay with me because I didn’t want to leave her here alone, and I had no idea when you’d be home. Do you have a problem with that?”
I dragged the heel of my hand down the side of my face and blew out a weighted breath. This night kept getting worse and worse. “Evie, are you okay?” I asked, softening my tone. I wasn’t mad at Evie. Far from it. I was pissed at myself. I shouldn’t have left her alone, not after last night. I should have called Tony even though every day that passed my doubts of his trustworthiness multiplied.
“I think so.”
She didn’t sound okay. Her voice cracked on the last word, and my heart screamed with some unfamiliar emotion. An animalistic possessiveness surged through me at the thought of anyone having the nerve to hurt her, and all reasonable thoughts fled.
Without que
stion, I had managed to turn Evie’s life upside down in a matter of weeks. While I knew that made me a worthless bastard in most people’s book, I couldn’t let her go.
Two steps and I had her cradled in my arms. I buried my head in her hair, inhaling the faint scent of jasmine. I didn’t have the luxury of feeling this way about anyone, especially Evie, but damn if I didn’t give two fucks anymore.
I’d been caught up in her from the first second I saw her, and that hadn’t changed. I had protected her when it went against every oath I made to the family, and I wouldn’t stop now. Her soulful coffee-colored eyes made me believe she got me in a way no one else ever had, except maybe my twin. That was different though. And truthfully, Carmela and I had grown apart since Rocco died. She clammed up emotionally, and I couldn’t reach her anymore. It was like a part of her died along with Rocco.
I smoothed my hand up and down Evie’s back, and she sighed. “Did you see anything?”
“No.” Her eyes slipped closed as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “I think they might’ve wrote something on the brick. I didn’t want to touch it.”
My muscles pulled tight like a rubber band ready to snap. “Good. You don’t need to worry about this. I’m on top of it.”
I would be, because I was nowhere near as calm as I pretended to be on the surface.
“I’m fine.” She pulled away from me, and my arms hung awkwardly next to my sides. “I’m not hurt. Just a little on edge. I’m sure it was nothing.”
“You’re probably right,” I agreed, not believing a single word out of my mouth. I glanced at Carmela. “Thanks for coming, sis.”
“Not a problem. I was having dinner a couple of blocks from here.”
“With who?”
“Ava.”
My eyebrows lifted. “As in our cousin, Ava? I thought you couldn’t stand her?”
Ava spent most of her days whining about everything in her life from her hair to her clothes to a chipped nail. Even when she wasn’t whining, she annoyed the fuck out of me. Everything she said came out in this nasally voice that made me want to stick a knife in her eye.