“So you are seeing someone?” Her voice rises.
“No,” I repeat, deadpan.
“It’s not what I heard…” she says, wiggling her brows.
“You need to stop listening when the men drink,” I say, irritated at the bunch of gossips. She leans back and appraises me, looking me up and down. I hate it when she does that.
“Well, lately it feels like it’s the only way I find out what’s happening with you.” She doesn’t mean for her words to hurt, but they do. Everything I do is for this family. Well, up until recently, when I’ve become curious about another particular woman. The less my sister knows, the better. At least that’s whatI thought. “They respect you, but they also wonder why you do certain things, though they don’t ever have an issue with it.”
I place my papers down. “Are you saying one of my men have an issue?”
The edges of her mouth tilt, and I realize I’ve fallen into her trap. “Nope, I do. Because I want to know more about her.”
I click my tongue. “There is no her. Do you really want to discuss the women I fuck? Do you want a list of when and where and how many times?”
She scrunches her nose at my words as Lotti walks in and practically scowls at me. I can see in her wise gaze she’s thinking,Don’t speak about women in such a manner.
“Alexis is down for her nap. I’ll get you some more jam, Miss Vescari,” she says politely, but her scowl remains directed at me.
When she leaves the room, Gia bursts into laughter, and I miss how carefree she once was. Her husband, Pedro, died just over two years ago in a motorcycle accident and was dead on impact, so Gia never got to say goodbye.
She has never moved on and, to my knowledge, doesn’t plan to.
Besides, she doesn’t need to when it comes to my niece’s activities; I am more than happy to step up when needed and be there. While I didn’t always like Pedro, he was a good father. And good to my sister.
She was a complete mess for the first three months, so my men and I stepped up and did as much as we could. Before that, I had never really looked after a child. Gia did everything perfectly up until her husband’s death. When she refused to get out of bed for a whole month, I knew I needed to step in. I have always been close to her, but the death of her husband has brought us even closer. We’ve both come to realize we have each other in this life, and while I’m content not knowing every little detail of her life, she loves to know every detail of mine.
She wipes away tears from her eyes, and although I’m not particularly fond of being laughed at or silently scolded by Lotti, I memorize this moment of my sister, knowing that what I’m building is all worth it. I have too few of these moments nowadays. “Gosh, no. I don’t want to know any of that,” she says, shaking her head. “I just want to know if you finally decided to date. You know everyone is expecting you to marry, have kids,” she begins to rattle.
“I don’t want kids,” I tell her quickly. I don’t need any additional responsibilities beyond what I have now. Anyone who is attached to me is a target, which is why I have my sister and niece so heavily protected, even if she calls me overbearing.
“I know, but still.” She shrugs, and a silence hangs in the air.
“Still, what?”
She plays with the tips of her almost-black hair, a small sheepish smile on her face. “Well, it’s just us. Creating a big family would be nice.”
“We have a big family. I have men out there who would die for you,” I remind her.
“Yes, I guess you’re right,” she says, a little quieter now. “But sometimes it’s worth taking a risk on something that could be beautiful, Silas. If someone’s caught your attention, maybe you should think about it more seriously. You should enjoy your life as well.”
My eyebrows dip. I do enjoy my life. Killing particularly. Seizing more control and power over the city. Providing and protecting for this family. This obsession I have with Leonore could crumble all of that away. Yet it seems I can’t stop coming back to her.
My phone begins to buzz on the table, and when I look down, it’s from an unknown number.
My sister slides her hand over mine and squeezes. “Just remember, you deserve happiness too.” Then she stands andtakes her plate with her, just as Lotti returns with a new container of jam.
Gia pushes her out as I bring the phone to my ear.
The voice is distorted but clear. “I know who killed Pietro Vescari. I’ll send a location in three days. I’ll bring the culprit, and in exchange, you’ll fulfill my request. Come alone.”
The phone cuts out.
Well, this just got more interesting. Like a moth to a flame, I’m certain I know who was on the other end of that call. But nothing ever surprises me these days. Well, perhaps except a little raven with deep-plum hair.
23
LEONORE
