Page 57 of Loyalty

“Not anymore.”

Her words stabbed at his guilt, and made it worse. Maybe he deserved it, after what he did.

“How’s California?” he tried asking. “You’ve been there for a couple of months now.”

Still, she ignored him. Her hazel eyes, ones so like his own, were hard and cold.

Lucia was the spitfire of their family. Young blood, and still learning the ropes of this thing they called life. She should have been out there having fun, but in a way, John had taken all that away from her when he dragged her home.

“You could at least talk to me, Lucy.”

He used the nickname she hated just to get a rise out of her. She disliked Lucy even more than kiddo. Her response shocked him further.

“California is hot,” she said.

“Yeah, I bet,” he murmured.

“I start classes during the second semester. Next month after I go back.”

“You’re all settled in, though?”

“Guess so.”

Everything about the conversation felt wrong and bad. Had this been one of his other sisters—Liliana or Cella—John wouldn’t have thought anything of the cold demeanor and flat responses. Instead, it was Lucia.

His baby sister.

The kid he looked after since she was born, and he was twelve.

“You were supposed to be my best friend, John,” Lucia whispered.

Angry eyes turned on him again, but now, they were filled with tears. She let one escape, and it made a track line down her cheek. With a quick hand, she wiped the tear away, and let out a harsh breath.

“You shouldn’t have run off like that,” he replied.

Lucia’s cheek twitched—a sure sign she was clenching her jaw for all she was worth. Hiding that anger behind a stone facade and calm words.

Just like their father.

She wore her namesake well.

“I was hoping you might let me apologize, and we could spend some time together while you’re visiting,” John said. “But even at Christmas, you ignored me.”

“Perhaps you should take a fucking hint, then.”

“Lucia.”

He didn’t get anything from that—not a damn thing. She didn’t even flinch at his rough tone.

John tried a different direction once more. “What made you get mixed up with a guy like Renzo, anyway? Didn’t I tell you not to mess with boys like that?”

Her laughter stung when it escaped her smirking lips. She turned on the couch to face him completely.

John should have took that as a warning, maybe.

“Like him?” she asked. “John, you and every other man in our family are no better than him. Except what? We’ve got money, and you guys wear nice suits and drive expensive cars. So, you’ve got a last name that gives you respect, and a family legacy that affords you privilege.”

Lucia shook her head, never backing down for a minute as she continued with, “And guys like him? They come from the streets, and hustle every day of their lives just to survive. Did you know he was paying for his sister’s private schooling? Nobody else paid for it. He was trying to let her be something when they came from nothing. Where do you think that left her? Or his little brother—his parents fucked off a couple years ago. Where does that leave the boy? Don’t worry, I’m sure his sister—who can’t go to school anymore—took him, or better yet, maybe a nice foster family picked him up.”