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Before Emma,I wasn’t sure I was capable of real love, owning a woman entirely, and knowing she was mine. Now I do, and it will shatter Rosa again. She’s already been broken tonight. Dario did that. Is that fair? Wasn’t it me too?
“I had to,” Dario says, slurring thehad.
I snatch the glass from his hand and slam it on the table. “You didn’t have to tell her anything. We’ve gone years.”
“Every time we talk about her, about Angelica, it’s like reliving it, Leo. Every moment we had to pretend. Every lie we told. I know Rosa would’ve been shocked, but she would’ve understood, I think.”
I laugh grimly, not meaning to mock him, but he’s too drunk to make sense. Dropping into the chair beside him, I shake my head. “You’re the one who told me she won’t understand about me and Emma. What makes you think you and Angelica would’ve been any different?”
He flinches, then looks at his whiskey glass. He raises his hand.
“You’ve had enough.”
He grunts. “Says who?”
“You’ve had enough, Dario.”
“That’s me, right, the in-the-way little brother? The piece ofshitnobody ever cares about?”
“This isn’t you. You’re drunk. You’ll be embarrassed about speaking like this tomorrow.”
He groans, then grins shakily. “Do you think Angelica would be proud?”
“I don’t think you should think about how she’d feel,” I growl. “Think about how Rosa feels now.”
“I couldn’t live a lie any longer.”
“You’ve broken her heart.”
He leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees, glaring at me. I know that look from countless business meetings. It’s the look he aimed at Aldo, the exiled guard, back when this all started.
“Careful, big brother.”
“Don’t be stupid.”
“I mean it. Be careful.”
I sigh through my teeth. This evening is confusing as hell. One part of me is warm, hungry, fuzzy, and obsessed over what Emma and I shared. The other part is shattered.
What have I done?
“I was trying to do the best for her. I was trying to give her a memory worth holding onto. Remember, weweregoing to tell her when she was old enough, but what was the point after Angelica died?”
“The truth. Some people think that’s reason enough.”
“You got drunk and emotional, so you told her. Don’t pretend this was some strategic move. If you wanted to tell her, if youthought it through, you would’ve come to me. We would’ve come up with a plan.”
“A plan like what? Fucking her best friend?”
I bare my teeth.You be careful, little brother, but I don’t say that. I’ve got to remind myself he’s drunk.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Dario snaps. “And where’s the goddamn whiskey?”
He pushes his chair back, marches to the corner of the room, and picks up the bottle.
“Put it down,” I tell him.
He arches his eyebrow, swaggering over to the table, reaching for his glass. I move it away.
