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How?
It doesn’t matter.
I stomp back down, making my footfalls heavy, like a petulant child. Let them think I am one. I don’t care. Enzo stands by the sink, the light from the window crowning his head like a halo. My aunt sips a cup of tea in the corner, oblivious.
“Pack your shit and leave.”
I drop the command on the kitchen island, right where our cook used to prepare all the meals I remember from my childhood.
Enzo smirks. “I don’t think so.”
“I do. This is my house. It’s time for you to go.”
My aunt blinks at me. “Avery, I’m not sure that’s the best idea, for—for you to be alone.”
Nathan sidles into the room from the opposite direction. He chooses a spot part-way between his parents and me.
“It’s a better idea than your husband’s proposal.”
“His proposal?” Her eyes flick between me and Enzo. “The only proposal I know of is that we stay close to keep you safe.”
“He wants to be even closer than that.” A rush of righteous anger sparks along my veins and fizzles out. I grab onto the remnants and hang on hard. “He didn’t tell you? He’s planning a wedding. Aren’t you, Uncle Enzo? He wants me to marry your son.”
My aunt’s face goes blank, then to shock, then to disgust. “Jesus, Enzo.” She bows her head over her tea, shaking her head. “Is she telling the truth?”
“Unfortunately, she is,” Nathan interjects. “Father thinks it’ll end the PR nightmare Avery has attracted.”
“What are you thinking?” Eliza snaps. “You want our son to marry his cousin? That’s in-”
“Not incest,” Enzo cuts her off sharply. “He’s adopted, remember?”
Eliza’s shock turns to an ice-cold disdain. “Of course. How could I forget my inability to give you a biological child.” Her eyes are ablaze, her tight grip around the teacup almost enough to shatter it.
“The old man’s losing his mind,” Nathan says sombrely.
“I am the only one who’s thinking clearly here,” Enzo shouts. “I’m the only one who is thinking at all about the bigger picture of our family. You could bring it all down around you, Avery, if you really need to be a selfish bitch–”
Smack!I’ve never heard a louder slap than when my aunt hits Uncle Enzo, square across the cheek.
Nathan sucks in a breath. I stop breathing. Enzo puts a hand to his face, startled. Eliza’s not even the type to raise her voice. And here she is, slapping Enzo for me. What kind of upside-down world are we living in?
My aunt sets her tea carefully down on the counter, then heads for the guest bedroom.
“Let’s get our things, Enzo.”
He looks like he wants to argue. His face goes red, then redder, her handprint standing out starkly. His mouth opens, closes. He glares at me like he wants to strangle me with his bare hands. “You,” he seethes.
“That’s enough, Dad,” Nathan says quietly. “Just go.”
Enzo finally leaves, taking the long path through the living room so he doesn’t have to brush by me.
Nathan whistles, long and low, and it breaks the remaining tension in the room. He steps to where I’m standing and throws his arms around me. In a way, it brings me back down to earth. Not like when Rome did it earlier. There’s no way it will ever be like that. Not with Nathan. It makes me sick to think aboutthat. But at least Nathan smells familiar. The soap scent of his skin is the same way it’s always been, for as long as I’ve known him.
He detaches himself from me and looks into my eyes. “That was fucked. I can’t believe he went there. And for the record, I had no idea he was thinking of that. He’s lost his mind.”
“Capulet men will do whatever it takes to save the company.” It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but I’m used to it. I’ve swallowed it a hundred times by now.
Nathan sticks his hands in his pockets. “It’s not up to him. I think it’s up to you. And really, Aves, I’ll do whatever you want me to do. I promise.”
