AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We’re far more than well-suited.
If I’ve learned anything these past months, it’s that there is not a woman alive who could be a better match for me than Catarina Furnari. There’s a depth to the Italian Principessa that I did not expect. She’s intelligent. We share a love for art. She’s gracious and kind. And the attraction between us is off the charts.
Not that I share that information with anyone. I know the value of holding my cards close to my chest.
“My thoughts on that matter have not changed,” I answer.
Jane slaps her hands on the counter. “Then get your head out of your ass and fix whatever is causing this rift between you. You have enough on your plate leading this family. Don’t ruin the one thing that is going well for you because your way of dealing with emotional turmoil is to avoid it and shove it down until it explodes in a fit of rage one day.”
“You mean the Irish way?” I crack a smile.
Jane doesn’t share my amusement. “I mean it, Declan. Whatever is going on with you and Catarina, fix it. Arranging this alliance with the Furnaris is one of the biggest accomplishments you’ve made for the family. Once the deal is done, Grandfather will have no choice but to officially hand the reins over to you. Unless something happens and this alliance goes to shit.”
I understand Jane’s concern, but it’s unfounded. There’s nothing Catarina and I can do to sever the ties that hold us together. Not without starting a war between our families that will end in gore and bloodshed.
Still, I’ll admit I don’t want my future marriage to be filled with strife. I want peace. The type of peace I feel sitting in Catarina’s presence each morning.
I exhale. “Fine. I’ll go to the museum tonight.”
“Good.”
“But that won’t guarantee the rift between us will be fixed.” Honestly, I don’t know what it’s going to take to mend the wound that’s separated us since Newport.
“It’s a start,” Jane counters. “Go to the museum to support your fiancée. Have a conversation. Show her youcare.”
Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done. I was raised to hide my emotions. To conceal my weaknesses so they can’t be used against me. And I was doing a hell of a job of it.
But then a gorgeous redhead walked into my family’s dance club, and I haven’t been able to get her out of my head ever since. And if I’m being honest, I don’t hate that fact.
Not one bit.
Chapter2
Catarina
Worldwide Geographic’s West Indies exhibit is going off without a hitch. Prominent donors are mingling with photographers and editors. World-renowned historians admire the images of the beauty and treasures found in the Caribbean islands. But best of all, Heather and Nero just left the main gallery to speak in private. I know I shouldn’t get my hopes up, but it’s impossible not to feel optimistic. Not when Heather showed up here after weeks of not speaking with Nero.
I may be younger than my brother by almost ten years, but the fact Heather didn’t respond to a single one of Nero’s daily text messages since they broke up brought out the mama bear in me. Nero claims he never expected her to respond. She requested space to figure things out, after all. But I know there was a part of him that hoped she would. And thinking about that continual disappointment broke my heart on his behalf.
But no matter what happened before, Heather came here tonight. And based on the way she looked at my brother, I have a feeling it wasn’t so easy to keep her distance from him. With any luck, they will reconcile and Nero will get the happily-ever-after he deserves.
Lord knows one of us should.
Just like that, my mood plummets as I’m reminded of the turmoil that’s plagued me this past week. Ever since I saw the crime scene photo from the night my oldest brother was murdered… when I found a potential link between Antony’s death and my fiancé.
Repeatedly, my perspective on the discovery swings like a pendulum. A pendulum as destructive as a wrecking ball, wreaking havoc on anything and everything I thought I knew about my brother’s death, Declan, and myself.
On one hand, the evidence linking my Irish fiancé to the crime scene is circumstantial. Just because the label of an expensive and rare box of cigars that I saw in Declan’s office was found at the crime scene does not mean he was there. And even if he was there, there’s no proof that he played a role in Antony’s death. At first, I couldn’t see it any other way. But when I got over the initial shock of the discovery, I forced myself to acknowledge that it would’ve been foolish of Declan to have anything to do with my brother’s murder. I may not know much about the details of the criminal world our families live in, but I do know my father, as leader of the Furnari family, holds a lot of power. My family is influential. It’s why the MacKenzies wanted our engagement. There’s no way the Irish crime family would make a move against mine. To do so would be a guaranteed death sentence. And I don’t mean that figuratively.
No, Declan is a lot of things. But he’s no fool.
Those reasons alone made me doubt my initial suspicions. I want to abandon my impulsive desire to prove his guilt and escape the ties of our upcoming marriage. I want to pretend I never saw the crime scene photo. But then I remembered the night of our engagement party. The night Declan ordered my ex, Joey Giovanni, to be killed…
There’d been a man with Joey that night. Luis Diaz. His hair was buzzed on the sides but gelled neatly on top. I can still remember how his aura oozed danger. Instinct told me to stay away from him. Especially when he’d mentioned Antony, expressing his condolences for my family’s loss.
I thought the remark strange. He’d called the two of them friends even though I could never see Antony befriending someone like him. Luis even brought up the fact that no one had been charged with my brother’s murder. I thought he was just a jerk who wanted to rattle me by bringing up my family’s tragedy. Now, when I think back to how he spoke to Declan, I suspect there was more to their conversation.
The veiled threat that they had something to discuss…
