AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Why?” I breathed out, too breathless, my mind reeling, trying to contain everything bubbling near the surface of my heart.
Fear.
Truth.
Warmth.
“Because he didn’t capture you, little De Luca. You captured him. You are Jupiter, and he is Ganymede. He revolves around you, whether he knows it or not, transfixed by the way you’ve captured his attention, by the way you fight back, by the way you differ from every woman he’s ever loved or hated or been betrayed by, by the way you are with Tessie, and by the way he wonders how you would be with Everett.”
Everett.
Who was Everett?
I couldn’t process his words.
There were too many things packed into them.
I didn’t love Bastian. I didn’t even like Bastian. We fought and volleyed insults back and forth until our only truce came along in the form of Tessie, yet another thing we couldn’t agree upon.
But you told him about your mom, and he told you about his pain.
I ignored my thoughts and breathed out the only question I could latch onto. “Everett?”
Vince ignored my question. “You are Jupiter, and he is Ganymede, revolving around you like you are his planet, and he is your moon.”
“Jupiter is a man.”
“You’re finding shallow excuses to deny something you know in your heart is true.”
“Why? Why are you saying this to me?” I didn’t want to push my luck, but I needed to know. “Why aren’t I buried in a shallow grave or whatever you do with people like me?”
“I just wanted you to know, when all is said and done, you have my blessing.”
“For what?”
“To heal him. To save him. To cure him. To be his family when I cannot.”
Chapter
Twenty-Five
Love is a better teacher than duty.
ALBERT EINSTEIN
BASTIANO ROMANO
When Tessie was six, I’d left for Missouri—the closest I could get to Alabama without actually entering Andretti territory. Missouri laid in the southernmost portion of Camerino territory.
Marco Camerino had met me at the border of Missouri, near Tennessee, and we’d hatched a plan to get Everett back. He’d sworn on his life he wouldn’t let anyone know Everett existed, and I trusted him.
He was the heir to the Camerino syndicate, yes, but he was also my best friend from boarding school.
We spent about a month in Missouri, failure after failure until a gnawing dread chewed at my gut. This unshakeable feeling that something was wrong, and I couldn’t stop it.
I’d called Elsa, forcing myself through a gritted conversation until she assured me Everett was fine.
Then I’d call everyone else in my family, one by one until I reached my mom, and she told me Tessie had gone to our cabin in Big Bear with our cousin.
