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“No. Even thinking about looking at Dad and telling him . . .” She trails off and shivers. “But I guess I have to . . .”
This is going to be hard no matter what. Gia has some kind of relationship with Dario. Not agoodrelationship, but it doesn’t seem like he’s completely repulsed by her presence like he is by mine.
“I’ll be there with you every step of the way. You don’t need to do it alone,” I reassure her. “He’s going to be pissed, but he’ll calm down soon enough. This is going to be the hardest part.”
“Girls!” Dario rages from downstairs. “I know you’re home! Get down here right now!”
Gia tenses, and I know what she’s thinking.
“You’re plenty strong, Gia.” I stand up. “I love you, and I’ll always be here for you. You can do this.”
“Siena!”Dario bellows, and Gia winces.
She takes a deep breath for courage and stands. “What do you think is going to happen to me?”
“Girls, if I have to call you one more time . . .”
“Coming, sorry!” I call back to Dario, then tell Gia,
“I’m not sure, but it’ll be okay no matter what happens.”
I hold out my hand, and she takes it. Together, as sisters, we face fate.
Dario’s impatiently waiting for us at the base of the stairs, tapping his foot with his arm resting on the banister.
He’s still in the fitted suit he wore for work, but the tie is loosened, and the top few buttons on his dress shirt are undone. He’s glaring that special glare that’s a mix of revulsion and bitter contempt he reserves just for me that makes me feel three inches tall, except it’s somehow angrier. But even looking undone and tired and incredibly upset, it’s almost annoying that he’s still a handsome man.
Sometimes I wonder if he and Florence ever had any real conversations or if they were just two good-looking people who were together for that reason alone.
When I’m close enough, he asks, “Can you tell me what happened to my garage? And where thefuckmy car is?!”
Gia drops my hand and stares at him with wide eyes, freezing on the stairs, while I force myself not to grimace at the sharpness and the way he raises his voice. I don’t push Gia forward, especially since stopping a few steps before the bottom stair so we don’t have to look up at him helps make him seem the slightest bit less intimidating.
Gia opens and closes her mouth, struggling to get the words out, and Dario presses, “Siena?”
Better to rip the bandage off. “Your car is at the mechanic. It needs a new windshield and some front body work.”
He stiffens like he wasn’t expecting my abrupt honesty.
“Why?”
Gia squeaks from beside me. “I . . . um . . . wanted to borrow it, but I got mixed up with the gears and drove it straight into the garage. Siena cleaned up the mess outside, though. We just need to search for a garage repair place to come and take a look.”
Dario stares at her, intense and unblinking. I think that was the logical answer Dario was expecting based on the evidence, but now that it’s been confirmed out loud, he’s not sure how to process it.
It’s so silent for a moment that the only sounds are his ragged breaths and the creaking of the house settling.
His furious gaze swings to me. “Youstolemy car andcrashed it?” he yells, making us wince. “Then forced your poor sister to take the blame?”
“Wait, what?”
“Don’t play stupid! You didn’t think I’d see right through this?”
I’m too stunned to say anything, but Gia speaks up.
“But it wasn’t Siena! It was me! I did it!”
“Shut up, Gia,” he commands. “I know you had nothing to do with this. You don’t have to lie for your sister.”
