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Three different serving bowls, filled to the brim with a variety of tagliatelle, spaghetti, and penne dishes, sit in front of me. Also placed on the table is garlic bread that fills the room with a buttery, herby fragrance, and there’s a smaller bowl containing gnocchi, one of my favourites.
I haven’t felt so relaxed in a long time. Judah takes my plate and dishes a spoonful of everything onto it. Once my plate is full, the guys fill their own plates. Then red wine is poured for each of us, and the peppery, fruity flavour bursts on my tongue when I take my first sip.
“Are you enjoying your studies?” Judah asks me, capturing my attention.
In the soft candlelight, his eyes shimmer with flecks of green in the soft brown.
“I am. I didn’t think I would fit in when I first arrived, because I don’t really come from this life, but it’s been eye-opening to discover that not everyone here is dangerous.”
“Even after Marco,” Kai adds.
Nodding, I sit back and recall that night. “It could have happened anywhere. He wanted more than I was willing to offer, and when he found out I was living here and promised to Judah, I think maybe he snapped.”
“There was too much information about you in his apartment for his interest in you to have been random. It’s obvious he’d been researching you for some considerable time,” Judah tells me.
I didn’t know this. They’d mentioned he had folders containing details of my life, but I didn’t realise he’d been collecting information about me for months, maybe longer.
“So, you think he knew I was coming to Black Hollow all along?” I look at Judah, my food now forgotten as I wonder if someone’s been watching Papa and me and for how long.
We could have been in harm’s way all these years. Spies could have been keeping an eye on us, and we were none the wiser.
“We don’t know what to think. We just need you to be aware that not everyone on this island is a friend.” Valen’s tone takes on a more serious rumble. He’s always been the fun one, laughing and joking with me, so for him to be so serious, sets me on edge. “But we are here,” he reassures me, taking my hand.
I’m convinced each of these men can read my mind. It’s as if they’re burrowing their way into my psyche, and I know I won’t ever be able to get them out.
“I know,” I say then. “And I can fight as well. I’m just worried about what will happen in the future. I never thought I’d be safe forever, but there’s this niggle in the back of my mind that tells me a war is coming.”
“It is,” Judah confirms with a confident nod. “Once I step into my father’s position on my birthday, there are many families who will try to overthrow me. And, as my wife, that means you’ll be right by my side. Which is why I need you to be ready to take on anyone that may come at you.”
The thought of having to go to war over some family name, over who is in control, makes me anxious. I don’t like the old world mentality. It worked back then, but this is the present day, we’re not living in the nineteen hundreds anymore.
“I will fight alongside you. One thing my father taught me is to never surrender,” I tell them proudly.
I’ve never allowed anyone to take advantage of me, and I have never been a pushover. It’s not in my nature, and I don’t intend to show weakness now. I’ve had to take medication daily to ensure I live a long life. I was given a second chance, and I don’t intend on wasting it. I’m used to fighting. Giving up is not a choice, I want to get through this. I have to.
“Then we won’t have a problem,” Kai says. “I didn’t think you’d sit back and let anything just happen to you.”
There’s pride in his tone. The only other person who’s ever spoken to me like that or made me feel valued is Papa, and now he’s not with me anymore, I’m going to have to tell myself I’m strong.
“I was taught to fight for what I want.”
“And what is it you want now, Brielle?” Judah tests me, his hazel eyes landing on mine, boring a hole right into my soul.
There’s something about the way he looks at me that tells me all those things I would rather have kept hidden are no longer a secret.
“I want to live a happy life,” I tell him. “I want you, Kai, and Valen safe, and I want Emilio and Jordan safe. But I also want my father to live a long and happy existence. And when he finally takes his last breath, I hope it’s not because he was killed.”
It’s the most honesty I’ve offered, other than telling them about my transplant. I received a heart from the girl who, I later learnt, was the daughter of my father’s mistress. The accident that took her life happened at the same time I was on the transplant waiting list. They didn’t have any hope for me. I was admitted into hospital with no prospects of surviving, and then, a miracle happened.
But now I don’t know if I can believe it was merely fate. Serendipity doesn’t occur randomly in our world of violence and vows. There’s never a magical cure for anything.
“You do know that your father may not survive the next few days,” Judah tells me coldly.
“Do you have to be such a bastard?”
“No,” he says with a shake of his head. “I’m being honest. Giving you the truth rather than tiptoeing around the bullshit that everyone else will offer. If you ever want the truth from anyone, the men around this table will be the ones to give it to you.”
He sets down his fork and knife and looks directly at me. There’s an icy chill that races down my spine when he does this. I know there’s more to it than just him being honest. I can tell he’s trying to connect. Previously, he would have just thrown out something hurtful and moved on, but there’s been a bond formed between us now, and I don’t think it’s ever going to be severed.
