Chapter 48
Elena
The three of us stare at each other. Tension thrums in the air. Her fingers twist further into Maximo’s shirt and I’m about ready to launch myself across the room to tear her away from him.
To my complete horror, Maximo coils his arm around her waist. Why isn’t he pushing her away? Oh god. She is his mistress. I didn’t want to believe it.
“I know what this must look like—” he starts.
What this looks like? Is he kidding me?
“You bast—”
He holds up a hand to silence me. “Cara mia, this is my sister, Julianna.”
My gaze sweeps over her body.
Yeah, right… “You mean your dead sister?”
The woman huffs in irritation. Now that I see her more closely, she can’t be any older than eighteen. More than ten years his junior.
“Santa merda. Yes, my dead sister.” He spins her around, gripping her by the back of her neck and marches her toward the door. “She was just leaving.”
“Ow! Bastardo, let me go! I’m not going anywhere.”
I step into the doorway, blocking the only exit and fold my arms. “She’s right. Neither of you are going anywhere until I get some answers.” I gaze into the girl’s face. “How long have you been fucking my husband?”
She wrinkles her nose. “Ew! Don’t make me vomit.” Turning on Maximo, her hands flail in his face until he lets her go, avoiding more of her unhinged, cat-like attack.
“Behave yourself, Julianna,” Maximo barks at her.
“Don’t tell me what to do.”
“Not that you can follow even the simplest of orders.”
“Why should I?” she shoots back.
“So you don’t get yourself killed,” he snarls.
She crosses her arms and glares, mirroring his stance. “What difference does it make? I’m already dead!”
He sighs. “Don’t say that.”
“Why not? It’s the truth. Even your own wife believes I’m dead. You couldn’t even tell her the truth? Are you really that ashamed of me that you’d rather I don’t exist?” Julianna pushes past me, running along the hallway.
I level my gaze on Maximo. “She really is your sister.” I’m absolutely sure of that, because only siblings fight like that. Now the question running through my head is why he’s kept his sister a secret from me? “You have some explaining to do.”
“I know.” He reaches for me and I let him hold my face between his warm palms. “I never meant to worry you. I’m sorry. The situation’s complicated.”
I nod.
“Come. I need a drink, then I’ll tell you everything.” Lacing his fingers through mine, we walk into the living room, where Julianna’s made herself at home in an armchair.
In the full light, I instantly spot their similarities. How did I not see them immediately? She has the same black wavy hair as Maximo, and those piercing blue-green eyes. Though he’s twice her size, the resemblance is strikingly obvious.
Now I feel stupid for jumping to the conclusion that she was his lover.
“Hi,” I say to her. “I’m Elena.”
She offers me a watery smile. “Please don’t let him send me away again, Elena.”
“Why would he send you away?” I ask her, but Maximo answers the question.
“Because the fewer people who know she’s alive, the better.” He takes in my pointed look. I’m through with his vagaries.
With a drink in hand, he continues, “When Julianna was born, she was betrothed to Nero Mosetti. He is eight years older than her. The joining of our families is something both had always wanted. Everything was fine until Nero grew into a vicious man.”
Maximo sits in the remaining armchair and I take the sofa, eager to hear the rest of this story. Julianna hasn’t moved an inch, her expression vacant.
“I don’t mean vicious in a good way,” Maximo murmurs. “At eighteen, already a made man for seven years, he slaughtered his entire family and declared himself don. Then he came for Julianna.”
I glance at the girl. She was only ten years old, surely he didn’t…
Her gaze stays fixed on the fruit bowl that decorates the table top.
Maximo swallows down his cognac. “Our father managed to convince Nero to wait until she was fifteen to marry her. That bought us some time. But the next four years Nero only grew more destructive. We were all sure that if we turned Julianna over to him, he’d kill her—or worse.
Breaking the engagement was out of the question, so… ”
“So you faked her death,” I finish for him.
He nods.
Julianna finally speaks up. “That was six years ago. I’m tired of hiding from Nero, from the world. I can’t live my life like this any longer.”
Maximo leans forward, jaw clenched. “If he finds you, then everyone’s in danger. He’ll know what we did and he’s not the forgiving kind. He’ll take down our entire family; Papa and Mama, and our brothers. I don’t want to even think about what he’ll do to you.”
I shiver, dread settling in the pit of my stomach. No wonder he attempted to keep her existence a secret.
Julianna’s expression matches her brother’s. “I want him dead. If you won’t help me kill him, then I’ll do it on my own.”
He growls, “You don’t know what you’re talking about. He’s powerful. He has at least twice the men we do.”
Julianna doesn’t back down. “I’m going to kill him, even if the only way is to turn myself over to him and slit his throat while he sleeps.”
“Don’t you fucking dare,” Maximo warns. “I will never let him touch you.”
She stands up. “I’m not a kid anymore, Maximo. I’m a woman.”
“You’re nineteen.”
“Almost twenty,” she counters. “You do whatever you have to do. I’m going to do what I need to do. By the way, I’m taking the upstairs guest room. Ciao.”
I watch her saunter away, while Maximo looks like he’s going to have an aneurysm. Obviously their debate is far from over.
Well this is certainly a turn of events. “She’s probably safest if she stays here. Don’t you think?”
He shakes his head and sighs. “No, because I don’t trust anyone to watch after her. Nero buys loyalty with fear. None of my men are immune. If he wants her, he’ll come for her, and it will be hell to stop him.”
He has some serious trust issues. At the same time, I can’t blame him.
Then a thought strikes me. I shift in my seat. “Do you think he’s already here?”
Maximo’s brow furrows. “He could be. He would want to tear us down before claiming Julianna as his prize. I know how he works. He’s ruthless and methodical.
So yes, he could be the one behind all of this.
If that’s the case, he’s sent soldiers to do his dirty work.
If we had encountered the man himself, we’d be dead.
Nero never misses. He doesn’t stop until the job’s done. ”
I push down my rising fear. “Sounds like we have ourselves a new suspect.”
“Yes. An extremely powerful and dangerous one.”
God have mercy on us.