Chapter 25
He glances down at me, “Because of you.”
“Me?” I questioned in surprise.
Emilio nodded his face, and his eyes went back up to the ceiling. “The night of the incident I was being accused of was the night I first saw you.”
I couldn’t remember what he was referring to. The only memory of meeting Emilio was when Luca brought him around.
Sensing my lack of memory, “You were barely a teen. You and your friends stole Skittles or something stupid from the bodega.”
I laugh, “My god, I forgot about that.”
“You better pay for that!” the cashier yelled as we tried to leave the store.
“Put it on our tab!” Tiffany yelled as we dashed out.
“If I go to jail, my parents will KILL me,” Natasha freaked out.
We thought we were badasses for stealing candy from the little bodega. As we ran, the cashier came out and started yelling at us.
“Damn, kids!”
Laughing, we turned the corner, and a few men were hanging around a car. We slowed to a walk and giggled until the cashier made his way around the corner and started yelling at us.
“Hey, Hey. Bernie, Relax,” one of the men said, calming the cashier down. He spoke to the cashier, and whatever was said made the cashier return inside. The man turned to us as we stood there like deer in headlights. “What are you girls doing?”
“None of your business,” Tiffany spat out.
The man overlooks her and makes eye contact with me. “You’re Marco’s little sister.”
I nod my head.
“Sorry for your loss. Marco was a good guy.”
Swallowing hard at the thought of my older brother, whom we buried just a few weeks ago, I mutter, “Thank you.”
“E!” a piercing voice screeched. A petite blonde approaches us, “Is that the little DeCarlo? Ask her about Gio. Maybe she knows something.” She sounded worried.
He looked at her; they had similar facial characteristics. “Cass, relax.” He turned back to me. “Hey, if you could ask Luca to give Emilio a call. It’s important. He’ll know who I am.”
“Sure.” I wasn’t sure if I should trust him. What if he told Luca I was stealing? I wouldn’t hear the end of it.
Sensing my concern, he assured me, “I won’t rat you out but don’t pull that shit again. Next time, Bernie will pull out his gun, and he never misses his target.”
“Thanks,” I tremble.
“That was before you worked with Luca. You didn’t have to do that.”
“I’d like to think someone would have done the same for Maria. That’s how it works on the streets.”
“Maria?” I question.
“Youngest sister,” Emilio replied in a low voice.
“You had another sister? I didn’t know that.”
It seemed like he needed a moment of silence. Something must have happened to her, and asking seemed that it would open an old wound. So, I left it at that.
After a minute, I asked, “How did you get Luca to appoint you as his right-hand man?”
“I earned his attention saving your ass. I kept it by having the balls to carry out any request he wanted.” He laughs, “At one point, he went wild just to see how far I’d go.”
“Clearly, you surpassed his expectations. Luca was always particular with who he surrounded himself with.”
“We had a mutual goal. Plus, I wanted to make sure Cassie was taken care of.”
“She looks the type to be able to handle herself.”
“It’s a security thing. Not everyone grew up as privileged as you. Cass and I needed to hustle so that we could survive. It’s been me and her for so long. She’s all the blood I have left.”
“She doesn’t come around much.”
“Cass never really liked the idea of me becoming a made-man. She has her reasons. So, she doesn’t come around unless it’s just her and I.”
“So you don’t see her often?”
“We have dinner three times a week. We speak on the phone every day.”
“I didn’t know you were close.”
“If anyone knows my darkest secrets, it’s her.”
Tracing my finger on his chest, I said, “I wish Luca and I were that close again. He's not the same person.”
“That’s not a bad thing, Bethany. He evolved because he needed to, but that doesn’t mean he stopped caring.”
Deep down, I knew that, but I couldn’t separate the man he was from the man I knew him to be now.
“Well, with the Aria in the picture now. That’s all he cares about.”
“Jealous, Bethany?”
I roll my eyes. “Can I confess a secret?”
“If you trust me enough to keep it.”
“I never wanted to be anyone more than I want to be Aria. She’s bold and fierce. She’s stunningly beautiful, and her confidence matches Luca.”
“That comes with age. Don’t think Aria had it easy.”
“I know, I know. She left the lifestyle and made it on her own. But at the end of the day, she is still who she is. And we are no more than five years apart. She just has it all together.”
“A lot can happen in five years.”
In my mind, I knew a lot could happen in a much shorter time frame. It was no more than two months ago that I was aching for something, and little did I know it was someone like Emilio.