51
Alessio
I hate talking about this.
I don’t bring Bria up anymore, don’t let myself think about it for too long, because when I do, it all comes rushing back like a fresh fucking wound.
But I know Liv deserves to hear this and understand why Bria was different.
What I felt for her is nothing compared to what I feel for Liv.
I take a breath, dragging a hand down my face.
“Bria was my best friend since we were five,” I start, trying not to sound so fucking emotional.
“She lived next door to us and came over nearly every day to play with me and Aly. The older we got, the more everyone swore we’d end up together. Hell, even we figured we would at some point. So, when we were sixteen, I finally asked her out.”
Liv tilts her head, curious to see where this goes, but I don’t let myself stop.
“I had just gotten my first car. A brand-new gunmetal GT Mustang and wanted an excuse to drive it. I knew if I told my parents I was taking Bria out, they’d say yes. They loved her like a third daughter. My mom, being my mom, made it a whole thing with flowers, and reservations at Maci’s, one of the nicest restaurants in the city. I was planning to grab takeout and drive around, but suddenly, it became a serious date. My first date, actually, and my only real date.”
Liv shifts beside me, looking confused at that last part, but I keep going.
“We get to Maci’s, sit down, and somehow, they serve us wine. And being the responsible sixteen-year-olds we were, we accepted it and drank it. Well, her more than me. I knew my dad would kill me if I got caught drinking and driving, so I only had a few sips. After the bottle was gone, I guess Bria had too much to drink because halfway through the meal, she blurted out that she’s not into me. Total hit to my fragile teenage ego, but I recovered fast.”
I smirk slightly, but it fades as I keep talking.
“She was drunk and started spilling everything. She wasn’t into men at all and only agreed to our date because she came out to her mom, who told her dad, and he lost his shit. He threatened to send her away and disown her. She was terrified of him. And since she was my best friend.” I swallow hard, remembering the fear in Bria’s eyes.
“We came up with a plan, pretending that we were together, to keep her father off her back. And it fucking worked, for years.”
Liv’s eyes soften, and I see her putting the pieces together.
“She was part of this life,” I say, running a hand through my hair.
“Her father was one of my dad’s top enforcers. Anyway, I took over at eighteen and moved out of my parents’ house. One night, Bria showed up in bad shape, all bruised up. Her father caught her with a woman, and it got physical.”
“I wanted to kill him,” I admit.
“But she wouldn’t let me. Some bullshit about him still being her family, how she couldn’t do that to her mother. The same mother who let a man beat her daughter like it was nothing.” My hands clench at the memory.
“So, I did the only thing I could. I threatened him. Told him if he ever laid a fucking hand on her again, I’d kill him myself.”
Liv inhales sharply, as if she can already guess where this is going.
“I promised Bria I’d keep her safe,” the words feel bitter in my mouth because I fucking failed her.
“She moved in with me the next day, and we kept up our charade. It was easy for us. She played the perfect role of a happy girlfriend. We shared women when it worked, and then we went to our separate rooms at the end of the night. But after a while, my parents started pressuring me to propose.” I remember staring at the fireplace for hours, trying to figure out how the hell I’d drop this bomb, without Bria losing her shit.
“But we discussed it and figured it was the best way to keep her father off her for good. She had one condition though, and that was that I actually propose. The ring, one knee bullshit, the whole fucking thing. Even though she refused to wear my mother’s diamond.”
I glance at Liv’s hand; at the ring I slipped back on her finger before we left for my parents’ place.
“She said that one was a family heirloom, meant for a real marriage, not our pretend one, and picked a different ring.”
I exhale, feeling the pressure in my chest start to build.
But I needed to specify that, in case Liv thought she was wearing another woman’s ring.
I mean, technically she is, it was my mother’s, but it was always meant to be Liv’s.
It never belonged to Bria.
“We planned a trip with her family to the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. That’s where I was going to propose, right in front of her father, so he’d see it with his own eyes and back the fuck off. Before he and her mom arrived at the cabin, Bria and her sisters, Amanda and Emily, wanted to go zip-lining. I wasn’t thrilled about it, but she was stubborn as hell and made me, even suggesting she’d go first. ”
My hands clench into fists as the memory comes flooding back, so fucking vividly, like I’m still standing on that fucking platform, in Gatlinburg.
“The second Bria jumped off the platform, her line snapped.” My voice comes out eerily calm, like my mind is disconnecting from the pain and leaving reality to tell the story.
“She fell almost two hundred feet.”
Liv gasps softly.
“I was stuck there, unable to do a damn thing. Her sisters were screaming, people were panicking, and I couldn’t fucking breathe. I finally got off that stupid fucking platform and ran to her, but it was too late.”
I pause, swallowing hard.
“She was already gone.”
Liv whispers, “Alessio, I’m so sorry.”
I nod, even though I don’t want her sympathy, I don’t deserve it.
“After what felt like forever, the ambulance finally arrived and rushed her to the hospital, but she was pronounced dead on arrival. They questioned the mountain guides, checked the ropes, and investigated everything. At first, it looked like a tragic accident. But the truth always comes out.”
I drag in a breath.
My hands shake slightly as I grip the steering wheel .
“Her father found out about our arrangement; he had people spying on her and learned that we weren’t really a couple. That she was still seeing women behind his back. So, the sick fuck paid off a few pricks to pose as zip-line guides and they tampered with her rope.”
I heave a sigh.
“The dumb bastard thought I wouldn’t come after him because he technically didn’t touch her.”
Liv’s breath hitches.
“Her own father? Because he didn’t like her lifestyle?”
I nod slowly, feeling the rage bubble inside me all over again.
“What… what happened to him?” But she already knows the answer.
“Oh, I took care of him,” I say darkly.
“But first, I made my father publicly turn his back on him, since he reported directly to him. Humiliated him in front of everyone he spent his whole life trying to impress. He lost everything . And then, when he had nothing, I made him suffer , ” I tell her.
“I kept him in a cell and cemented his feet to the ground. Then I built bricks around him, up to his neck, so that he couldn’t sit, couldn’t sleep, and couldn’t move. You’d be surprised how fucking excruciating it is to be forced to stand for days on end; sleep deprivation messes with your head more than anything. He started hallucinating, calling Bria’s name like she’d come save him from me.”
A bitter laugh escapes me.
“So, after eight days of torture, I finally put a bullet in his head.” I exhale slowly through my nose, trying to remain calm.
“He deserved everything he got. And I’ll never forgive myself for not killing him the first time he laid a fucking hand on her.”
Liv shudders, but she doesn’t look away.
“It’s my fault she’s not here,” I admit.
“I didn’t keep her safe, and it’s something I live with every day. After that, I vowed that I would never go easy on anyone like him ever again.”
“It’s not your fault, Alessio. How could you have known what he would do?” Liv says.
Her eyes are glossy with unshed tears.
I should’ve known.
Men like him are all the same.
But I don’t tell her that.
I exhale, forcing the built-up tension out of my body.
“So, yeah. I never really dated. Just fake-dated my gay best-friend and fucked around a lot.” I spew out.
Liv stares at me for a beat, then snorts.
“Is this how you had so many threesomes? ”
“What?” I ask, caught off guard.
She shakes her head, trying to hold in her giggles.
“This is how, isn’t it?”
I let out a short laugh.
“It wasn’t that many, and most of the time, I was more of a third wheel than anything. Trust me, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”
She laughs, like full-on, can’t-hold-it-in laughing, and I stare at her, but there’s no heat behind it.
“You’re lucky you’re still healing. Otherwise, I’d have to punish you for laughing at me.”
After a minute, her laughter slows, and she wipes a tear from her eye.
“Bria sounds like an amazing woman,” she says quietly.
“I think we would’ve gotten along.”
I nod because I know she’s right; they would have been the best of friends.
“Thank you for sharing that with me,” Liv says softly.
Something about how she says it, so sincere and open, makes my chest tighten.
I need her to understand that my heart is open to her and only her.
“I loved Bria, but as a sister. She was my best friend, but she wasn’t my future.”
I look Olivia in the eyes, making sure she hears every word and believes it .
“You are. ”
I cup her face gently, pulling her closer.
“You’re everything I didn’t even know I needed,” I admit, my lips brushing against hers.
But just as I’m about to kiss her, my phone starts blaring through the car speakers, killing the moment.
“Fucking seriously?” I grit out.
I’m already pissed at whoever the fuck is interrupting us, but before I can even check the screen, Liv pulls back and taps the answer button on the dash.
“Alessio,” my father’s panicked voice blares through the speakers.
“Hey, Dad,” I say, already feeling that sick sense of dread creeping in.
“Tito has another son he’s in contact with,” he says and my blood turns to fucking ice.
“Phil reached out to one of his contacts at the prison Tito’s at, to put him in isolation after the whole Ezra situation, and they found a phone in his cell.”
I straighten in my seat, my grip tightens on the steering wheel.
“There are messages back and forth with his other son, Girard. They’re coming after Olivia. And you,” he says, and Liv goes rigid beside me.
“Call for backup,” I bark out, already shifting gears, my mind working a mile a minute.
“I’ll bring Liv home and take care of this shit man-to-man.”
“You might not have time to get her home,” Dad warns.
“We’re tracking his cell in real-time, and he’s on your tail.”
Fuck.
I slam the car into drive, then hit the gas.
Last time her family came after us, I almost lost Liv.
I’m not letting that happen again.
While Dad keeps talking, I fire off a quick text to Kota while driving.
Triple-tasking at its finest.
Me: Need backup.
Now.
His response comes in seconds.
Kota: Already on the move.
I glance at Liv, her face is pale as she digs her fingers into the edge of her seat.
I put my phone down and reach over, squeezing her thigh, trying to ground her.
“You’re safe, Sirena . I won’t let them touch y—”
CRASH.
The impact is fucking brutal.
An SUV slams into the driver’s side.
All I hear is metal crunching and glass shattering.
The car jerks forcefully, and we start spinning out of control.
I grip the wheel, yanking hard to get control, but there’s no stopping it.
The tires screech, and for a split second, everything slows until we hit something hard.