Chapter 30
ALEX
After the hot sex with Luca, I only saw Marcello.
We ate meals together, sat on the patio overlooking the bay, and some nights, he watched me paint.
He even woke me from my bad dreams and rocked me back to sleep.
I liked him, and that was dangerous for both of us.
Because despite Luca’s absence, he was always watching.
On Wednesday morning, Marcello announced we were leaving the house. It was my first day at Wellington Architecture and Design. My grandfather had given my parents money to start their firm with one caveat. I had to assist them with major restorations.
Marcello pulled into the lot and parked next to my father’s BMW. I opened the door, and he clutched my shoulder, forcing me to look at him. “You’re having lunch at Blue Moon Cafe with Kali Marx. She’s picking you up at noon.”
I’d forgotten about our plans. Now that I understood how their world worked, I wasn’t sure if I should trust her. Kali seemed kind enough, but why was she insistent on having lunch? Did Luca want her to spy on me? I wouldn’t have put it past him.
“You can use my mother’s studio tonight,” Marcello offered.
I lifted my messenger bag from the floor. “Have you changed your mind about letting me paint you?”
He pressed his lips together, his expression unreadable.
“Think about it, Marcello. It can be our little secret.”
His eyes drifted to my mouth, then dipped to my cleavage. Lately, I had noticed him staring more than usual. We spent so much time together that it was impossible not to catch feelings.
After I exited the car and shut the door, he rolled down the window and leaned his elbow on the center console. “I’ll pick you up after work. Don’t make me chase you.”
I never thought I would earn his trust, but he was letting me have more privileges. It seemed silly to think of my imprisonment that way. But at least with Marcello, I could be myself. He gave me free rein as long as I didn’t run. And being with him made me happy.
Slinging my bag over my shoulder, I strolled through the front door. My mother sat behind a white reception desk and yelled into the phone.
I walked past the reception area and down a long corridor. Two men were setting up plotters and printers. Toward the end of the hall, I spotted my office. The room had two drafting tables, an enormous oak desk with tons of bins, and an easel with a blank canvas beside it.
I poked my head into my father’s office. “Hey, Dad.”
He lifted his head, but his eyes didn’t meet mine. “Did you just get in?”
“Yeah. Mom was on the phone. So I gave myself the tour.”
He dropped his pencil onto the desk but did not bother to get up to greet me. No shocker there.
“Alex, your office is down the hall.”
“Yeah, I found it. I would have come over and helped… if I’d known you needed it. You should have told me.”
He waved his hand to dismiss me. “It’s been a hectic week.”
I nodded. “What are you working on?”
“Second additions for a few families in town. Your mother is meeting with the Wanamakers to discuss a fresco restoration.”
“I can go with her.”
“No, stay here and answer the phone.”
“Dad, I studied under Madeline Laveau. I can help with the restoration.”
“Let your mother handle it.” He shoved a hand through his dark hair and sighed. “We need you here.”
“I lost everything overnight, and now you won’t even let me do my job?”
“Alexandrea,” he groaned. “Please. We’re not even open yet. This transition hasn’t been easy for any of us.”
“Don’t talk to me about what’s hard for you. I can guarantee what I’m going through is much worse.”
He lifted a pencil and rolled it between his fingers, unable to look at me. “You should set up your new office. I have to get back to work.”
“Father of the year, ladies and gentlemen.”
Kali Marx arrived at noon. With her blonde hair fashioned into an elegant updo, she wore a black sheath dress and Manhattan shades that made her look like Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s .
She drove us to Blue Moon Cafe in her new 6 Series, which had the prettiest blue paint and cream interior.
We sat in the back booth at the upscale cafe. Blue Moon had everything from gourmet burgers and fries to steak and lobster. They even had milkshakes that cost twenty-five dollars, which made me gasp when I saw the price. Who the hell would pay that kind of money for ice cream?
“You were right,” I said between bites. “These are the best chili cheese fries I’ve ever tasted.”
Kali shoved the plate in front of me. “Finish them off.”
I rubbed my belly, the button on my jeans ready to pop from eating so much. “I’m good.”
“The socialites drink their water with a straw,” Kali said as she raised the glass bottle of French carbonated water. “How weird?”
“This town reminds me of the movie The Stepford Wives .”
“They act like them, too,” she said, laughing. “Wait until you see the Devil’s Creek Belles dolled up for their Sunday brunches at the yacht club with their full faces of makeup, talking about stupid shit no one cares about as they stuff their spoiled faces with cream puffs between snorting pills.”
We laughed so hard the table shook.
“The founders’ wives are the worst,” Kali muttered, then bit her lip when she realized her mistake. “I mean, no offense, but the founders kinda suck, and so do their minions.”
I rolled my shoulders. “I’m an outsider to these people.”
She set her fork on the plate and wiped her mouth with a cloth napkin. “I lived in Devil’s Creek until I was five. After my parents divorced, my mom moved back to Southern California. I lived with her until my last semester of high school.”
“So that’s why Sonny calls you Kali from Cali.” I smiled at the cute nickname. “Now, I get it.”
“My mom is from Orange County. She moved to the East Coast to be with my dad.”
“Is your mom still in California?”
“Yeah. I would love to go home,” Kali admitted, tapping the keyboard on her phone to answer a text message. “I miss my mom. She’s lonely out there by herself.”
“Does she visit you?”
She dropped her phone onto the table with a frown. “My dad lets me see her at the start of every summer.”
I cocked an eyebrow at her. “He lets you?”
Her cheeks flushed crimson. “I shouldn’t have said that. I mean… You understand what this is like.” She lowered her voice, resting her elbows on the table, and leaned closer. “My dad forced me to move here because of his election. I only stayed because of my mom.”
“Is holding something over her?”
She nodded. “It’s a long story. I’m sure you know what it feels like not to have control of your life.”
“I have an idea.”
“Luca likes you.” She flashed a genuine smile, playing with the straw in her water bottle. “You’re the only woman he’s ever talked about.”
“All bad things, I’m sure.”
“Nah, girl. He talks to me sometimes. One night, he got drunk and told me all about you. He’s obsessed.”
I laughed at the idea. “Luca doesn’t know how to be with someone without controlling them. Whenever I get too close, he pushes me away.”
“Funny, he says the same about you.”
I stuffed a fry into my mouth, speaking between bites. “Luca is incapable of having a relationship with anyone.”
“His brothers are the same way.” She sighed. “Damian and Bastian make my head spin with all of their games.”
“Sonny said you’re with both of them. Is that true?”
Kali released a groan, averting my gaze. “He’s so nosy.”
“I noticed.”
“I know it’s strange. But yeah, I’m dating both of them. If you can even call it that.”
“What is it like to date brothers?”
“Bastian and Damian are not blood-related.” Her phone dinged again, and she sighed, staring at the new message. “Not that it makes what we’re doing any better.”
“Bastian and Damian’s parents were friends, right? That’s how they co-founded Atlantic Airlines.”
She nodded. “Did Luca ever tell you the real story about what happened to their parents?”
“They were in a fatal plane crash.”
Kali bit her straw, giving me a look that she said too much.
“Do you know another story about their parents’ accident?”
“The owners of a multi-billion dollar aerospace empire should have known better than to get on a plane with faulty parts.” She held up her hands and shrugged. “You know what I’m saying, girl?”
“Accidents happen, right?”
She smirked. “Bastian and Damian run the company, but Arlo Salvatore is still Chairman of the Board at Atlantic Airlines. Convenient, don’t you think?”
“He wouldn’t kill their parents and then adopt them.”
Would he?
Who knew with Arlo? He wanted people indebted to him.
“If the rumors are true,” she said in a hushed tone, “a terrorist organization killed their parents.”
I wasn’t sure why she was spilling her guts to a stranger, which made me uneasy. Did Luca put her up to this? He loved playing games.
“Devil’s Creek must have been a big change for you,” I said to switch the subject. “It’s nothing like California.”
“I’m not a fan of Connecticut. It’s too cold here. I miss the sunshine and the beaches back home.”
“I miss a lot of things about Brooklyn.” I popped a fry into my mouth and chewed. “I was in the middle of a chapel restoration with my mentor before I moved to Devil’s Creek.”
“Your paintings remind me of Evangeline Franco. I see the same beautiful sadness in them.”
A smile pulled at my mouth. “She inspired a lot of my art.”
“Look,” Kali whispered, her eyes darting around the crowded restaurant. “I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but be careful. The women in the Salvatores’ lives seem to die or mysteriously disappear. Death surrounds them.”
“Why, what happened?”
Kali shook her head with a sickened look on her face. “For starters, they covered up Evangeline’s suicide. She overdosed on pills.”
“But I thought she…” I struggled to find the right words. “Are you sure?”
“Strange things happen in this town.” Kali clicked her tongue. “People go missing and never come back. Some die from fatal accidents. Others overdose on drugs. Watch your back, girl.”