15. Ivy #2
“My cousin fucked up.” Vaughn smirks, his eyes glinting with mirth. “Even though Grandfather suspects that something is wrong with him, no one can find out what exactly it is, so for the last five years, I’ve had to find other ways to weaken his power, and I finally succeeded.”
“Is this some type of Mafia lingo again?” I ask with a forced smile, but inside, my heart has dropped to my stomach. Something did happen to Emmett. “Weakening his power? What does that mean? Is he now just a nobody now?”
Vaughn chuckles.
“You’re a fast learner,” he says with a smile.
“Yes, my cousin no longer has the power he used to have. Before, he could order even Grandfather’s Capo to act, but now after his father betrayed the Family, an act that is unforgivable, by the way, I found out that Emmett had been protecting Syrus and together they had been selling out this Family.
In the end, I made sure Grandfather found out and he demoted him. ”
Oh no!
Is that why I can’t reach Emmett? Is he being held somewhere against his will? Are they torturing him?
Before I can ask Vaughn, he turns away and starts talking to his father and Senator Hughes.
With the way they’re conversing, they obviously get along… and that makes me feel a stifling flame in the middle of my chest.
“Have we met before?”
I swivel around and come face to face with one of Vaughn’s uncles.
Although he seems to be smiling kindly, his sharp gaze is narrowed on me, as if studying me.
“Uh, we did. Not more than two minutes ago,” I saw awkwardly, but my hackles are raised.
“I’m not sure,” Giovanni muses, still with that creepy smile. “I have this feeling like I know you.”
I have no idea what to say to that, and worse off, I’m standing there like a loon.
“Where are you from?” he suddenly asks.
I grow so still, I can barely blink.
It’s a simple enough question but the moment Giovanni asks it, my entire body grows numb out of nowhere.
In the distance, I can hear muffled sounds.
I’m staring at Giovanni, but the edge of my vision is blurring, disappearing faster than I can process what’s happening to me.
I dry laugh. “I’m sure you know all about Senator Hughes, his wife, twin daughters, and where he comes from, right?”
“See, I have known Teddy for a number of decades. Every skeleton in the closet is known to me, including his interesting relationship with the woman who you take after.”
We both look in Beverly’s direction. She has her head thrown back, her neck elongated, her charm oozing as she laughs at whatever was just said to her.
“I don’t take after her,” I snap. “My twin sister does, however.”
“Twin sister?” Giovanni repeats and when I gesture toward Melissa who looks upset and annoyed next to her mother, Giovanni chuckles. “Interesting.”
“What is?”
“Oh, the secrets, dear girl,” he says with another chuckle, clearly enjoying himself, but when he turns back to look at me, the glint in his eye is so intense and dark, I take a small step back. “Who are you?”
“What?”
“I’m sure I’ve seen you somewhere,” he says in a low, dangerous tone filled with conviction as if he did see me somewhere.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Where was he hiding you?” Giovanni questions instead, taking a step closer.
Beverly is the one who kept me like a dirty secret, pulling me out to save her daughter from the inevitable trading she was going to suffer.
To be fair, this is a question I was expecting… but not from the likes of this man.
None of them would care about the truth when their interests are on the line.
“He didn’t hide me,” I mutter, but as soon as the lie rolls off my tongue, I feel disgusted with myself. Why am I lying for Beverly and her husband?
But then again, how do I tell a whole stranger that’s giving major ‘run away’ energy, that I was abandoned and set aside for shady dealings such as these?
“Then you wouldn’t mind telling me exactly where you lived, right?” Giovanni smiles again.
My heart leaps in my chest.
That sense of caution starts screaming at me again.
“California,” I spit out.
Giovanni steps even closer, like a beast closing in on the kill.
“Where exactly in California?” he demands, his voice dropping even further. “Who did you live with
My heart beats wildly and out of control.
If I don’t get a grip of myself, I’m going to get a panic attack, which somehow always triggers my asthma attack.
My palms grow damp and clammy. My chest feels tight.
Why am I reacting like this?
“Where in California are you from, little girl?” Giovanni demands, his eyes darkening.
“Westbrook Blues,” I splutter, as if gasping for beath after drowning. “I’m from Westbrook Blues!”
Almost immediately, something flashes in Giovanni’s eyes, darkening his expression even further.
The crystal tumbler of whiskey in his hand cracks.
Danger!
I immediately back away.
“Uh, if you would excuse me—” I turn around as quickly as possible, ready to bolt out of the room, but I almost bump into Vaughn.
“Hey, is everything all right?” he questions, holding both my arms, but looking over my shoulder.
“Uh, yeah,” I splutter. “I’m just a little nervous.”
“Uncle, did you—” Vaughn starts, but Giovanni cuts him off, coming round to face Vaughn, but pointing at me.
“ Da dove viene questa ragazza, Vaughn? Dimmelo subito!” Giovanni seethes in a low voice. Vaughn’s eyebrows jump up.
“ Zio, di cosa stai parlando?” Vaughn replies.
I don’t understand what they’re saying, but I have a pretty good idea.
“Where is she from?” Giovanni seethes.
“She grew up in Westbrook Blues,” Vaughn answers, with a forced, tight smile on his face, but this seems to be the wrong response because Giovanni’s face completely clouds in anger, his eyes shifting to glare at me.
“No! It can’t be!” Giovanni spits, as if demented. “No, I won’t allow it!”
“Uncle, what are y?—”
But Vaughn doesn’t get to finish asking because right then, the huge double doors at the north end of the huge room open and everyone’s eyes swing in that direction.
A stilted silence falls over the room, as if everyone is expecting to see someone specific.
When my eyes adjust, I spot Vaughn’s grandfather being pushed in by a familiar-looking person.
Scarlet!
A wave of relief washes over me when I see her. Maybe she’ll tell me more about what’s happening.
Beside them is Senator Hughes’s father. Obviously they’d been talking quietly somewhere.
“Looks like everyone’s here,” Emmett’s grandfather says, then he looks around the room until his gaze rests on me. “Child, it’s good to see you again. Come here.”
Fear, hot and furious, rushes through me when my gaze meets this old man’s sharp, piercing gaze.
It’s as if he’s seeing beyond me, but I’m helpless to resist, so I walk forward, Vaughn by my side.
“It’s Ivy Marie, right?” he asks gently, when I get closer, still studying me.
“Yes, sir,” I mutter, barely shocked that he knows my second name. “It’s good to see you again.”
“Oh no. You can call me Armando or Grandpa Armando or just Grandpa like this one,” he says, gesturing to Scar who stands behind him.
From the corner of my eye, I notice Vaughn stare at his grandfather in slight shock that he masks away almost instantly.
Ignoring him, I quickly look at Scarlet and she nods imperceptibly. Her expression doesn’t change, as if we’re strangers.
Looks like everyone is putting on a show tonight.
“Grandpa Armando?” I mutter awkwardly.
“Yes, sounds perfect,” he says with a smile, his eyes glowing with something that makes tingles go down my spine. “You should absolutely call me that, beautiful girl.”
There’s only one grandfather I’ve ever had, but he was taken from me. Now, calling another old man ‘Grandpa’ feels… strange.
I wait for it to feel wrong, but as Vaughn’s grandfather watches me, I can’t help but feel an emotion I can’t quite name.
“Thank you, Grandpa,” I say with a forced smile.
His smile actually broadens, and he gives me a nod, then Vaughn greets Senator Hughes’s father while Scar looks at me without saying anything.
“This is my cousin, Scarlet, Uncle Giovanni’s daughter. She has a brother a year younger than her, Xavier. He’s not here tonight, though,” Vaughn says.
“I can be introduced without being linked to my genealogy, Vaughn, thank you very much,” Scarlet says sharply, rolling her eyes, and I almost smile.
Melissa also comes forward to greet Grandpa Armando and Scarlet, but before Grandpa can say anything, Scarlet looks at Melissa with a heated gaze.
“You disgust me,” she says in a low, almost warm tone that suggest friendliness, but the look in her eyes is so cold and deadly as she looks at Melissa, the poor girl backs up a few steps.
I’m shocked by the hostility. Does Scarlet also know what Melissa did?
“Scar, play nice,” Grandpa Armando says almost endearingly, not addressing Melissa at all. It looks like Scar is loved by this old man.
“You look a little pea-green there,” Scarlet says, looking at Melissa. “Coke withdrawal?”
Melissa’s eyes widen with shock. “W-what?” she stutters.
“You and I are going to have some fun for a while,” Scarlet says with a smile that looks warm but actually feels chilling and sinister.
I was thinking of what to do with Melissa, but it seems there’s someone who’s even more livid about Melissa’s actions and is ready to deal with her.
Melissa quickly backs away and goes to her parents, but Scarlet’s sharp eyes follow her there.
“Anyway, let’s have dinner,” Grandpa Armando says with a wink my way that shocks me.
Vaughn leads me to our seats. When he helps me settle down, I ask him what’s wrong.
“Nothing, really,” he says with a slight frown. “It’s just, he’s never let anyone call him by his name. Even friends and allies of the Family call him sir, but with you, he not only let you call him by his name, but he also gave you two other options.”
I’m slightly confused by the way Vaughn dissects this. Is it that deep?
“What do you call him?” I ask silently.