CHAPTER 57 - ARIANNA
CHAPTER
Arianna
MARIA STARES AT ME like I’ve asked her to run down the street naked. “It was only a suggestion!” I explain. “You don’t have to keep yourself locked away now.”
“How can I face those people?” Maria sniffs, the tremor in her voice hinting that tears aren’t far away. “After what I did... That stupid decision... I feel so dreadful for putting you... you and Red in that position.” Her blue eyes gloss over. “You could have been killed.”
“Well, we weren’t.” I don’t know how many times I’ve been over this, and as much as I hate to admit it, it’s wearing thin. Gritting my teeth, I wait for what I know will follow.
“Now you have to live with... with killing our brother.”
And there it is.
“Matteo had to die, Maria,” I say calmly. “I thought you understood that.”
“I did! I do!” Maria wails. “I-I just wish...”
“Wish what? That everything was how it used to be? That we remained stuck on borrowed time waiting to be married off to the highest bidder again or being used as baby machines?”
I hold no guilt for killing Matteo. It has freed me from the chains that bound me, one way or another.
“Have you heard from Papà?” Maria asks hesitantly. “Does... does he know... know that Matteo is dead and that it was...”
“That it was me who killed him, you mean?” I snap, then relent, reminding myself yet again that Maria is not only cut from a different cloth, but from a whole different batch. “No, I haven’t heard from him, and I don’t expect to. Neither should you.”
Maria reaches for my hand. “If you hadn’t come, I would have been expected to marry Luca, wouldn’t I? And it... it wasn’t him who drugged me. It was Matteo.”
“And you’re sure Luca didn’t touch you?” I’ve asked this before - several times - but there’s something she’s not saying. “What is it you haven’t told me? If Luca did anything, then you need to tell me. You could be pregnant, and so we’ll need to...”
“He did not touch me.” Maria’s eyes darken. “As I said, it was Matteo who drugged me. Luca did nothing. He was angry but didn’t lay a finger on me.”
“Angry?”
“Yes, because Matteo accepted me into the order and not you.” Maria’s eyes lock onto mine. “Luca wanted you, not me.”
Somewhere inside me stills as I recall Luca’s words just before I shot Matteo. “You were always supposed to be mine”.
“They were arguing, and Luca was shouting, ‘You know I don’t want this one’,” Maria continues. “No one ever wants me. It’s always the same.”
I feel sick when Maria’s bottom lip quivers. Holy shit, her major issue with this is that she wasn’t that lunatic’s first choice, and lucky me - I was!
I stare at my sister, unsure what to say. This is fucked up.
“It’s okay for you, Arianna,” she whines. “You seem to genuinely like Red and don’t mind his hands all over you even though he’s not one of us.”
“Not one of us?” I gasp. “What is that supposed to mean? Are you saying I should have remained married to Roberto?”
“All I know is that if you had stayed married to him, then none of this would have happened!” Maria snaps. “You’ve changed, Arianna. You can’t just go around killing men you don’t like!”
“I can’t believe I’m hearing this!” Men I don’t like? It must be my combined look of rage and horror that makes Maria dissolve into another round of uncontrollable sobs.
“Oh God! I didn’t mean that,” she wails. “I know it’s not like that. I’m so sorry, I’m confused.”
She grasps my hands, and I want to snatch them away, but I don’t.
“I’m panicking, Arianna. I don’t know what’s going to happen or where I’ll go now. I...”
“It’s simple enough.” I soothe, my sympathy returning for the lost soul who is my blood. “You remain here with us.”
“But... but you’ve got your own life now.” Maria glances around the bedroom above the Scorpio Lounge. “You have a husband - a life. You’ve been accepted into their lives. And ways...”
“And so will you!” Standing up, I pull Maria to her feet.
“Wh-What are you doing?”
“Taking you down to the casino.” I pull her over to the dressing table and hand her one of my lipsticks. “Put some of this on.”
“What? I can’t go down there. All those people and...”
“You can, and you will,” I insist. “It’s time to get yourself a life, Maria. It may be different to the one you expected, but that’s how it goes. I won’t let you hide away anymore. We’re safe now, so get back into the land of the living.”
My words sound impressive, but one nagging fact remains. How safe are we really with Luca Bristoni still somewhere on this planet?
I’m unsure, but until I know otherwise, I’m living my life and living it with Red. I won’t allow Maria to waste her life any longer either.