Chapter 7
“ W hat the devil is so important that you had to see me?” Serena snapped, wrapping her pashmina tightly around her shoulders to ward off the late-night chill. The calendar might say summer was a few days away, but the breeze coming from the east was cool enough to send shivers down my spine.
I paced along the length of the back patio. “I’m fine, thanks for asking.”
Serena sighed. “I know you are. If something was wrong with you, you wouldn’t say anything.”
I gave her a skeptical look.
“You’re tough like that.” My friend grinned, all teeth, feral and lupine—just like her mob boss brother. “Now! What’s this about?”
I stopped in front of her. The secret that I knew stuck in my throat, like a piece of food that wouldn’t go down or come back up.
“Anna?” Serena’s voice suddenly filled with concern. “What the hell is wrong?”
“Your brother is in trouble,” I whispered, starting with the most important, and working backward to the whole truth.
“My brother?” she repeated slowly.
I nodded. “To the world, he’s a businessman, right? A rich recluse who doesn’t socialize. I always wondered why, and I made it my mission six years ago to find out.”
Serena jerked back. Her hard breathing filled the space between us. “You snooped through his stuff?”
I nodded again. “But I never told anyone!”
“Yes, including me!” Serena shook her head, disgust twisting her face. “You’ve known all this time? About my family? And you never said. I thought we were best friends.”
I reached for her hands, but she pulled away. “It didn’t change anything between us.”
“It changed everything!” Serena's voice cracked. “All these years, you’ve been carrying this secret, judging us, pitying me—"
“No!” I stepped closer, desperate to make her understand. “Never pity. Never judgment. You’re my best friend, Serena. Your family circumstances don’t define you.”
She wrapped her arms around herself, turning away slightly. “What kind of trouble is he in?”
I lowered my voice, though we were alone on the patio. “My father was meeting with the mayor. They’re planning to target mob businesses. Plant evidence if they have to. They didn’t single out Alessandro by name, but he needs to be on his guard.”
The color drained from Serena’s face. She sank onto a nearby bench, her fingers gripping the edge so tightly her knuckles turned white. “Why would the mayor agree to that?”
“I don’t know exactly. Something about promises made.” I sat beside her, keeping my voice low despite the privacy of the garden. “But they’re planning something soon. Your brother needs to know.”
Serena stared at the house. I let her have a minute, biting my lip to keep back any more words.
“Thank you for telling me. I’ll…drop a hint somehow.” Serena rose. “But you need to go now, Annaliese.”
I balked. She never used my full name. “Serena, I—”
“I said go.”
I stood frozen, the full weight of her rejection hitting me like a physical blow. Her use of my full name carved a chasm between us that hadn’t existed moments before.
“Serena, please,” I tried again, my voice barely above a whisper. “I was trying to protect you.”
“By lying to me for years?” Her eyes, usually so warm, were now cold and distant. “By pretending to be my friend while keeping secrets?”
“I wasn’t pretending!” The words burst from me. “Everything between us has been real.”
She shook her head, a bitter laugh escaping her lips. “A real friendship doesn’t have secrets like this. Real friends don’t spy on each other’s families.”
“I wasn’t spying on you,” I insisted, desperation clawing at my throat. “I was curious, and then when I found out, I was scared for you.”
“Don’t call me—ever.”
The way she said it—cold, distant—sent a chill through me. I’d never heard that tone from her before. It was as if a wall had suddenly risen between us, turning my best friend into a stranger.
“I understand you’re upset,” I said, reaching for her hand one more time. “But I came to you as soon as I knew. I couldn’t let your family be blindsided.”
Serena simply walked past me, opened the sliding glass door, and let herself into the house. A crack, deep and painful, formed in my chest. I opened my mouth, but the strangled noise was half cry, half sob. This was it? Was my best friend just going to shut me out of her life?
For a secret?
The drive home felt endless, my mind replaying Serena’s expression—the hurt, the betrayal, the fear. In trying to help her, I’d exposed a wound between us that I hadn’t even realized existed. All these years, I’d carried her secret, thinking I was protecting our friendship. Instead, I’d been erecting a wall brick by brick.
As I pulled into my family’s circular driveway, my phone buzzed with a text. I snatched it, hoping it was Serena coming to her senses. Or at least offering me another chance to talk!
Shadow Prince: Dinner tomorrow? I have something important to discuss.
“Are you going to act the same way when I tell you?” I whispered to the phone.
There was a lesson to be learned with Serena. It didn’t have to end that way with Leonard, I just needed to find a way out. But no ideas came readily to mind. I stared at the message, suddenly exhausted by all the secrets, all the half-truths. Leonard still didn’t know who I really was. My parents didn’t know about Leonard. Serena was furious with me for knowing about her family. Everything was tangled in a web of my own making, and I was starting to forget which threads led where.