Chapter 23
VANESSA
Oh, this was gold.
What better way to rub my brother’s face in it than to tell him casually, that Lila had found a new man in Greece?
I mean, she hadn’t done anything, but Victor didn’t know that.
So, I made a trip to my mom’s, when I knew he’d be there and my mother wouldn’t be. Mom never missed church, and tonight was no exception. She loved bible study.
I let myself in and beamed at him.
He was eating dinner, the spoonful of pasta halfway to his mouth when he caught sight of me. His face fell.
Good.
“You’re smiling.” He shoved the food in his mouth and stared at me.
“Am I?” I sat across from him at the table, flicking through my phone. “Where’s Mom?”
“Church.” Victor eyeballed me. “You knew that though. Which means you’re here to see me.”
He was still clever then, despite acting like the stupidest jerk on the planet.
“Maybe. How are you?”
Victor continued eating, shaking his head.
“Oh, come on. Can’t a sister ask her brother how he is?” I rested my head on my hand until he finished chewing.
“You don’t give a fuck how I am. So just say whatever it is you’re here to say.”
I couldn’t even pretend to be wounded. I was furious with my brother, so fuck sibling loyalty.
“Lila is in Greece.”
Bomb number 1: dropped. To my surprise, Victor grunted.
“I know.”
Oh. Well, that was shit. He must have been stalking her socials. She hadn’t posted other than a few photos of the sea. I had inside knowledge.
“She’s met someone.” I held my breath as the fork dropped from his hand, falling onto the plate with a clatter. I raised my brows. “You didn’t know?”
It was magnificent to watch my brother physically react to my words. He changed colour, for the love of Gingie! His cheeks darkened and so did his eyes, his fists clenching.
“What the fuck did you just say?” His words scraped from his throat, and I nodded vigorously.
“Yeah, he’s British. Look, this is them visiting Rhodes Town. It’s beautiful, all cobbled streets and—” I turned my phone to show him a photo of my gorgeous best friend, smiling for a selfie she’d sent only to me, with a ridiculously hot silver fox. The caption?
Best day ever!
Victor snatched my phone clean from my hand, nearly toppling the table over as he did so.
“Jeez, bro.” I rolled my eyes, but I sat back and drank in his jealousy, storing every part of it for my best friend.
The way his breathing increased, his pupils dilating as he stared at the photo. The way his large hands clenched the phone so tight I thought he might snap it in two—worth it though—and how he swore beneath his breath.
“Who the fuck is he? What is she doing?” His words were both broken and raw, and I simply shrugged.
“Well, I think he’s also staying in her hotel. They went for dinner a few times—”
Victor threw my phone on the table, his eyes boring into me. “This isn’t fucking funny, Vanessa.”
“I’m not laughing.” I held his furious gaze before I continued. “Then she wasn’t well, some stomach bug—”
“What? Is she okay?” This was a different tone entirely—coated in panic and sheer anxiety.
Even I couldn’t do that to him.
“Yes, she’s fine. This guy speaks Greek, so he got her to see a good doctor. She’s fine, as I said, just a stomach bug. Yeah, so that’s all I know. I just thought you’d want to know.”
Victor's chest rose and fell so fast I almost regretted it. I didn’t want him to have a heart attack.
But he’d done this, so fuck him.
“So, she’s okay?” Victor sank into a chair, his shoulders sagging. “Good.”
I frowned. Did he not hear me say the hottie spoke Greek? And looked after her? I was secretly hoping Lila flew him home as her new husband, but she wouldn’t do that.
She wasn’t me. I’d do it just to be fucking petty.
“Anyway.” I picked up my phone and saw tears in my brother's eyes. I paused, not wanting to reassure him, but still… something hurt seeing him like that.
Even though I was mad at him for fucking everything up, he was still my brother. I spied the construction clothes hanging over the chair.
“You got another job then?” I nodded to the clothes.
Victor looked up, his gaze following mine. “Yeah.”
I turned to go, but something stopped me. I had to ask, because now he’d tell me. Wouldn’t he?
“Are you still seeing that tramp?” I stared into eyes that mirrored mine, my heart racing as I waited for the answer.
Lila thought he would be. I prayed she was wrong.
“Who?” Victor looked grey for a second, the bags under his eyes darker than I’d ever seen them.
“That slut you broke your marriage for.”
Victor shook his head like he was repulsed at the very suggestion, and a part of me thawed towards him.
“So, you’re not completely fucking stupid then.” I smirked.
“I am,” Victor said with a sigh. “But you came to make me feel worse, so congratulations, you succeeded. You can go.”
He shoved the chair back and grabbed his plate, disappearing into the kitchen.
I stared after him, wondering where my pettiness had gone. It had left me suddenly, and I felt strange.
He deserved to feel like this, didn’t he? Even Enzo thought so.
My heart skipped a beat at the thought of my brother’s best friend, but I shoved that thought away. I didn’t have time for that. Not now.
When I’d spoken to Lila yesterday, she’d sounded perfectly fine. At least she had some rich British man whisking her around a Greek island—she deserved that.
But my brother…
I stared at him as he washed his dishes, his shoulders slumped.
Thoughts ricocheted around my mind, and I had to hold the back of the chair to steady myself.
He fucking cheated! He ruined her life!
He loved her so fucking much.
Could it have been down to miscommunication? I could kill them both.
They were getting a divorce and selling their house.
This was done, it was over, and rightly so.
So why did it feel wrong?
I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. I needed to leave before I tried to make him feel better or something—
“Are you leaving?” Victor rubbed his eyes tiredly. “I’m going to bed.”
“It’s barely evening,” I pointed out as he shrugged.
“I’m tired.”
He looked exhausted. But I couldn’t bring myself to leave just yet, so I made some excuse about waiting for Mom.
Victor said nothing, and I watched him climb the stairs like a broken man.
Which felt kind of sad, really.