31. Explanations
31
Explanations
Jessica
We all sit there in silence after Lilith finishes her story.
Carolina looks stunned, but Antoinette looks an odd mix between shocked and horrified, with an underlying glimmer of sadness.
Lilith glances at each of us and then focuses on Antoinette as she asks, “Do you have any questions?”
Antoinette frowns, shaking her head as she says quietly, “I don’t know.”
Lilith smiles, laughing humorlessly as she replies, “I totally get that.”
“Have you known this whole time that Matt is the Mathias you named?”
Lilith frowns and shakes her head. “No, not the entire time.”
“How long?” Antoinette asks with a frown.
“Mickey updated me after my initial resurrection.”
“And Matt has known since then, too?”
She shakes her head, then answers, “No, I told him a bit later when the whole question of how best to save Carolina was circling. But then Tony grew into a man, and the problem resolved itself.”
“By marrying me?” Carolina asks.
Lilith turns to her and nods. “Yes, that was a solid enough union to eliminate a lot of possible threats, so we ran with it.”
Antoinette snorts and retorts, “As if Tony would’ve allowed someone else to marry Carolina.”
“True,” Lilith replies. “And he would’ve been even more infuriated by the idea that Matt outranked him.”
Antoinette laughs. “Kind of sad I missed the opportunity to razz him.”
Both women laugh, and I frown at what is obviously an inside joke. I wait for their laughter to die down and then ask, “So Matt being a Ferro means what exactly?”
Lilith and Antoinette look at me like I’ve suddenly sprouted two heads, and then Lilith turns to Antoinette and asks, “Is she for real?”
“She’s been out of the game for a spell,” Antoinette replies with a shrug. “And she’s a bit younger than me, so she wouldn’t know much about the old families.”
Lilith raises a brow quizzically as she peers at me, and I’m just shy of starting to squirm when she beams a glowing smile at me and exclaims, “Well, the Ferros are the oldest and most powerful family in the organization. So being the head of the Ferro family puts a person firmly at the top of the entire empire.”
“So, there’s more of them?”
“Well, no.”
“What?” I squawk. “What happened to them?”
Lilith’s smile brightens even more as she responds, “Oh, I killed them.”
I frown, squinting at her enthusiasm, completely lost for words. Then Antoinette adds, “They totally had it coming.”
I rub my hands over my face tiredly as I mutter, “I’m sure they did.”
Carolina sighs and moves closer to me, leaning in as she says, “You get used to it.”
I turn raised brows to her and ask, “Get used to what?”
“The constant fuckery.”
“Okay,” I respond seriously. “Someone answer me one question.” I glance around the room, and everyone stares at me expectantly, but no one says anything. So, after a beat, I ask, “Why would Matt announce this now? When everyone was already out for his head?”
“Oh, that’s easy,” Lilith answers with a smile. “Because he knows it’ll spread like wildfire, and all the rats will come out of the sewers in the hopes of taking him out and getting themselves the whole lot.”
“Surely there’s a better way to go about it? Something more methodical and sinister. Less fucking crazy.”
Lilith makes a face, tipping her head from side to side as she says, “Well, sure. But this way had far more impact given so many families were in attendance. And knowing he’s a Ferro means they’re less likely to kill him outright. Gotta stick with the rules and regs when you’re trying to steal a throne.” I nod but say nothing, too tired to think about it anymore tonight, and then Lilith asks, “Anything else?”
Antoinette presses her lips together, squinting her eyes, and then, after a beat, says, “Wait. How are you not related?”
“Oh,” Lilith exclaims. “Old man Ferro stole me from my parents when I was a small child.”
Antoinette’s eyes widen as she says, “Stole how?”
“Well, he murdered them and took me.”
“And no one tried to get you back?”
Lilith shakes her head and then shrugs. “He basically took out the majority of my family. The few who were left scattered into the wind, with the exception of my father’s brother.”
“And what did he do?” Antoinette asks cautiously as if unsure she wants to know.
“Oh, he stayed beside me my entire life. My most trusted confidante and colleague.”
Antoinette frowns and looks around as she ponders the statement. Then, suddenly, her eyes light up, and she turns to Lilith and asks, “Mickey?”
“Yes,” Lilith replies with a nod. “He snuck his way in there, and they were none the wiser.”
“Why didn’t he try to get you out?” Carolina asks.
“That would have been a death sentence,” Lilith answers. “Unless he had a huge following for protection, there’s no way either of us would have made it out alive. So, he figured the best thing he could do was to stick by my side and at least try to keep me from ending up dead in a ditch somewhere.”
Antoinette’s excited expression falls into sadness as she whispers, “Oh, the stuff that poor man had to witness.”
We fall into silence again, each of us contemplating what Lilith has told us in our current situation. Which brings my focus back to Matt and the last scene I saw before our escape.
A choked whimper falls from my lips, and all the women turn to me. It’s who Antoinette moves closer and rests her hand on my arm as she says, “It will be okay, Jess.”
I shudder, shaking my head as I ask, “How can you know that?”
Antoinette sighs and then says, “Well, I guess I don’t really, but I still believe it.”
“Did you see it?”
Antoinette shakes her head, turns to Camilla, and asks, “Did you see it?”
She shakes her head. “I didn’t see anything with us trying to get out.”
Antoinette laughs, and I smile because she sure as fuck does look like Marieka. “It’s fucking creepy how much you look like Marieka.”
Camilla smiles proudly. “Stature aside, I can be pretty much anyone.”
I shake my head, staring at her as I reply, “That is actually incredibly creepy and a little disturbing. And also empowering. I’m a little jealous.”
Carolina and Antoinette nod in agreement, and Marieka steps closer to Camilla, staring at her in awe as she says, “I will never get used to it. Think about the pranks we could pull.”
I sit there, enjoying a moment of calm. After a few minutes, I finally center myself and then say matter-of-factly, “So, what’s next? I can’t just keep sitting here wondering if Matt is alive or not. So how do we find out?”
Lilith walks over to me, her hands coming to my shoulders. She looks me in the eyes and says, “I know you haven’t been around very long, Jess, but I think you already know the answer to that.”
And I do.
I smile and nod my head, and then all of us collectively move to the other side of the room, gathering around a workstation.
Antoinette powers up the computer, then turns to me and says, “Let’s get to work.”