Chapter 42
ISEULT
Hand in hand, we make it downstairs to the dinner my father arranged for both sides of the family.
It’s a way to celebrate Gio and me, and it was something everyone needed. Between what happened with Gio’s father and his betrayal of Raph and what happened with Sergey and Kora, we needed to unwind.
I spot Eriu sitting by herself on the sofa, watching Sophia twirl in her pink tutu, her brown hair up in a ballerina bun while she dances to Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.”
I give Gio a kiss on his cheek, telling him I need a moment with my sister. His lips drop to the top of my hand before he rushes toward Sophia and throws her over his shoulder.
She giggles. “Put me down, you crazy man!” Her little fists pound on his back.
It makes my heart swell to see how good he is with his niece. He’d make a good father. Maybe we’d balance each other out.
“Hey…” I sit beside Eriu, not having spoken to her since what happened yesterday.
She slept most of the day and seemed quiet once she woke up. Not that I can blame her. It was a lot, especially for someone who hasn’t been around violence.
She’s lived a pretty sheltered life, and I’m glad for that. I’d take her place every time. I want my sister to be like a normal girl her age—attending college, having boyfriends, going to parties. Not get kidnapped by my tormentor and bitch of a best friend, who turned out to be an evil cunt.
“Hey.” She returns a faint smile. “Sophia is so darn cute, isn’t she?”
“Yeah…” I stare fondly at the little girl. “She’s alright.”
Eriu glances at my arm. “Does it hurt?”
“Nah, I’ll be fine.” My lips pinch with a smile. “Nothing to worry about. Doc said I’ll be good as new in no time.”
Other than a scar, I’ll be healed in a few weeks. Just a flesh wound, like I thought.
She nods, staring silently at everyone.
“Look at me,” I tell her.
When she does, I take her hand in mine.
“I’m sorry, Eriu. I’m so sorry if you left because of me. It’s been eating at me, and I can’t help but think what could’ve happened to you if I hadn’t found you.”
“Why would you be sorry? You didn’t do anything wrong.
” Her brows lower. “I told Dad the same. The only reason I left was because I didn’t want to marry Gio.
And after Dad’s wedding—after I realized how much Gio cares about you—I figured if I left, Dad would have no choice but to make you marry Gio. ”
My laugh fills me with warmth. “That was pretty ballsy.”
She shrugs. “Sometimes I have it in me.”
“You have it all in you, Eriu. You’re strong. Beautiful. Capable.” I drag a long inhale into my lungs. “I love you.”
“And I love you.” She slants her head. “You deserve this, Iseult. You’ve always been so worried about taking care of me. Running away was my way of taking care of you.”
“Hit me right in the feels, why don’t you?” I twist my face and snicker.
“I mean it.” Her eyes stare sharply at me. “I still can’t believe Kora did that. I can’t get it out of my head. I thought she was our friend.”
I clasp an arm around her. “I know. This world is made up of people who are capable of hurting us in unimaginable ways. But we have to remember that there are just as many people who would give us the world without us even asking.”
My eyes go to Gio, and his find mine.
I hold Sophia’s hands as we spin around my father’s living room, waiting to see which one of us becomes dizzy first.
I didn’t make the rules. The kid did. And she’s one stiff competitor.
“Are you ready to give up yet?” she joshes, while everyone else chuckles.
“Gonna get bested by the wee one,” Fionn teases.
“Not in this life,” I mutter, my head literally spinning.
How the fuck is she not done yet?
“Are you sure you’re not dizzy?” I ask her.
“Nope.” She goes even faster. “Daddy says I have superpowers. I used to spin like this when I was three, and he would worry, but I never got dizzy. Right, Daddy?”
Michael chuckles. “Yes, princess. But maybe you should stop now and go have ice cream.”
“The ice cream will still be there, Daddy. I have to win.”
“Oh my God. You’re a little devil,” I huff, slowing down, until I stop completely because I’m about to fall on my ass and really embarrass myself. “You win!”
The entire room spins like a merry-go-round and the damn bullet wound throbs like a mother. I drop my palms on my knees and take some deep breaths.
“You owe me twenty dollars, please,” the tiny devil declares, sticking out her hand, standing in front of me.
Well, more like five of her is standing in front of me while I try not to heave.
“How about Uncle Gio gives you that money?” He loops an arm around me from behind and kisses the back of my head. “I could’ve told you to never go head-to-head with Sophia in this game,” he whispers to me. “She’s going to win every time.”
I groan. “Could’ve led with that before I suffered at the hands of this tiny human.”
“Kinda wanted to see you get beaten by a six-year-old.”
I turn and glare, his face appearing wobbly before my eyes.
“Let me get Iseult on the couch,” he tells Sophia with amusement flanking his tone. “Then I’ll give you a fifty.”
He shifts to my side and still has his arm planted around me.
Sophia’s eyes grow wide, and her mouth widens with joy. “I can buy so much gum with fifty dollars. Thanks, Uncle Gio!” She throws herself at him and hugs him tightly.
As I settle on the sofa, he takes out his wallet and hands her the cash.
“Thank you!” She grins and waves the cash around, dancing all silly, while Elsie comes to sit by my side.
“I heard what happened with Kora…and Sergey,” she speaks low in my ear. “If you ever need to talk, I know someone.”
“I may take you up on that.”
I don’t know if she was told about my past with Sergey or just the present, but I intend to talk to her about it when I’m ready. Because I know, of all people, she would understand.
“Of course,” she adds. “You know my demons, and you know therapy helped a little. So has Jade. She can help you too.”
Elsie lived a horror of a life before she found Michael.
She and her two friends, Jade and Kayla, were kidnapped and trafficked by the Palermo crime family before the Cavaleri brothers extinguished them.
Faro Bianchi, who once ran the family, killed the brothers’ father when they were kids, and that caused them to go on the run.
Until fifteen years later, when they grew a massive empire and took their revenge.
From what Gio told me, Jade married Enzo Cavaleri, who saved her from that life.
So I know Elsie means well when she says she wants to help me, and I’m grateful for that.
I return to watching Gio and Sophia dance together, him goofing around with her, and it makes me smile.
She glances over at me and quietly says, “You’d be a great mother someday.”
“I don’t think that’s true.”
“It is.” Her penetrating gaze probes mine like she’s sure.
“How do you do it?” I ask her, staring at Sophia. “How are you so good at being her mother?”
Her large brown eyes gleam. “It all comes from here.” She places a palm against the center of her chest, then picks up my wrist and places my palm over my beating heart. “I promise you have it too.”
“How do you know?”
“Call it intuition.” Her mouth jerks. “Plus, who else would spin around the room the way you did with her just because she asked?”
“Call me competitive.”
“No.” She scrunches her nose. “It was more than that. You like her.”
“I kinda do.”
GIO
“So, you got the woman you wanted after all, huh?” Raph bumps my shoulder, watching Nicolette and Elsie talking while Iseult and Eriu chat with their father.
“So did you,” I tell him just as Michael strides up with a glass of whiskey in hand.
“What are you two talking about?”
“About how fucking pissed I still am that you arranged an engagement to Eriu behind my back.”
I’m not mad anymore. I’m just messing with him, and he knows it too, with the way his mouth jerks.
“Seems it all worked out in the end, didn’t it?” he muses.
“It did. Thank God, or I would’ve killed you.”
He chuckles dryly. “Sure, you would’ve.”
Just as we’re about to walk over to our women, chaos erupts, and someone bursts through the room. And as soon as I take in his dark hair and blue eyes…
Devlin—or Donny. Whatever the fuck his name is.
“Where is she?” His eyes scan the room. “Where in the bloody hell is Eriu?”
The man looks like he’s on the brink of losing his sanity.
“I’m right here,” she whispers, walking up to him slowly.
His eyes probe her from top to bottom. “Are you alright?”
His arms reach for her, but when he registers Patrick marching up behind her, he lowers them.
“Where’s Sergey?” Devlin seethes. “I’m gonna kill him.”
His tone is brisk, ready for war, and by his bloody knuckles, I can tell he has been battling, most likely out looking for her like we were.
“Seems like you’re late to the party.” Cillian throws an arm around him. “Come, have a drink. It’s been too long.”
“Not yet. We need to talk about something I found about that arsehole Bryce.” He stares me dead in the face. “We should do it in private, though.”
“Come on, Sophia.” Mom takes her hand. “Let’s go raid the kitchen and find all the candy.”
She wags her brows while Sophia’s widened gaze darts to everyone, even as Mom drags her away.
My pulse slams in my head.
“What did you say?” I march up to him.
“Ah, you again?” His cold expression greets me.
I fist my hands, wanting to pummel his face.
Iseult curls an arm around me. “Relax. Both of you. We’re all on the same side.”
“Same side?” Devlin snickers. “I’m not on the same bloody side as someone who’s friends with a low-life trafficker.”
“He had no idea,” Iseult informs him and takes a single step toward him, her eyes narrowing. “So you’d better watch your tongue when you’re talking about my fiancé.”
She grabs my hand and holds it tight.
“I see.” Devlin eyes me hard. He pauses before he finds his next words. “So you’re saying you had no idea he was helping smuggle hundreds of girls for six months before he died?”
“Fuck no. We’d never approve of that.”