Chapter 11 Just Another Tuesday In My Life
Just Another Tuesday In My Life
Tess
The sound of muffled chatter pulls me from sleep just as my door creaks open.
Blinking groggily, I spot Carina slipping inside, quietly closing the door behind her.
“Hey, Tess,” she whispers when she sees I’m awake.
“Hey, Cari,” I mumble through a yawn, rubbing at my eyes. “What are you doing here?”
“Enzo’s my best friend. He called to say he was here, so I came.” She shrugs like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
Oh.
She hesitates, then adds, “I’ve been wanting to check on you, see how you’re doing. Sounds like... there’s a lot going on.”
Carina crosses the room and, before I can say anything else, she wraps her arms around me in a tight hug. Her hold is warm and reassuring, like she’s trying to squeeze some strength into me.
“I don’t understand any of this,” I admit quietly, my voice cracking. “It’s all just... too much.”
“I think Enzo has some answers,” she says, pulling back to meet my gaze, “but he wouldn’t explain anything until you were up.”
I swallow hard, my thoughts spinning. “Did he tell you...?” My words falter, stuck in my throat.
“That he’s your brother?” She nods. “Yeah, he told me.”
“How is that even possible?”
Carina offers a small, sympathetic smile. “That’s a question for him, I think.”
She gestures for me to get up, and I groan as I stretch, my back cracking loudly.
“I’ll be out in a sec,” I tell her, trying to gather myself.
“Alright. Love you, Tess,” she says, pausing at the door with a small smile.
“Love you too, Cari.”
I slip into some joggers and an oversized jumper, tying my hair up in a messy bun. I could use a shower, but I’m way more interested in what Enzo has to say.
I take the stairs two at a time and skid to a stop in the living room doorway, the room going silent as all eyes turn to me.
Carina’s curled up next to Nate on the sofa, Cupcake peacefully snoring in Nate’s lap. Kai’s sitting in the armchair, his face a hard mask—imagine the Mona Lisa after being dragged through a hedge backwards.
I realise now that he’s uncomfortable. He doesn’t like having so many people in his space. It almost makes me feel bad for him. Almost.
Then there’s Enzo, leaning against the far wall like he’s surveying a battlefield. His eyes lock with mine, and he tries to smile, but it looks more of a grimace than anything reassuring.
I make my way to the sofa and plop down next to Carina and Nate, trying to pretend like this isn’t the most awkward moment of my life.
No one says a word. The silence is so thick you could cut it with a butter knife, so naturally, I blurt out the first thing that pops into my head.
“So... is this a family intervention, or are we just collectively bad at small talk?”
Enzo snorts a laugh, earning a glare from Kai, who looks like he’s auditioning for the role of Most Likely To Murder Someone At A Dinner Party.
“Tess, I’m sorry for springing that revelation on you earlier,” Enzo says, opening what I’m sure is going to be a series of uncomfortable conversations.
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” I say, waving a hand dismissively. “Finding out I have a long-lost brother is barely cracking the top five weirdest things that happened to me this week. You’re basically a side dish at this point.”
“How do you know she’s your sister?” Nate asks, probing.
“Kai asked me to look into her adoption—”
“What the fuck?” I screech. “How do you even know about that?”
Kai rolls his eyes like I’m the most oblivious person on the planet. “I know everything about you, Tess.”
“You didn’t know I have a brother,” I retort, crossing my arms defiantly.
“Neither did you,” he points out, ever the voice of reason.
“Well... I bet you didn’t know I used to eat ketchup on my cereal.” I smirk, waiting for his reaction.
“You’re right. I’ve been bested. Apologies.” He bows dramatically. I can’t help but grin, feeling a brief moment of victory.
“What is happening here?” Carina asks, eyes darting between the two of us.
We both remain silent, but of course, Enzo—the traitor—decides to chime in. “They’re fucking.”
“We are not.” I glare at him, while Kai shoots daggers from across the room.
“Can we get back to the conversation?” Kai grumbles.
Nate leans forwards. “No, I think we need to talk more about this fucking the two of you may or may not be doing.” The amusement in his tone is obvious.
Kai scowls, lines developing between his brows. “There is no fucking.”
Enzo snaps back into business mode, wiping the smirk off his face. “Right. Anyway, as I was saying, I managed to uncover the adoption records—which was difficult, so I’m not surprised you couldn’t.” he glances pointedly at Kai. “And I found out who her birth parents are.”
All eyes are on him now, and my heart is threatening to jump out of my chest.
“We’re half-siblings, technically. I’m guessing your mother gave you up in the hopes that our father would never find out about you.”
“So, we have the same dad?” I ask, still trying to wrap my mind around the news.
“Yep.”
“Right. Okay. This is fine. Not a big deal.” I nod, though I can feel the weight of this information crashing down on me.
“That’s not all.”
Of course. Why would it be?
“What else is there?”
“Well… as these guys know, our father is the head of the New York Italian Mafia and—”
“Ex-fucking-scuse me!” I interrupt. “Why is that the last thing I find out? Seriously, why is everyone holding out on me?”
Enzo continues like I didn’t even speak, though I can see the amusement in his eyes. “—And that’s why the Russians are after you.”
“Great,” I deadpan, flopping back against the sofa. “Just another Tuesday in my life.”
“How do they even know about her? It’s not like she’s wearing a neon sign that says ‘Hey, I’m a mafia princess,’” Nate asks, dragging himself back into the conversation.
I snort at the thought. “It’s not like I’m walking around wearing a tiara that says, ‘I’m in an episode of Eastenders’ either.”
Nate laughs so hard he nearly falls off the sofa, causing Cupcake to glare at him as he resettles himself into Carina’s lap.
Kai, who’s been quietly watching the exchange, finally lets out a frustrated sigh. “I’m surrounded by idiots.”
But even he can’t suppress the slight curve at the corner of his lips.
Enzo pulls the attention back to himself. “We need to work out what their game plan is.”
“Did you find out anything about the boyfriend?” Kai asks him.
I gape at him. “Stop digging into my life!”
He ignores me and keeps his focus on Enzo, whose expression has hardened.
“I think he was hired to kill her.”
“What the f—” I start, my mind reeling.
“I knew there was something off about him,” Kai mutters, cutting me off. “So, he was working with the Russians?”
“I don’t have proof yet. But that’s my guess.”
“How do we protect her?” Kai presses, still completely ignoring me.
They’re talking about me like I’m not even here.
“That’s why I’m here,” Enzo continues smoothly. “Papa is sending more of his men.” His eyes flick to me briefly before turning back to Kai. “So, we’ll have round-the-clock eyes on her.”
“Good. Okay.” Kai nods, trying to take control of the situation.
“I was thinking of moving her to a safehouse as well. Make it easier to watch her, at least until we can eliminate the threat.”
“I can’t just quit my life. I have rent, and bills, and—”
Enzo finally turns his attention back to me, and my stomach churns. “You don’t need to worry about any of that, I’ll deal with your job, and make sure your flat is paid for.
“Once this is over, you can decide how much of this life you want in on. There’s already been ten offers for your hand since the news broke.”
I stare blankly at him. What the fuckedy fuck?
The absurdity of the situation bubbles up inside me, a laugh escaping before I can stop it, followed by a rush of tears.
I swipe at them, but more fall. “What the actual fuck is happening right now? No. No, no. This can’t be real.
A week ago, the only thing I had to worry about was my boyfriend not being able to give me an orgasm, and now I’ve killed a man, fed him to pigs, I can’t go home, the Russian Mafia wants me dead, I’m some illegitimate Italian Mafia princess, men want to marry me, and—” I freeze, my heart skipping a beat. “—I want Kai to kiss me again.”
The last part slips out before I can even stop it, and I immediately throw my hands over my mouth, my eyes wide as saucers. Heat rises to my face, my entire body going rigid. What the hell did I just say? I can’t take it back now, and I have no idea what comes next.
Since I have no self-preservation skills or filter, I keep talking.
“Okay, seriously, whoever is writing my life story, can you just stop now? Because I am so not interested. I get it, alright? You want to throw in some trauma, maybe a dash of tension here and there, but you can cut it out. I’m good.
I really don’t need it. What I want is to—”
I’m cut off as Kai suddenly crouches in front of me, his hands gently cupping my cheeks. His voice is low and calm as he speaks, cutting through my spiralling thoughts.
“Breathe, Hurricane.”
His eyes capture mine and I stare into them as I try to calm my erratic heart rate and still my mind.
Kai wipes a stray tear from my cheek with his thumb. “You good?”
I nod, transfixed by his presence.
As he steps back, the absence of his touch leaves me feeling strangely cold. I want to say something, but my mind is still racing a thousand miles a minute. The whole situation feels like it’s spiralling out of control.
Enzo clears his throat, bringing me back to the room. “So, I think it’s safe to say we have some serious decisions ahead of us.”
I nod, but my attention drifts back to Kai, who’s now standing off to the side, arms crossed. There’s a tension in the air between us, something that wasn’t there before. I don’t know what to make of it.
“And we’ll figure it out,” Enzo adds, eyes flicking between Kai and me. “One step at a time.”
My brain is still struggling to process everything. Mafia. Russians. A brother. A boyfriend who might’ve been hired to kill me. And somehow, somewhere in all of this mess, the weirdest part is that I can’t seem to stop thinking about Kai.
I shake my head, trying to focus. “Right. One step at a time.”