REBECCA #2
While Audra contemplates the statement seriously. "You know it could. Easily. Maybe more. Paired with the matching wallet. Holding the keys to my new car…"
She trails off, and Jenna loops her arm through mine. "That's the cheap one."
I stare. "I'm sorry... the what?"
Audra bites her lip, trying not to laugh. Jenna points toward another display. "Those start around twelve."
"Twelve..." I look at her questioningly, having to ask, even though I'm afraid I already know the answer, "hundred?"
She smiles. "Thousand."
I physically recoil, then look back at the original purse. "Does it make coffee?"
"No."
"Change the oil in my truck?"
"No."
"Fold laundry?"
"No."
"Then absolutely not." I start walking toward the exit.
Jenna catches my arm. "Too late."
"What do you mean, too late?"
She turns to the sales associate. "We'll take it."
"No!"
"Yes."
"No!"
The poor salesman freezes, looking between us like he's wandered into a hostage negotiation.
"I'm serious."
"So am I." I cross my arms. "I'm not buying a four-thousand-dollar purse."
Jenna smiles sweetly. "Good."
"I..." I frown. "Wait, what?"
"Alessio is."
I blink. "What?"
She laughs. "He's buying it."
"I can't let him spend that kind of money on me."
"Why?"
"Because it's ridiculous."
"It is." She doesn't even argue. "It's completely ridiculous."
"Then why—"
"Because it makes him happy."
I stare at her. "What?" It seems to be the only word I'm capable of saying anymore.
Jenna picks up another purse, turning it thoughtfully in her hands. "Our men were raised to protect."
Audra adds. "And to provide."
"It's how they say I love you," Jenna continues. "Sometimes better than they do with actual words."
Jenna nudges my shoulder. "It's a different world."
"Very different," Audra agrees. "I grew up clipping coupons."
I blink. "You did?"
She laughs. "Not everyone started out like Miss Trust Fund over here."
"I was not a trust fund baby," Jenna protests.
"You absolutely had horses."
"I had one horse."
"Exactly."
Jenna rolls her eyes.
"My point is..." Audra looks back at me.
"There is plenty of darkness in our lives."
The warehouse flashes through my mind. The blood. The screaming. The smell of cordite. I nod.
"There always will be," Jenna adds softly.
"So when something good comes along..." Audra squeezes my hand, "…like girl time and this shopping trip...we let ourselves enjoy it."
"We celebrate birthdays." Jenna nods.
"We laugh." Audra grins. "And we buy the ridiculous purse."
"We steal weekends together." A wistful smile curves her lips. "We make memories."
"Because if we spend all our time waiting for the next terrible thing..." Jenna smiles sadly, "the terrible thing wins."
Silence settles over the three of us. I look down at the purse again.
It's still absurd. Still wildly overpriced.
But... will I have fun buying it, wearing it?
The answer is a big yes. Maybe it isn't really about the purse.
Maybe it's about letting Alessio love me without making him apologize for how he does it.
A slow smile spreads across my face. I glance at Olivere. "The challenge was to spend enough to make him sweat, right?"
Jenna's eyes light up. "There she is."
Audra raises her glass of sparkling cider. "Now you're thinking like a mafia girlfriend."
I laugh. "Let's see if we can make a billionaire nervous."
Jenna reaches over and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. "You're family now."
The words hit harder than they should. Family. I haven't had one of those in... God. A long time.
I hesitate. I don't want to lose these women, but I also don't want to get attached and then have them leave when they find out…
most of my life has been defined by what my father did.
People always find out one way or another, and when they do, they look at me differently.
I'd rather get this over with now than invest emotions and get disappointed.
Dad always said offense is the best defense.
So I take a deep breath. "You know..." The words come out before I can stop them. "My father killed my family."
Two pairs of eyes stare at me. Well... Here it comes. The pity. The horror. The questions.
Instead... Jenna simply reaches over and takes my hands. "My father almost had my son murdered to advance his political career, but Massimo stopped him."
That, I did not expect… She shrugs like she's talking about the weather. "He's not a very nice man."
Audra snorts. "That's one way of putting it.
" She slips one arm through mine. "My mother is certifiably crazy.
She hasn't killed anybody, but trust me, living with a narcissistic bitch.
" She makes air quotes with her fingers.
"That's what her therapist said, not me.
Growing up with that kind of crazy rubs off on you. "
I stare at her. "Seriously?"
Audra sighs dramatically. "Families are exhausting."
I look from one woman to the other. Neither of them is staring at me. Neither looks uncomfortable. Neither has taken a step back. No one asks if my father was always violent. No one asks what it was like. No one wonders whether I'm somehow broken because of what he did.
They just...
Stay.
Audra bumps my shoulder. "Welcome to the family."
Jenna smiles. "We're all a little messed up."
"A little?" Audra raises an eyebrow.
"Okay." Jenna laughs. "Catastrophically."
"I don't know how to do this," I admit.
Neither of them laughs. Instead... Jenna smiles. "Neither did I."
Audra agrees. "I thought Gabe was insane."
"He is insane," Jenna corrects matter-of-factly. "But that's unrelated."
Jenna squeezes my hands. "So you see, none of us do." She grins. "We're just making it up as we go."
For the first time in longer than I can remember...
I don't feel like the outsider looking in.
I feel... included. Like I have a life that's coming back to me.
A life that doesn't revolve around my father killing my family, a sister who is—was—missing.
A life where I have a boyfriend I love and who loves me, and just as important, a life where I have friends.
Audra raises her half-empty glass. "To catastrophically messed-up families."
Jenna clinks hers against it without missing a beat. "And the ones we build instead."
I lift mine, and my throat is tighter than I expect it to be. "To the ones we build instead."
We drink. Nobody says anything else. Nobody has to.