Chapter 39 #2
“How can I believe anything you say?” Remi cries.
“It’s also irrelevant to me whether you believe anything I say. Have a good evening.” My feet take me briskly to the other side of the patio, to the open bar.
“Whiskey, neat.” If ever there were a time for the hard stuff, it’s now. The bartender pours my booze, and I trade out drinks, wasting no time as I down the burning liquid.
Slamming my empty glass, I motion for another, and the bartender pours me a refill.
Using the glass to hide behind, I move to an empty corner of the party. Fabien’s across the way, talking to his capos. They all laugh at something the boss says, and I get a very deja vu feeling.
Except he’s not Michele, and you know it.
“Shut up, already,” I grumble.
“I’m sorry?” Alessandra appears beside me.
“Oh, hey Alessandra. Having fun?”
She frowns. “No. You?”
“No.” I match her brutal honesty.
“You don’t look like a bride.” She eyes my black ensemble.
“Thanks.” I’ll choose to take that as a compliment.
“So I was eavesdropping on the conversation between you and Remi…”
I shake my head with a wry smile. “Of course you were.”
She smiles sheepishly. “Remi is new to our family. She doesn’t understand…” Alessandra trails off, searching for the right words.
The gritty side of the mafia? The underbelly of the beast? The cold, hard truth of this reality?
“Our world?”
Alessandra nods at that explanation.
“Lucky her,” I drawl.
“You two could be friends,” she encourages.
“Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.” And the body bag.
“Wow, you’re jaded.” Alessandra eyes me with curiosity as I swirl the amber booze in my glass.
“Girlie pop, you don’t know the half of it.” With a little cheers, I break my one-drink-at-family-events rule and kick back the booze.
My body tingles, flushed with the warmth of the alcohol and the feel of Fabien’s gaze on me.
While I refuse to acknowledge him, Alessandra catches her brother staring. “Fabien’s always loved you, and please don’t say it’s complicated.”
Resentment grips my throat, making it hard to speak. “It’s not complicated. Fabien loves the family above all else.” His pretty declaration to place me above everything was just that: a pretty declaration.
“But you’re a part of the family now,” Alessandra points out.
“Angelo threatened my life at Michele’s funeral; wasn’t I part of the family then?” I challenge.
“Yes, but sometimes family members threaten each other,” she argues.
“Then that’s a messed up family dynamic,” I inform her.
Her forehead bunches. “Is it?”
Despite my dysfunctional upbringing, I’m positive it is, but I just shrug.
“Well, I’m glad you’re here, and I’m excited for you to open my gift,” Alessandra says cheerily.
“Which one is it? I’ll open it right now.” It’ll give me something to do besides ignoring Fabien’s eyes on me, and the way it does silly things to my stomach.
“That one.” She points to the large box wrapped in white paper, and I take her hand into mine, leading her across the patio to the gift table. Attacking the paper, I get to work on the box, and die laughing when the gold punch bowl is revealed. “I love it! And you even had it engraved.”
Fabien’s Head
Alessandra beams, clapping her hands excitedly.
“Wow, that’s an interesting gift,” Remi says, appearing beside us.
“You’ve never threatened to decapitate Angelo?” Alessandra asks with genuine interest.
Remi eyes her like that’s an insane question. “Um, no?”
“Pity,” I say coolly, mentally gearing up for a second round with this woman.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Remi turns her attention to me. “But I just wanted to say that I spoke to Angelo, and he confirmed what you said about your husband.”
“Former husband,” I correct her. “And if a man said it, guess it must be true.” My gaze falls to my nails, and damn, I really need a break from hostilities to fix my manicure.
“Former husband, and that’s not what I meant,” Remi says in an exasperated tone. “But honestly, do you blame me for not trusting you?”
It’s a rhetorical question, but I answer anyway. “No.”
“Sorry I was a bitch to you at your party,” Remi tells me on a sigh.
“Looking back on it, you did me a favor. Had I not walked in on you and Ellis, I might have never met my fiancé. So what I’m trying to say is, maybe we could start over.
Hi, I’m Remi. And yes, I stole your cat, but I’m not apologizing for that one,” she warns.
She extends her hand, and I place the bowl down and accept it. “Sienna. And no apologies necessary; I’ve never been a cat person.” We do a silly little shake, and I release her hand.
“Trust me, I picked up on that,” Remi says with a little laugh. “I suspect we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other, so let’s give this starting over thing a chance.”
“That might be tricky,” I warn her, being that she’s wearing rose-colored glasses. “For starters, your fiancé has threatened my life more times than I’m comfortable with.” As if any death threat is comfortable.
“If it makes you feel better, Angelo threatened my life when we first met,” Remi says with a little laugh.
“And my life has been threatened by Angelo more than anyone here,” Alessandra adds. “See, one big happy family.”
There’s a scuffle, and we snap our attention across the patio. Fabien throws a punch, knocking Angelo’s jaw to the side. Angelo wraps his arms around Fabien, and the men take it to the ground, where the brawl continues.
“One big happy family,” I call after Alessandra as she hurries to break up her brothers, with Remi hot on her heels.