Chapter 3
ISABELLA
The moment I walk in the door of my father’s house, I start looking for Analisa. The living room, dining room, parlor… she’s nowhere. I ask one of my cousins if they’ve seen her and they direct me upstairs. Apparently, they saw her running up there a little while ago, so I go up as well.
The upstairs hallway is quiet in comparison to the rest of the house.
Old smells seep up to me from the floorboards.
My mother’s perfume, the plate of cannoli that I dropped right at the door of my old room.
I pause by the door and take a brief look in.
My old furniture is still in there, but the mattress is bare and there are white blankets over my old chairs and dresser.
It kind of looks like I’m away on vacation.
I hear a sob and a whimper in the room across from mine. I turn to see the door is closed, but there’s a light shining from under the door.
Shit. I wonder if one of those other waiters got too friendly with her. Annie’s pretty tough, but if the guy I just met was any indication to how they all might be, she might really be hurt.
I knock on the door. “Annie? You okay, babe?”
I hear her sniffle, then, “I’m okay. I’m fine. I just… needed to get away from everybody. That’s all.”
She’s a terrible liar. Always has been. “Can I come in? I could use a break, too.”
She pauses, then I hear movement. A second later, she opens the door. Her eyes are rimmed with red and her cheeks are flushed and damp. She tries smiling, but it falters fast and suddenly, she’s crying uncontrollably.
I hug her. “Hey, hey. Shh!” We stand in the doorway as she weeps into my shoulder. “I’m here, okay? Whatever’s going on, I’m here.”
I rub her back as she cries into my shoulder. Finally, she pulls away from me and looks out the door, toward the stairs. Then she takes my hand and pulls me into her room.
She closes the door and leans against it, wiping her face with her sleeves. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to start blubbering all over your…” She pauses, looking at the light bruising on the side of my face, dirt on my dress, and my torn stockings. “What happened to you?”
“Long story,” I tell her. I walk her over to the bed and we both sit down. “What’s going on? Did somebody do something to you? You want me to get Dad?”
“No,” she said, a burst of panic in her voice. “He’s the last person I want to see right now.”
I blink, a little confused. “Oh… okay,” I say. “What’s wrong, then?”
She shakes her head as more tears roll down her face. “Everything, Izzy. Just everything. Our father is a monster. Don’t ever think he’s on your side because he’s not. He never has been.”
She sniffles as I just regard her. Dad must have said something to her to crush her this way, but I can’t imagine what it might’ve been on a day like today. I mean, I’m usually his punching bag, not Annie.
“You know those Russians who came in a little while ago, right? The Mechnikovs?”
“Yeah.” Alexei’s face flashes through my mind, his brow furrowed, chest heaving as he stood there with bloody fists. “What about them?”
“Turns out they weren’t here to pay their respects,” she said. “I overheard them talking in the parlor. They were here to collect payment for a debt that Damon racked up.”
An icy chill runs through me. “Wait, what does that mean, a debt he racked up? With who?”
She looks at me, then looks down at her hands mournfully.
“Annie, are you telling me that Damon was working with the Mechnikovs? That can’t be right. Dad would never let that happen.”
“He didn’t know about it. At least not until after they found Damon’s body.” She sniffled and wiped at her nose again with her sleeve. I wish I had tissue for her.
“Okay, so they came to get their money and Dad paid them. It’s a weird day for them to choose to do it, but I mean, what’s the big deal?”
She rolled her eyes. “God, you are so fortunate to be ignorant of everything happening in this family. If there were ever a time that I envied you, it’s right now.”
I don’t really know how to take that. I know she doesn’t mean it as an insult, but it certainly sounds like one.
She sniffles again and says, “Izzy, Dad’s broke. Like, really broke. Like borrowing on credit kind of broke.”
“What? No, he’s not. I mean, what about Damon’s funeral and the caterers—”
“It’s all from them. The Mechnikovs. They paid for it all because Dad couldn’t.
” She’s looking down at her hands and picking at her nails.
“See, Damon went behind Dad’s back and decided to run drugs for them.
Apparently, Damon couldn’t move all the drugs that they’d given him fast enough, so he decided to try and score a big deal with some high rollers and… well, it went bad.”
I feel this pressure in my chest. Guilt, sorrow, anger. It’s like a big ball squatting down inside me. I don’t know if I want to vomit or start sobbing with my sister. “How could he be so stupid?” is all I can say.
“I don’t know. But thanks to Damon dying in debt to the Mechnikovs, it’s on Dad to pay them or else.”
I take a deep breath to shake this sickening feeling inside me.
She still hasn’t gotten to the part that’s got her in hysterics.
All of this is bad, but Annie knew more about this situation than I did all along.
I know that finding out the particular way Damon died isn’t the thing that has her this way.
She wipes her eyes with her sleeve and straightens up a little.
“So, when they were in the parlor,” she went on, “Dad asked Maxim Mechnikov how he could make it right with them. Like, telling them that we’re just not in a position to have an all-out war.
And he’s offering property and cars and even a couple of his restaurants.
And they sound interested, but… then Mechnikov tells Dad that he’s got a son who needs a wife and…
” She starts to sob and her face starts to break again.
“They tell Dad that the best way to bring peace between our families is to unite. Then, they could absorb his debt and he’d be working with them. ”
She pauses as she tries to control her shaky sobs. “And the best way to unite our families is by marriage.”
That ball inside me of all the bad things in the world ruptures and I’m suddenly cold all over and nauseous all at once. “Annie, what do they mean, ‘by marriage’? Who’s getting married?”
“Apparently I am,” she says. “They decided that their oldest children should get married to unite the families. I don’t want to get married, Izzy. I don’t even know his sons.”
“That can’t be what they meant,” I say to her. “I mean, we’re not in Medieval times. You can’t just… arrange a marriage like that. It’s wrong, and it can’t be legal!”
She scoffs. “As if Mob bosses care about what’s legal. They can do whatever they like. And I’m just expected to go along with it.”
I can’t even wrap my head around this. I pause, trying to figure out what they must have actually been talking about. It just couldn’t be what she thinks it is.
“Annie, have you talked to Dad yet about it?”
“No,” she says. “He doesn’t know I was eavesdropping.”
“Okay, so maybe you heard wrong, then. Look, whatever’s going on, it can’t be what you think. Dad would never do that to you.”
“I don’t think so, Izzy. I know what I heard.”
Maybe I should talk to him myself, I start to think. Clear the whole thing up for her. He’d forgive her for eavesdropping and we can put this whole thing to rest.
The universe must be listening to me because all of a sudden, there’s a knock at the door. “Analisa? Isabella? You girls in there?”
It’s Dad. I don’t know how long we’ve been up here, but clearly, it was long enough for him to notice that we’re not among the guests anymore.
“Let’s just clear this up,” I say to Annie. “I’ll talk to Dad about it.”
Her eyes get large with panic. “No. Izzy, you can’t. He’ll be so angry with me.”
“It’ll be fine. I promise.” I pat her hand and stand up to answer the door.
Dad’s out in the hallway with a confused look on his face. “Is your sister in there with you?” he asks. “I was looking all over the place for you two.”
“She is,” I say, “but Dad, she’s really upset right now about something she thinks you told the Russians tonight.”
He stares at me with a look that I don’t quite recognize. It’s part surprise, but part something else. Something darker. He nods and leans into me. “And how does she know what I told them?”
“She overheard you in the parlor.” I see the first embers of anger in his eyes and I add, “But she didn’t mean to eavesdrop, Dad. She was just passing by the room.”
He shakes his head and starts pacing. Uh-oh. “Just passing by?” he repeats.
“Yeah. And she’s clearly upset by what she heard. She’s learned her lesson.”
“And how do you figure that?”
I sigh. Maybe I’m doing more harm than good here. I really hope Dad sees the humor in Annie mishearing something she shouldn’t have been listening to. “She thought she heard you tell the Russians that you want to marry her off to one of their sons.”
He stops pacing and narrows his eyes at me. “What?”
“She’s in shambles, Dad,” I tell him. “Like inconsolable right now. It’s silly, right? You’d never do something like that to her.”
He looks away from me, his jaw clenched. Suddenly, he looks like he wants to punch the wall. “Your sister shouldn’t have been listening in. That was work. You girls know better than to listen in when I’m working.”
I can’t believe that’s what he’s focused on right now. “Did you hear what I said? Annie thinks you’re trying to put her in some arranged marriage—”
“I heard you just fine, Isabella. This is the reason I told you girls that your place isn’t anywhere near this business. Some things are not for your ears.”
I just stare at him as the realization hits me. “Oh, my God. Dad, tell me you didn’t promise the Russians your own daughter.”