Page 60 of Alliance

John shakes his head. “Doesn’t matter now. It was contingent on Junior being alive.” His eyes flash to mine. “And now he’s not.”

I rub a hand over my face.

I was right when I thought a war was brewing in New Orleans. But I had one thing wrong. I thought made men didn’t kill each other. They’re not supposed to anyway. I wanted this title so fucking bad, thought it would give me the protection I sought, but I was wrong.

There’s no loyalty among thieves.

“Who killed him?” I ask. I know Sam was arrested, still in jail awaiting sentencing for the murder. But I can’t believe he killed his own father. Their relationship seemed much better than the one I have with my father.

“I don’t know,” John says, a bit of venom lingers in his voice. He’s pissed. Angry that this happened, and he doesn’t even have a suspect.

I should have known better. The Costello children have spent the better part of the last two decades arguing over territories. It’s a fucking civil war in that family.

And somehow I got caught in the crossfire.

“So what do you want from me?”

John looks at me with a sly smile. “You’re from here, huh? Lived here your whole life?”

“Yeah…”

“Have you ever thought about leaving New Orleans?”

I don’t know where he’s going with this question, but I’m not sure I’m going to like it.

Chapter Twenty-Four

MY REFLECTION LOOKS OFF. THEwhite dress clings to my body, the tulle skirt protruding from my waist. Madi buttons the back of the corset top with slow precision and my heart sinks further as she loops the hook over each white button.

Every moment feels like a step in the wrong direction.

But there’s no turning back now.

The clock on the wall clicks away, each second passing by as my heart furtively pounds inside the cavity of my chest.

I feel empty, hollow inside, nothing to fill me up or bring me happiness. In order to make this marriage work I’ve had to rid myself of everything, empty out my body until there is nothing left but a shell of the person I used to be.

Because he can’t break a person if there’s nothing left to be broken.

That’s the new plan. My poorly designed system. At least this way if I’m going to be unhappy it’s on my own terms, and not because Davis won. Not because he controlled me.

Madi finishes with the buttons and stands tall, she looks me in the mirror over my shoulder. She doesn’t say anything, probably doesn’t even know where to start.

And honestly, I don’t know what to say either.

She knows about my breakdown, what I tried to do. She laid in my bed with me after Naz was gone and my parents had given up on talking to me. Like always, Madi didn’t ask questions, didn’t give me a pretty speech or scold me. She just laid down beside me in silence, every so often squeezing my hand as if reminding me that I’m not alone.

I don’t have the words to tell her what she’s done for me. How her silent awareness has kept me moving forward.

I try not to dwell on hope, not to think about the good moments that I might still have. I don’t want to have anything that Davis can take away from me. So I don’t confide in Madi, or let myself remember how good of a friend my cousin is.

I reach back, grabbing her hand and squeezing. SayingI’m in herewithout giving her too much.

I haven’t met the new me yet, I don’t know who Lana LaFontaine will be. I’m not sure what kind of clothing she’ll wear or if she’ll ever find a sliver of happiness, but I do know she’ll always be haunted by Lana Romano.

No matter how well I box up the memories, or how good of a hiding job I do, I’ll always have these moments of happiness lingering in the back of my head.

Images flashing through my mind of the moments that kept me alive.

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