Page 79 of Convenient Mafia Vows

“He knew,” I mutter under my breath.

“Huh?” Kyle furrows his brow. “Who knew?”

I start pacing back and forth, trying to get things straight inside my head. “I told Caleb about Sienna. I told him, and he never said that it was you.”

I stop pacing and stare at Kyle. I hardly recognize him now as the suited lawyer who drew up the marriage contract that started all of this. All I can see now is the guy who ruined Sienna’s life that night.

Kyle slumps forward over the counter and holds his head in both hands. When he peers up at me again, his eyes are pink and puffy. “He never told me either.”

What other secrets is Caleb keeping from both of us? Why didn’t he want either of us to know the truth? Was he worried that I would hate his brother and call off the fake marriage? And whatabout Kyle? If he knew that Kyle had tried to find Sienna, why didn’t he tell him that she was still alive so that he could finally get the ‘closure’ he needed?

I grab my purse off the side and go to the elevator. I don’t know where I’m going, but I do know that I can’t stay here a moment longer.

“Victoria?” I hear the panic in Kyle’s voice, but I don’t turn around until I’m standing in the elevator. “Where are you going?”

“I don’t know. Away from here.” As the doors hiss shut, I add, “Tell Caleb not to try finding me.”

“No, wait. Come back…” His words fade as the elevator starts descending to the basement.

In the car on the way to Staten Island, all I can think about is Kyle and Sienna in that car wreckage, and Caleb’s silence when he discovered the truth. I know he must’ve had his reasons, but the fact is, all those reasons revolve around Caleb Murray. Everything that he does and says is with his own wellbeing and reputation in mind, and I hadn’t realized until now just how self-absorbed he is.

How can I be with a man like that?

How can I be in love with a man who would cover up a serious accident to save the family name?

Hot tears sting my eyes. I am in love with Caleb Murray, but I don’t even know who he is. Not anymore. Sure, the physicalattraction is undeniably through the roof. It’s explosive and sexy and passionate, and I’m wet just sitting in the back seat of the car thinking about it, but two people can’t build a lifelong relationship on lust.

My tears turn to anger the closer to Staten Island I get. I introduced Abigail to this family. She’s with Moira and Terry right now, and who knows what she might hear in a house where the guests are mafia mobsters and supermodels and police commissioners. The sooner I get her away from them the better.

I have no clear plan when the car pulls up outside Moira and Terry’s mansion. I don’t know where I’ll go with Abigail—I haven’t received any money from Caleb yet—but I do know that I’m not going through with the wedding reception. The thought of it makes my hands ball into fists. All that money and pretense and fake smiles.

I don’t wait around for Martin to open the car door. I’ve unbuckled my seatbelt and am out of the car almost before it stops, approaching the front door with my heart still drumming a dull erratic beat.

The door opens, and Moira is there to greet me before I can ring the doorbell. Kyle must’ve called ahead. Of course he did. Family first.

“Victoria, come in.” She holds the door wide. I don’t know if she gestures behind my back to Martin to wait outside, but she closes the door and wanders to the kitchen, expecting me to follow.

“I’ve come for Abigail,” I say while Moira fills two cups with coffee from the elaborate machine on the counter.

“Abigail is with Emily, she’s fine.” Moira smiles. “Let’s talk first.”

I sit down on a bar stool. This room is the kind of family hub most people could only dream of. It’s bright and airy, the cabinets are glossy ivory, the appliances are coordinated, and everything about it yells home and comfort. The Murrays might put family first, but they’re still the kind of people who would leave a young woman to die alone in a car wreckage.

“I want to cancel the wedding reception.” I sip my coffee, but my whirring thoughts are still making me feel queasy.

Moira stands across the counter from me and cradles her cup in both hands. “Kyle told me about your friend, Sienna. I know what you’re thinking. You think that my sons left a young woman to die to keep their names out of the tabloids.”

It’s exactly what I think, but I’m not going to agree with her. I feel like I’m betraying Sienna, but I want to hear Moira’s version of events before I leave with Abigail.

“I’ve spoken to Bastien and Cassius. Cassius checked the young woman’s pulse. When he couldn’t find it, he called the emergency services. My husband Terry, believing that there had been a fatality, told him to get Kyle away from the scene.” Moira places her cup on the counter and rests her chin on her steepled fingers. “I’m a mom, Victoria. I would do anything to protect my children. But I would never allow them to leave an innocent young woman to die. No matter the circumstances.”

My tears start over again as the anger I’d cultivated on the car journey here evaporates.

“For all we knew the young woman, Sienna, was someone’s daughter, sister, partner. Maybe even someone’s mom. I couldn’t even begin to imagine getting that terrible news fromthe NYPD. My sons believed that she was dead, and I know my sons well enough to believe that they’re telling me the truth.”

My sobs erupt then, and Moira pushes a silk-covered box of tissues my way. I bury my face in a wad of tissue paper, and cry. There are five years’ worth of tears stored up inside me along with my own guilt at not being around when Sienna needed me most. Maybe my anger is directed at myself rather than the Murrays. I guess it would take a shrink and a whole lot of therapy to figure that out.

“I watched her change from a vibrant, fun-loving woman to someone who was afraid to get dressed up and party.” I soak up my tears with a soggy tissue. “She thought he left her to die…”

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