Page 160 of Vicious Addictions

The only thing that pulls my focus away from him is when I see Stella skip over to us, sporting her shark-like grin, with Dom following her step close behind.

“It’s almost showtime!” Stella squeals in excitement, only for her enthusiasm to falter for a fraction of a second when she comes face-to-face with Marcello’s alter ego. If I hadn’t looked directly at her, I wouldn’t have noticed the slight quiver of her lip betraying her sadness.

“I can’t believe I’m really here!” She starts jumping up and down. “Talk about breaking glass ceilings! And it would never have happened if it wasn’t for you. Thank you, Marcello,” she says before swinging herself into his arms and giving him a hug. “I’ll never forget how you made my dreams come true, Mar,” I hear her whisper in his ear, unaware of the fact her voice was not soft enough for the rest of us not to hear. She squeezes her eyes shut behind him, tightening her hold around him. “I love you so much. I’m so proud to be your sister, Mar. So damn proud.”

Marcello pats her back, but there is no real emotion behind the gesture.

It’s fucking heartbreaking to watch.

“Enough of that, sweetheart. Your brother needs to have his wits about him,” Dom chides while pulling Stella off Marcello.

Dom’s frown reflects the same feeling we all have inside for seeing Marcello like this. But hopefully, like me, he understands it’s a necessary evil.

Stella takes a step back, but not before wiping the tears out of her eyes.

“Marcello, tell your father that you’re ready. I’m sure he’d like to speak to you before we start.”

Marcello gives Dom a curt nod before turning around and walking toward my father, who still looks occupied plotting with hisconsigliere.

“Thatyour handiwork?” Dom asks clipped at my side, his gaze never leaving Marcello.

“I had to do something, Dad. I couldn’t just send him out to the wolves unarmed, now could I? This was the only way I found to protect him.”

Dom shakes his head disappointedly.

“You underestimate him, Jude. Marcello could have held his own without—”

“Calling the demon possessing him to come out and play?” Stella finishes the sentence for him. “You’re wrong, Dad. I would rather have that demonic spirit unleashed on everycapohere than continue to devour my brother’s soul. I’m with Jude on this one. I say letitfeast tonight.”

When the air in the cabin becomes too goddamned suffocating, I loosen my tie and yank it off my collar, preferring to go without.

“Thank God you took that stupid tie off. It’s been bugging me since we got here. I wasn’t going to say anything, but who comes to anomertàceremony wearing their Sunday best?”

“Well, excuseyou.Some of us didn’t have time to change after Mass,” I tease back, feeling the anxious knot in my chest loosen somewhat with her light ribbing. “Unlike you, I was too busy taking orders from our father to ensure this ceremony went off without a hitch.”

“Boo-fucking-hoo.” Stella rubs her eyes with her fists, pretending to cry. “At least you had something interesting to do. I had to act like a good and proper littleprincipessaand entertain our guests over brunch. Believe me when I say I would have gladly traded places with you,stronzo.”

“Stella, language,” Dom reprimands, but neither of us takes the warning to heart.

How can we take his threat seriously when he is personally responsible for teaching us at least half of the curse words in our vocabulary?

I can tell Stella has another zinger in her pocket, but when Dom pushes forward, making a beeline toward his boss, she keeps whatever is on the tip of her tongue for a rainy day.

“Now it’s show time,” I tell her with a little nudge.

“Holy shit. This is really happening,” she says in awe as if she couldn’t believe her luck. “You have no idea how many times I’ve dreamed of this day.”

“You do know it’s Marcello’s big day, not yours, right?”

“Shh.” She waves me off before following Dom. “Don’t ruin the moment.”

I chuckle under my breath and follow her. But my high spirits suddenly crash and burn to the ground with the nefarious look in my father’s eyes.

“You all know that this day is much more than what we allowed everyone here to believe. It’s not only a celebration of decades of Outfit tradition, but a day we send all our would-be enemies a message.”

“Yeah, the message being fuck with us and find out,” my sister says under her breath, which is clearly a bad idea.

“Figlia.” My father levels Stella with one look. “Am I going to regret letting you be here?”

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