Page 89 of Where Dark Hearts Devour
Fuck.I run a hand through my hair. “If anything happened to her ...” How can I appeal to him without looking like I’m in over my damned head? “It wouldn’t be good for business,” I say with a sigh. “Your business or mine.”
He folds his arms and tilts his head slightly. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
My jaw stiffens as resolve hardens my heart. “Would you be comfortable doing business with someone who can’t even keep his own fiancée alive?”
His teeth grind as he considers my response. “Fine. I’ll get some guys on her.”
I knead the back of my neck. “Good.”
“You know ... you don’t have to stay for the wedding.”
I snap my head up. “Why?”
“Well, I’m sure you have business to get back to, and Nicolò can be my best man.”
My chest tightens. “Are you being serious?”
His expression remains sober.
“I know we aren’t the closest we’ve ever been, but I’m still your brother, Sav.”
He emits an ugly laugh. “We were never close, you and me. You assumed I liked you, and I never cared enough to correct that assumption.”
A vein at the base of my throat throbs.Why is he being such a dick?Has he always been this big of an ass, or is he only revealing his true colors now Father has died?
“So why did you bother to pull me out of the river when I almost drowned all those years ago?”
His eyes grow dark and cold. “Would you be comfortable doing business with someone who didn’t save his own brother from drowning when he had the chance?”
His sharp retort is astonishingly revealing. He only saved me because of how it would look if he didn’t? He wastwelve.
“Why do I think there’s more to it than that?” I ask.
He levels me with a glare. “Were you really so oblivious to it?”
I shake my head, confused. “To what?”
He smiles, but it’s cold. “I guess you were too wrapped up in the glow of Father’s admiration to see it.”
“See what?”
He pans his gaze to his glass and swirls the amber liquid around it. “That you were always his favorite.”
I’m stunned. I knew Father and I had a different relationship to Father and Savero, but that was because tougher things were expected of Sav. He was the eldest; the one who would inherit the title. I had no idea he harbored such resentment toward me. When Father was around, Savero at least pretended he liked having me visit. But now ... he can’t seem to get rid of me fast enough.
“If I hadn’t saved you that day ... he would have ended me.”
That is simply not true. I never remember Father treating Savero as anything other than a much-loved son.
“Fratello. . .” I start.
“Save it,” he snaps. “I’ve made my peace with it, brother. I just want to move on and rule this place like I was born to. You may as well leave now.”
I glance at the framed photographs above Father’s desk. Generations of brothers standing by each other, working together, supporting one another, beingbest menat their weddings. If I left now, as Sav’s asking me to do, we’d be breaking a long-held tradition in our family—one my father was so vocal about having us uphold.
That’s not the only reason I can’t leave yet. I need to make sure Castellano is safe and settled. But even as I think those thoughts, I know they’re excuses. Staying an extra few days won’t make her any safer or more settled. If anything, my presence willunsettle her. It’ll make it that little bit harder for us both to say goodbye.
Besides, I don’t think I can act as though I’m not in over my head with her, and I know my desire for her will be as transparent as the water in Savero’s pool.
