Page 146 of Cruelest Contract
This young groom, so desperately in love, has no idea that decades in the future, he will play this very song at his son’s wedding. Perhaps Julian’s father was trying to share a little bit of his own love story. Or maybe he was attempting to relive the moment through us in a way.
Lost In Your Eyesis on its final seconds and Cass abruptly freezes the screen. He and Teresa gaze at each other and time stands still for them.
Julian’s father doesn’t look my way as he says, “I thought you’d want to see her.”
I swallow the grief in my throat. “She was wonderful.”
“Yes.”
It hurts to see Cass and his beloved Teresa up there, so young and hopeful. But I doubt they would want me to feel sorry for them.
“You and Teresa really had the dream,” I say. “You shared the kind of love most people only wish they could experience.”
His dark eyes shift and focus on me. His expression is unreadable and apprehension tickles the base of my spine as I panic that I’ve accidentally offended him. I’m in no way prepared for what he says next.
“My son loves you, Cecilia. He loves you far more than he ever expected to love you, whether he admits it or not.” Cass’s mouth bends into a frown. “I should have known this would happen.”
I’m still reeling from his first claim. Things made sense a minute ago and now they don’t. “What does that mean?”
Cass’s expression turns wry. “Julian is my firstborn son. We have an intense bond. He has shadowed me for his entire life. The reason why I understand Julian so well is because we are so similar. Of course his wife has become the center of his universe. He would move heaven and earth for you. It’s how he’s built.”
I’ve interacted with Julian’s father often enough to realize he doesn’t speak up for no reason. Though he must have heard at least part of yesterday’s argument, he believes what he’s telling me. That doesn’t make his words accurate. But he does believe them.
However, I have no time to dwell on this shocking epiphany because I hear the echo of my brothers’ voices. Angelo is grumbling about something. Gabriel is loudly asking why the house is empty and where everyone went.
“Go,” says Cass, dismissing me with an annoyed wave of his hand.
I know better than to leave before paying my respects to Teresa. Hastily, I cross myself in front of her picture. Behind me, Cass presses the remote button to hide the screen and gazes at the fireplace.
I find Gabe and Angelo standing at the foot of the stairs.
Gabe greets me with a smile. “There you are,” he says.
“Here I am,” I reply, doing my best to return his smile and not quite succeeding. “You said you wanted a tour of the house. How about now?”
“Why, is it a fucking museum?” Angelo snorts.
Gabe subtly elbows his arm before joining my side. “I’d really like that, Cici,” he says with complete sincerity. “We both would.”
Finally, I manage to twist my mouth into a real smile for my twin.
For the moment, I will try to forget all the uncomfortably true things Julian said about him.
34
JULIAN
“Ilike coincidences about as much as I like fucking crotch rot,” Sonny declares with a scowl.
When I glance at my father, he shows no sign that he’s about to jump in and participate in the conversation. Instead, he seems to be waiting for me to respond.
“It’s not at all far-fetched that the blizzard alone knocked out the surveillance system,” I remind Sonny. “Storms like this are no joke. Remember ten years ago? We got buried under four feet of powder and all the electricity was knocked out for a week. It’s the reason we had all the backup generators installed. What does tech support say?”
“Nothing yet. They’re still unreachable.” He waves his arms around. “All work has to come to a standstill so people can go eat fucking gingerbread while wearing ugly sweaters and getting wasted on spiked eggnog.”
Sonny doesn’t often get this rattled. The storm, the holiday and the broken security system have apparently sent him into a spiral.
Beyond the closed door of the study, a pack of voices rise and mix together. I pick out a burst of laughter from Tye. ThenAngelo’s loud suggestion to break out the good booze before dinner. A friendlier voice that must be Gabe’s declares the food smells amazing. I hear nothing from Cecilia but I suppose if Gabe is out there, she’s with him. Earlier, she was showing her brothers around the house.
