Page 83 of Terms + Conditions
Her words are met with silence. It’s not that we hadn’t realized any of this, but nothing can be done about it now.
Nina mumbles something in Italian, pinching the bridge of her nose. She takes a deep breath before crossing her arms. “Maybe you two are fine going back to pretend, but the rest of us now have to live with the consequences.”
“We understand that, Nina,” Elizabeth says.
“Davvero?”She hisses the simple word, leaning forward in the slightest, challenging us.Do you?
“We never meant for it to be like this,” I push back.
“That doesn’t change the fact that your secrets have changed things. The family—”
“Will be just fine!” Elizabeth yells with a harsh breath. “The family will be fine, Nina. If anything, it’s going to save everyone from a bunch of awkward family dinners and lonely holidays.”
Elizabeth shakes her head. “I know that I hurt you by lying, but can you honestly say you would’ve accepted us the same way had you known?”
Nina doesn’t say anything. She doesn’t have to—her avoidant stare says it all.
“There were real reasons we kept this to ourselves, and as much as Brina pisses me off, she knew what was best when it came to handling this.”
“So, all of this just to get your inheritance.” I can see the way Nina’s words hurt Elizabeth, the same words Ric had used six years ago, but unfortunately, it doesn’t make them any less true. When Nina turns to me, she chews on her bottom lip, thinking. “But the question I still have is what didyouget?”
I swallow hard, and my tongue sneaks out to wet my lips. Do I tell her the truth? What’s one more thing to add to the fire, right?
How my sister has managed to keep her mouth shut about this, I don’t know. She is the worst secret keeper in the world. Nick and Nina still don’t know the real reason, and maybe I didn’t tell them because I feared how they would view me if they knew the truth. It was hard enough seeing Michaela’s reaction. Knowing I had let her down because I’m not the person she always thought I was. It’s definitely the reason I haven’t come clean to Dad. Seeing that same look of disappointment on his face would kill me.
“You got something out of it,” Nina pushes. “You aren’t going to enter an arranged marriage for free.”
I look at Elizabeth. Her shoulders rise and fall with a sigh. “Nina, it doesn’t—”
“I was about to be expelled from Chadwick,” I confess, holding Elizabeth’s gaze.
“You were part of it, weren’t you?” Nina asks, and when I finally look at her, I can see the disappointment I feared sinking in her features. “The Theta Pi hazing.”
I nod and my gaze falls to the floor. “I didn’t…I didn’tdoit, but I was there. I was the one who took him to the hospital.”
“Cazzo,”Nina mumbles.Fuck.
“My mom…That’s why I came home. I went to her first and told her everything, but she told me not to tell anyone. She was looking for a way to keep me out of it. Your mom—”
Nina raises her hand to stop me. She doesn’t care. She doesn’t want to know. It’s not like knowing is going to change anything.
“So what’s your plan, huh?” She massages the crease in her brow. “Where do you go from here? The rest of the family will be rightfully confused when you show up on Christmas Daytogether.”
Elizabeth and I share a glance before looking back at Nina.
“Please tell me that you’ve discussed this. You can’t just waltz in there and act like the past seven months didn’t happen.”
So maybe we haven’t completely thought this through…I guess we were riding the wave of getting back together.
Nina scoffs. “Did you two talk aboutanything? Did you discuss the issues in your relationship that led to this or did you just apologize and act like it was sunshine and rainbows again?”
“We know it’s not, but Nina—”
“You guys cannot just go back to normal. You will never make this work if—”
“Nina,” Elizabeth cuts her off. “I love you very much, but right now, I need you not to be Davina Villa, matriarch of the family. I need you to be Nina, my sister.”
Nina looks up to the ceiling, her hands gripping the edge of her desk, like she’s asking God himself for strength to deal with this. “You want me to be your sister?” With a slight scoff, she meets Elizabeth’s gaze again. “If you want me to be your sister then I’m going to step outside and give you two the chance to have a conversation.” She looks at me and adds, “The real conversation you should’ve had a long time ago, but didn’t.”
