Page 29 of Villainous
That didn’t come out as ridiculous as I thought it would.
She nods. “How did your brothers die?”
I don’t recall telling her I had any brothers. Cocking my right eyebrow, I scoot away from her, tucking my legs under my butt, and give her a peculiar look.
When she sees the expression on my face, she says, “I overheard one of the soldiers and Mr. Aiden talking, and he was speaking about them.”
I don’t trust Noemi with my business, and I’m not going to spill any secrets to her. Why would she be listening to his conversations? She’s a sweet, caring person, but snakes know how to change themselves whenever they need to strike their prey. I’m not saying she is, and maybe she did overhear their conversation. Growing up with a father who was the don of a family teaches you that you don’t trust anyone, and every friend can turn into a foe. My da was heavy on the belief it made him paranoid to the point he ended up killing his two cousins because he thought they were spies.
“Two of them are dead. And the other one is missing,” I tell her. “I never got along with the oldest two. But the youngest one, we were close. Very close, like twins. I guess because we had similar personalities. Even though we don’t share the same mother and he was eight years younger than me.” I smile to myself, thinking about Liam. “I remember once for Christmas, Liam killed a rat, wrapped it in a box, and gave it to me as a prank, because he knew I hate those animals.”
The thought of not ever hearing from Liam again burns deep in my chest. A lump the size of a boulder forms in my throat.
Villainous is going to kill me soon, and I want to hear my mother’s and my adoptive brother’s voices one last time. I don’t want to go another day without saying goodbye. He hasn’t told me when it’s my last day; he wants to catch me by the element of surprise. This is a twisted game he wants to play with me. Evil asshole.
“Do you have a cell phone?” I ask casually.
She lifts her eyebrows and leans forward. “Why?”
“I want to call my mother. I haven’t spoken to her in months.”
She studies my face for several moments, then folds her legs Indian-style.
“I could get into a lot of trouble with the boss,” she says hesitantly.
Guilt nibbles at my stomach, and I feel my cheeks flushing. “I’m sorry. Forget I even asked.”
She hands me the iPhone. “As long as you don’t tell him. It can be our own little secret.”
Tears well in my eyes. I expected her to say no. I bring her into a hug, and she squeezes me back.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
“Make it quick. You have ten minutes.”
Quickly, I swipe up. She has a picture of a younger version of herself hugging someone who is younger than her. His eyes look kind, and a smile stretches across his face. His hair is poorly dyed orange. He looks vaguely familiar, but I can’t place where I saw him before.
Nervousness settles into my stomach as I type in my ma’s number and press the phone to my ear.
My pulse jumps in my neck as she picks up on the fifth ring.
“Hello?”
It’s the afternoon here, so it’s morning on the West Coast.
“Ma.”
Tears sit in the corners of my eyes. I haven’t heard her voice in five or six months. I miss it.
“Firefly?”
That’s the nickname she gave me because of my hair color. I get my auburn-red hair from Da.
“Yes, Ma. It’s me.”
“Where are you? I spoke to Fiona, and she told me she spoke to you a few weeks back and you were with Villainous. Are you two back together?” I can hear the disappointment in her tone.
She never approved of my relationship with him, and I can’t blame her. He seems like he’s bad news on paper, and she didn’t want me to marry someone in the mafia. I had a choice since I’m a girl, and since my mother is not in the mafia, I could pick what I wanted to do. I could have ventured into a normal world, and my plans were to be a part of the mafia so I could marry Villainous, but I was forced to leave. I’m not going to tell her what happened to me because I don’t want to break her heart. And she has a lot to deal with right now.
