Page 89 of Skin Deep

My sister knew about her husband’s deals, but she didn’t know specifics. She didn’t want to. And the things she did know made her turn away from him. The tension between them was thick. She also knew something was going on with us. She suspected we all were working for Kelly, but she had no clue how deep Lachlan had gotten himself into trouble this time. Or that Owen was almost killed because of it. She knew he was with Dr. Sala, but the situation had been downplayed.

“What does Dolce have to do with any of this?” Lach said, leaning over the counter, opening a bottle of water.

“I owe Macchiavello one,” Kelly said. “We’ll leave it at that.”

From working for Kelly, I knew that the Scarpone family owned the Italian restaurant. The head of the Scarpone family, Arturo, was one of the five bosses of New York. He used the place not only for family functions, but as a front.

The wolf on Macchiavello’s hand connected him to that family. It was their symbol. But how the fuck was he related to them? He didn’t run with them. If he did, Kelly wouldn’t be involved in whatever was about to take place. Rocco went to him with the debt, and after, Kelly was getting out of town. That wasn’t his style.

Georgina squeezed my hand without realizing it. Talking about her cousin and whatever he had going on was putting her on edge. Or was it something else? Maybe she was worried about him?

Kelly went on to say that we’d have to lay low until Rocco came through. After that, we were going to deal with the Craigs, but he didn’t know whether the Craigs had gotten in good with whoever wanted to kill him. He looked at me briefly, then walked toward the glass door leading out to the pier and went outside. He took a seat and put his feet up.

“Someone close to me is going to betray me. Remember my words.”

I had no fucking clue what was coming. This seemed like the beginning of a bloody battle.

Keely sighed and disappeared into one of the bedrooms. Declan did, too. Lach said he was going to watch some TV for a while. I looked at Georgina, who had a faraway look in her eyes. Like she was still thinking about what Kelly had said about him owing her cousin one.

Gus followed behind us as we found a room and claimed it. A ton of movies were on a built-in shelf around the TV. They had some good ones. Growing up, me and my family were always watching movies together. Even Mari would sometimes join us.

“You want to watch one of these?” Georgina said. “Oh!Police Academy.I see they have it. You promised we would watch it.”

I grinned at her but stood close to the door. “When I get back. I’m going to run to the store. We need clean clothes, enough for a day or two. And Gus needs food.”

“I will go with you,” she said.

“I won’t be long,” I said, pulling her in. “You can take a shower or get some rest. You want anything?”

She gave me a suspicious look. I could tell she didn’t like me leaving without her, but I needed to go alone. Declan caught me on my way out and told me he was coming with me. Kee and Lach had given him a list of things to get. Together, we could double up and get it all done faster.

Declan and I stopped at the store first. We were able to get everything on the food lists, but some of the feminine stuff wasn’t available. It took about four hours to get everything we needed.

Georgina was waiting with her arms crossed when I got home. She wasn’t mad. I could tell she was worried about me being out. We’d texted a few times while I was at the store. To check in, but mostly so I could ask her specific questions about the shit she wanted.

My sister rolled her eyes at the way Georgina was standing, then took her bag and went back into her room. Georgina noticed. She grabbed a bag and disappeared into our room.

Lach made a Popeye face at me, then started laughing like the asshole he was. His bird was on his shoulder, nodding his head.

He knew nothing I said or did would change Keely’s mind about Georgina. Keely had to change her own mind.

Georgina was unpacking all the stuff when I made it to the room. She didn’t look at me when I came in.

“Shower?” I said, taking the sweatshirt off, then wrapping my arms around her.

She stiffened in my arms, then relaxed. “Sì,” she said quietly.

“About Kee—”

“It does not matter,” she said.

“It matters to me,” I said. “But not enough to change anything. Her husband is a psychotic asshole, and I still tolerate him.”

“Why?” She turned her face to look at me.

Georgina was going to be a part of this family. I might as well tell her everything. I knew I could trust her with the truth about my sister and her husband’s marriage—it was going to come out soon anyway.

“For starters, he shot me.”

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