Page 105 of Loving Lucia

Always the peacekeeper. How has he managed to survive as Pavone’s second-in-command for all this time?

“No, let her talk!” Giulio says with amusement. “Here, Eva, you can have my drink.” He slides his wine glass over to her. “You’re pretty fine looking yourself. You were probably wasted on your husband.”

She smiles at him and immediately downs the remains of his wine. “Thank you, Giu…Giulio. I was. I really was wasted on him. That’s why I had to be wasted the entire time. Wasting my life! Wasting away! Wasted!”

“Mom,” Vanessa pleads. “Please don’t do this now.”

“Why not?” our mother asks. “Is there a better time?”

“Eva, I have been very generous to you,” Pavone growls. “Don’t make me regret it.”

“Generous?” She bursts out laughing. “You’ve been generous to your men.”

I flinch at that. I’d hoped she’d escaped the worst of it, but I guess that had been too optimistic of me.

Giulio shakes his head and glares at his father. “Really? Giving her awayfor free? She should at least be earning some money. Eva, come talk to me later, I bet I can give you a much better deal than my old man.”

Vanessa suddenly slams her hands on the table and stands up. “Shut up! That’s my mother you’re talking about! And Mom, stop making everything worse! It’s hard enough to pretend…”

She trails off when she realizes everybody is looking at her now, when she realizes what a mistake she’s made.

“What Vanessa means,” I start, hoping to salvage the situation. I falter when Pavone grips my shoulder and squeezes too hard.

“Go on,” Pavone says. “What does your dear sister mean?”

“Um… to… pretend…” Shit. What would Victor say in this situation? I take a deep breath and sit up straighter. “She’s already sad about us not living together anymore after the wedding. She wouldn’t want to part from our mother so soon, too.”

That’s probably not where Victor would have taken the situation, but Victor isn’t here, and he doesn’t have to deal with Pavone breathing down his neck or his family being essentially hostages.

Pavone doesn’t look satisfied with my answer, but Giulio bursts out laughing.

“That’s good! Y’know what, old man, I like her. Better than Clarissa, anyway. Maybe this one can last a bit longer.”

I want to snap at him that I’m glad he’s so amused, that I’m glad he thinks I’m better than his murdered past stepmother, but the sarcasm would probably get me into more trouble. I smile tightly. “That’s the goal,” I mutter.

Pavone’s hand flexes on my shoulder in warning, but he releases me when Vanessa sinks back down into her chair. “What happened to Clarissa was atragic accident,” Pavone emphasizes. “I’ve made additions to the security system at home to keep anything from happening again.”

In other words, he’s going to lock me away and make sure there’s no reason to off me. He already has me cowed by his threats against my sister, and I had thought our mother would be safe, too, but apparently not. I feel so powerless, now more than ever, and Giulio thinks this is so fucking funny that I want to punch him in the face.

“And what about the sister?” Giulio asks. “How are you going to keephersafe?” He puts an arm around Vanessa. “I heard about you from Damien. He says you’re a good, obedient girl. Not like your sister.”

“Get your hands off her,” I hiss, anger flaring up within me.

Vanessa is trying to shrug off his arm, squirming against him, but she can’t get him to move.

Giulio laughs and lets go of her, putting his hands up. “Fine, fine. It’s rude to fondle people in front of their relatives, anyway. But I think you’d fit right in at… oh, which club is best for her, Damien?”

Rossi pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs. “This isn’t the time for this, Giulio.”

“And it will never be the fucking time,” I snap. “I—”

“Enough!” Pavone snarls from right next to me. “You Bellini women can’t behave for ten seconds, can you? We’re in public, and if you embarrass me in front of our guests, youwillregret it.”

A chill runs through me. I can only imagine what he’ll do to make us regret it. But if it has anything to do with Giulio’sclubs… I will kill him or die trying. He’s not going to subject Vanessa to anything like that.

I don’t know if it’s good or bad luck that the host appears to announce the rest of the guests arriving. Five new people, none of whom I recognize but who all greet Pavone deferentially.

I’m surprised when Vanessa pushes away from the table. “Excuse me. I need to use the restroom.”

---