Page 27 of Ruthless Consequences

She became still and then, in a burst of energy, stood and rushed toward the bathroom.

The silence that replaced her voice turned the room into a version of hell.

The ice in Michele’s glass clanked. Ma turned her face. The sadness in her eyes was highlighted by the dimming light. Minnie had fallen asleep next to Michele on the sofa. Aren nodded his head, like he’d dozed, and the silence had woken him up. But his eyes were still half closed.

“How about ‘Take a Bow’…” Sebastiano said, his voice trailing off when Michele narrowed his eyes.

Norah moved out of my way when I followed behind Lucila. She’d locked herself in the bathroom. I expected to hear a wrapper tearing, but I heard nothing.

That room was like my chest. Not a damn sound coming from it. I only reacted when she made a move.

Giving her some privacy, I walked away. I passed the music parlor, where Michele and Sebastiano laughed. Unc was sleeping with his head back and his mouth open.

Ma caught sight of me. “Leaving already?”

The desperation in her voice rammed through the numbness and nicked something vital.

“Nah,” I said, “just going outside for some fresh air. I wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye.”

“Make sure you don’t,” she whispered.

Michele put his hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged it off, the best she could. His face was blank when he looked at me, except for his mouth, which tried to dislodge a piece of food.

The air outside was warm, and I took a seat on the stoop. I rubbed a hand over my face and leaned over my knees, letting my fingers dangle. It must have been ten minutes later when the smell of her perfume met me before she did.

Unc was carrying Minnie. Lucila followed with her empty bag in her hand. She hadn’t taken the bunny.

She looked over her shoulder at me when she got to the last step. “I’ll be back to pick it up tomorrow from your parents.”

I said nothing, watching as she slid into the back seat of the cab. Unc set Minnie next to her, and Lucila wrapped an arm around her, pulling her even closer. A few seconds later, she disappeared into the night.

Another cab flew down the street. A small whirlwind spun behind it, a few leaves and something else caught in it. That something made me move. I hustled to get to it before it disappeared like the woman in the cab.

A fucking candy wrapper.

Taking a seat on the stoop again, I lifted it, studying it like it held the cure to my disease. I studied it like I studied every move she made—now and then.

NINE

LILO

THE PAST

“What are you doing here?”Ken Nolan almost hisses at me.

He’s the principal of Lucila’s school. He also dabbles in things he’s not supposed to. I know things about this man that will not only get him fired but could get him locked up.

“I’m here for information, Ken,” I say, taking a seat across from him.

His desk is full of smiling faces. His wife and kids. I wonder how she’d feel about all the prostitutes he spends his money on. He looks at the picture and then at me. He reads my mind. He nods and takes a seat.

“What do you want to know, Valentino?”

“Lucila Girardi.”

His face tightens before it eases. “What about her?”

“I want to know everything.”

---