Page 28 of Till Death Do Us Part

“It’s okay,” Elsa said, catching the tail-end of our conversation. “I can stand.”

“Nonsense,” Jack said, taking a plate from her. “Have a seat.”

“Thank you.” She moved my empty plate and took a seat. She situated one of her plates on her knees, then grabbed for her other. As Jack handed it to her, she studied his face.

“Elsa Lang, this is Jack. Jack—”

“Maggio,” he filled in for me.

“Maggio,” I repeated, certain I heard him wrong. But he thought I was just repeating it for her. He hadn’t given me his last name before.

“Nice to meet you, Elsa.” He waved at her, seeing as both of her hands were occupied.

“I thought you looked familiar,” Elsa said, totally oblivious to my freakout. “You resemble John. I met him—”

“You know John?” Jack’s demeanor totally changed. His eyes narrowed and his lips pinched.

Elsa hesitated for a second. Maybe she could feel how hard I was mentally screaming at her, begging for her not to tell him she’d met him through me. She knew the deal with my family. Just like I’d filled her in on the car situation. I told Babbo she was taking a trip to the countryside and asked to borrow my car because it was better on gas.

“I’ve met John once.” She hedged some. “Chance meeting. Are you related to him?”

“Unfortunately, yeah,” he said. “John’s my nephew. But there’s some bad blood there.”

There were not enough shits left in the world.

“Nephew?” Elsa casually took a bite of pancake, not giving anything away. “He seems older.”

“My father is his grandfather. His father was my older brother.”

“Was?” Elsa was digging for me, and I appreciated it.

“He died.” Jack looked at me, ready to change the subject. “Can I steal you for a second?”

I looked at Elsa. She shrugged. I looked at Babbo. The entire group, including who I assumed was Jack’s parents, were watching us. If the woman with the fancy chignon was his mother, she was much younger than his father. Probably the same age gap between me and Felice.

This revelation was totally overwhelming and unnerving. All I could do was nod at Jack. He offered me his hand as I went to stand. It seemed like he wanted to keep it, but I acted like I needed to fix my dress as I stood. We started walking toward the door leading to the yard.

“So,” he said as we stepped outside onto the gravel path. He stuck his hands back in his pockets. “Miss Illinois, huh?”

“That’s right,” I said, not sure what else to say.

“Impressive,” he said. “You don’t meet one of those every day.”

Or marry one of them, I wanted to say, but held my tongue.

“What do you do, Jack?”

“I’m in pharmaceuticals.”

He went on to tell me he was in business with his father, Alfonso, and how much he respected Dr. Corvo. How his family had become good friends with mine over the years. My father trusted his and vice versa. I only added to the conversation to keep him talking. I couldn’t seem to find anything interesting to say.

My mind couldn’t wrap around this—who Jack was. And how he said there was bad blood between his family and Felice.

I was certain my father was giving me this time to get to know Jack before he came to me with the arrangement. Maybe because I hadn’t been the same since the attack, and he thought he was easing me into it. In truth, I was different, but not totally because of the attack.

Stealing a glance at Jack, my body went numb for a second. How could I marry him? He was a reminder of the man I’d never get to have. His nephew. It would be a lifelong hell to look at Jack and be reminded of my feelings for Felice.

The man who didn’t numb me but made me feel alive.

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