Page 89 of Of Beauty, Brains, & Bravery

“I know. I made some bad mistakes.”

“The absolute worst mistakes,” she said. “I should have known, when you said you were going to a party and you met a guy that was part of the Mafia, that all hell was going to break loose.” She tried to make a joke, but I wasn’t quite ready to laugh yet.

“I’m sorry,” Gia said.

“It’s not your fault.”

“I know, but when I saw you at the party, I knew you didn’t fit in this world. I should have made you leave right away. I should have…” She shrugged. “I don’t know. I feel like I should have been able to figure out that something was going on, the way that Antonio’s eyes kept following you around the room and the way he wanted to see you, and it just… it didn’t add up, huh?”

“Not really,” she said.

“I know. I mean, trust me. I look at it from an outside point of view as well, and I was an idiot. There was me, this shy little college girl, going into this party, and I got all dressed up, and I really thought,Wow, this man is into me and he wants to be with me. And then, yeah, I figured out he was lying, but I still thought I could be a part of those games and that treachery, and look what’s happened. Jimmy’s dead.”

I could feel myself about to cry again. “And so is Luisa and Don Roberto and Tommasso Romano.”

“They deserved to die,” Elisabetta said, “all of them, for what they did to Mom.”

I nodded. “They were evil incarnate,” I said.

“I know, and it’s not your fault, Callie.” Elisabetta squeezed my hand. “In fact, if none of this had happened, we wouldn’t have known Mom was still alive, and maybe she’d still be locked up. Maybe she’d die locked up. I’d rather we have Mom than those three.”

“You’re right,” I said. “How are you so smart and you’re my little sister?”

“I don’t know. I guess I’m the smartest of all the siblings,” she said with a half-smile, and then my heart raced slightly because it was kind of weird.

Elisabetta was my half-sister, but she was also Antonio’s half-sister, and even though we weren’t blood related, it still felt kind of icky and weird and…

“Hey,” Elisabetta said, looking me in the eyes, “Antonio is my big bro, and you’re my big sister, but you’re not related in any way whatsoever. And while he’s a jackass and deserves to pay for everything that has happened, he’s not all bad.”

“I don’t know if that’s true,” I said, shaking my head.

“I know, maybe you’ll never forgive him, and maybe you’ll never want to give him another chance, but don’t beat yourself up for liking him,” she said, “or for falling in love with him.”

“How did you know?” I said, my eyes watering as I looked at her.

“I see the way you look at him.” She shrugged. “It’s the way I think I’d look at a man if I was in love.”

“Are you trying to tell me you’re in love with someone?”

“Oh, no,” she said, shaking her head. “I never want to be in love. I don’t think I could handle relationships.”

“Yeah, they kind of suck.” And I wasn’t even really in one.

There was another knock on the door, but this time the person didn’t wait to ask if it was okay to enter.

I looked up, and Antonio’s dark eyes were staring into mine. He looked beat up. He looked dirty. He looked more wolf-like than I’d ever seen him before. My heart raced as I stared at him. I just wanted to run and hold him, but I didn’t want him to think I forgave him. I didn’t want him to think that what he’d done was okay because it wasn’t, and even though my mother wouldn’t have been in this room with us, if it weren’t for his games, he’d betrayed me, and he’d lied to me, and I didn’t know if I could ever forgive him.

“Can we talk, Callie?” he asked, taking a step forward and running his hands through his hair. “I know you probably don’t want to talk to me, but please.” I pressed my lips together and then looked to Elisabetta, Gia, and Imogen.

I was about to say no when my mom’s eyes flew open. “Speak to him, Callie,” she said, reaching up and touching my arm. “It won’t hurt. I’ll still be here when you come back.”

“Okay, Mama,” I said, leaning down to give her a quick kiss. “I’ll be back in just a few moments.” I looked over at Elisabetta, and she nodded. Then I looked over at Antonio. “You’ve got ten minutes, and that’s it.”

“Can we go somewhere else to talk?” he asked, nodding, his face grim.

“I suppose. Where do you want to chat?”

“My room,” he said, shrugging.

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