Page 17 of Pretty Poison

“Thank you, Dario. I’m proud of myself, but I cannot take all the credit. I will forever be in his shadow because I refuse to step out of it. He should be here having this conversation with you, not me.” There’s a brief silence in the air, allowing both of us to compose ourselves. “Would you like to schedule a meeting?” she finally asks.

“How does two weeks' time work for you?”

“Great actually. How does Friday 13th work for you?”

“Perfect, I’ll mark it down and we can talk further at a later date to cement the details.”

“Good. I’ll speak to you then, Dario. Have a nice night.”

“You too, Aleksandra.”

“Yeah, you too, Aleksa,” Red blurts out before the call ends.

A breathy laugh escapes me. “You always have to put your two cents in, don’t you?”

“I had to make my presence known. You called me in here and didn’t even let me get two words out.”

I shake my head; another breathy laugh falls free, this time deeper and more genuine. “Did you have anything to add?”

“Maybe a ‘hi, hello, how are you’, I don’t know. It would’ve been nice to be included, though.”

“I’ll remember that for next time.”

Red and I, while not brothers by blood, are brothers nonetheless. I learned at a young age that family doesn’t mean the shared DNA that courses through your veins. Take my father, for instance. He’s a despicable human being and has no part in my life now. If I wasn’t half of him, he wouldn’t have ever been in my life to begin with. He helped make me, but that means nothing to me. He has never and will never have anything to do with me, my family or the family I make for myself. That’s something that will never change.

Red has no family—none that he’s been in contact with in years, anyway. He’s been an unofficial member of our family for the past fifteen years, and he was in our lives for years before that. He was the one thing that didn’t fit, but he’s long since adapted and has become a better version of himself with us—or at least I like to believe that.

“So, what’s on the agenda for today?” he asks, helping himself to a glass of whiskey.

A heavy sigh escapes me. “Dinner at 6 pm and a cake tasting for dessert.”

In an instant, he’s up on his feet, straightening his suit. “Lead the way to the cake then,” he says, his excitement evident as he bounces in place.

“After dinner,” I remind him.

His smile falls and he falls back into his seat. “Way to kick a man when he’s down, Rio,” he mutters. “I heard cake and forgave you for leaving me out of the conversation… Now, you’re taking that away from me, so you know what? I don’t forgive you anymore. Have that, you fucking twat.”

“I’m not taking it away from you,” I scoff with a laugh. “It’s not like I put the plate in front of you and snatched it away—”

“You took away my cake and you know it,” he cuts me off. “I only looked forward to your wedding to see you in a proper groom’s suit, not your usual one, and the damn cake. Now, I can’t even taste the cake beforehand. This is hell, Rio. You’ve put me in hell.”

“It’s not even your wedding and you’re obsessing over cake? Your future wife will really have it rough.“

“Well, at least my future wife, whomever she may be, won’t have a mean kick. I mean, I hope she does for certain reasons, but as long as she keeps it away from my balls, we’ll get along fine. You have your hands full. Let’s just say, I’m glad I’m not in your shoes.”

“The feeling’s mutual,” I mutter under my breath.

I can’t stop thinking of Liana. I hate that she’s lingering in my mind like she belongs, because she doesn’t. She doesn’t belong anywhere near here for that matter. This is my house, my life… and her father’s to blame for all this mess. He’s a soulless asshole—I would never dream of putting my daughter in a situation she’s not comfortable in, but I don’t have the power to stop this.It came from someone more respected and with more loyalty under his belt. My grandfather. Sure, my father played a huge part in it, but I learned early on that what my grandfather wants, he gets, with a mere snap of his fingers. My stature means nothing when I’m living in their shadows.

Nine

LIANA

What has my life come to? I’ve spent eight dreadful days here, and already, it’s a lot harder than I pictured it to be. I knew it wouldn’t be an easy adjustment, change never is, but I imagined it would be different. I don’t know what I expected, but this… wasn’t it. Not in the slightest.

While Kat’s and Dario’s mothers have done everything they can to make me feel more at home, the truth is, this isn’t my home. It will never be my home. This family is Dario’s, not mine. I’m an intruder, forced to play pretend with them.

My phone rings, startling me slightly, but when I read my father’s name on the screen, every muscle in my body relaxes. It feels like forever since I spoke to him, but I don’t blame him for it; he’s working his ass off to get me back.

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