Page 45 of Ties That Bind Us

Vince pushed me away from her, stepping between the two of us. Alessandro lunged toward him, slamming his son against the wall roughly. “Shut the fuck up.”

Everything seemed to freeze, people watching in awe as everything unfolded.

“Ava, let’s go.” I pulled her hand, desperately trying to get her out of here, but she let go. I swore to myself if I could just get her out of here before it got worse, I would explain everything to her. I just had to get her out of here before Vince did something we would all regret.

She stepped slowly toward Vince, defying both me and her father. All she could concentrate on was Vince.

“Ava, leave with Nick,” Alessandro demanded. “Now!”

As if she didn’t hear him, she stood exactly where she was, looking desperately at Vince for some kind of explanation. The confusion in her eyes was debilitating, and all I could do was watch this nightmare unfold.

“It’s his fault Andrew is dead. And before you go through with this bullshit wedding, you need to ask him why.” His words were like bullets, spraying into all of us. I stood, watching as the realization of what he said hit Ava, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

I couldn’t blame Vince; it was all my fault. He didn’t even know the whole story—Alessandro had conveniently kept that from him as well. Ava should have heard this story from me long ago, the second I realized who she was. I should have told her before we even got to this point, before it could be twisted or taken in the wrong context. It was much too late for that now, though—I had to lie in the bed I’d made and hope I could somehow make this up to her.

“Enough!” Alessandro shrieked, carting Vince out of the room. It was too late, though, the damage had been done.

Ava turned around, her eyes immediately seeking me. All I could see was the pain and betrayal in them. “Ava, let me explain.”

Before I could say another word, she flew out the front door as if she couldn’t get away from me fast enough.

I chased her onto the porch, reaching for her arm just before she went down the stairs. “Ava, please, let me explain.”

She jerked her arm away from me so roughly I was afraid she might lose her balance. “Is what he said true?” Tears streamed down her face. The pain in her eyes was excruciating, nearly knocking the wind right out of me.

I hesitated and then nodded. I couldn’t lie anymore. “Yes. I was involved with Andrew’s death.”

“What exactly does involved mean?” she spat, narrowing her eyes at me.

I sucked in a sharp breath, knowing this could potentially ruin everything.

“It’s my fault he’s dead. I shot him.”

Chapter 16

Ava

When I left my parents’ house, I had no idea where I was going, just that I had to get away from there as quickly as possible. Nick had lied to me, my parents had lied to me—I felt like there was no one I could trust. I could hardly see the road through my tears, but I couldn’t get away from there fast enough, so I started driving.

It’s my fault he’s dead. I shot him.

Nick’s words echoing in my mind made me physically sick. I had trusted him, I had walked into this entire thing blindly and done whatever he asked me to do, and the entire time he was keeping this secret from me. God, the things I had let him do to me. And all that time, I wasn’t worth the truth.

I had never felt so mortified in my entire life. I had gone through the last few years thinking my twin brother had killed himself. I thought he committed suicide and that I should have seen the signs and been able to do something. I drove myself insane trying to make some sense of it, and it was all for nothing. Nick had shot him. My fiancé had murdered my twin brother. My father had known it all along and had still shipped me off to the Caponellis like some sort of bartering object.

What kind of person could look me in the eye and lie to me about that every day? How could Nick lie so effortlessly to me, making me think he was falling in love with me, that he only had the best of intentions for me? I was probably just some sort of sick fantasy for him, and it was disgusting.

Up until twenty minutes ago, everything had looked so promising, and now here I was, completely on my own. I had no one. Clearly Vince knew; had my sisters lied to me too? At this point, there was no one I could trust, and there was no worse feeling than that.

I needed to find Jimmy, not because I felt like I could trust him, but because I needed to get high. I needed to slow my mind down and forget any of this shit ever happened. I wanted to erase all of it. Nick, the dinner, losing Andrew. Tomorrow, all this bullshit would still be here, but tonight, I wanted to forget about it. If I hadn’t left my stupid jacket back at my parents, I would be doing that right now. The bag Jimmy had given me earlier was sitting conveniently in the pocket, and now I was going to need to beg him for more.

Somehow, I ended up in the parking lot of the Jag. I threw my car into park and checked myself in the mirror quickly. I looked like a fucking mess. At least the outside matched the inside. I did the best I could, hoping to at least make myself presentable enough to walk into the bar, but I said a silent prayer that it was dark inside.

The place was crowded, especially for a weeknight, and I had to fight my way through the bar. I glanced anxiously around, desperately searching for Jimmy. I needed a fix—that was the only thing that could make this hurt a little less—and I didn’t care about the consequences.

I made my way from one end to the other, and finally set my eyes on Jimmy at a secluded table in the back. This entire place gave me the chills, and I wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible. Two rail-thin girls sat on either side of him, as he sleazily draped his arms over their shoulders. I shuddered, remembering that not that long ago, I had been one of those girls. It was enough to make me reconsider what I was about to do, but only briefly. I would never let myself fall that deep again; all I needed was something I knew would make me feel good.

I gathered up every ounce of gumption in my body and walked toward him purposefully. He did a double take when he saw me, and then a sinister smile spread across his face.

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