Page 65 of Hexed
“E’s agreed to think about opening a Marino hotel down here in Atlantic Cove.” Uncle T’s smile is bright and wide, his eyes glimmering as he looks at me.
I slump back in my chair, relieved because maybe that means I won’t have to interact with Enzo anymore, at least beyond the superficial hellos we’ll share in passing leading up to the engagement party. “He told you that?”
“Aria mentioned it.”
“Oh.”
Images of Enzo and Aria cuddling in bed—his arm around her with a postcoital glow, him telling her about his business plans and asking her opinion—flow through my head.
My chest burns, and the feeling scorches up my throat.
“I didn’t really do much,” I say, shaking off my vivid—and very unwelcome—imagination. “I just showed him around—which I still don’t know why I was put on babysitting the big bad mafioso. I’m sure Aria’s pissed you let it happen.”
Uncle T grumbles, his beard twitching. “She doesn’t know.”
“What do you mean she doesn’t know? She’s not curious about where her man is while they’re in town?”
Uncle T sniffs. “I don’t want her anywhere near this business.”
I laugh, because surely he’s joking. “She’s marrying him. She’s in it whether or not you want her to be.”
“The women don’t touch that life. They stay happy at home,” Uncle T says.
I look at Bas, widening my eyes. He shrugs in return.
Men are fucking delusional.
Uncle T waves me off. “If sheinsistson staying gone from South Carolina, I need to know she’ll be protected, and that’s the last I’m gonna say about it. And don’t either of you get any ideas and bring things up to her. She’ll know what I want her to know, and that’s final.”
“Shouldn’t that be something she gets to decide?”
I don’t know why I’m defending her or pushing Uncle T’s buttons, other than for some reason, it feels different today, almost like having the freedom to speak with Enzo opened up a new world, one I’m having trouble closing even though I know biting my tongue is the best way to stay in Uncle T’s favor.
Besides, I may not like Aria, but I don’t wish the chains of a man on anyone, not even her.
Uncle T leans forward. “Aria’s never known what’s best for her. And you’re asking a hell of a lot of questions for a girl who can’t afford the answers.”
Ouch.That brings me back down to earth real quick.
That feeling from when he was proud a moment ago pops like a balloon stuck with a needle.
“Hey, what happened to that Sean guy?” I look at Bastien, trying to change the subject.
Uncle T frowns. “Bas handled it.”
“And?” I sit up straighter.
“And nothing. He handled it. It’s done.”
My back falls against the chair with an audible smack.
“Does Enzo know?” Uncle T asks.
My forehead creases, something uneasy winding its way through me like vines. “Know what?”
“About what happened that night. I know you were with him, so I’m just trying to figure outhowwith him you were when everything with that little rat Sean went down.”
My spine tingles with awareness because why wouldthatmatter? Uncle T is the one who made me spend the day with Enzo anyway, so this line of questioning is weird, especially since both my uncle and Bastien are being cagey as hell. It puts me on edge, something else I’m not used to feeling when it comes to Uncle T.
