Page 104 of Reaper & Ruin
A tense silence fell over the room. Emilio’s eyes narrowed, his fingers tapping against the table. Vincente frowned, his gaze dropping to the wood grain in front of him. Even Arabelle, usually the most optimistic of us, looked worried. As though she was about to get sent straight back to the hellhole I’d pulled her from the morning after my father’s death.
“They’ll expect us to be weak,” I said, leaning forward slightly. “They’ll think they can step in and take over. But I’m not going to let that happen. And neither should you.” I looked at my mama, knowing she was the most at risk. “They will want you to marry right away. No doubt Uncle Salvatore will offer himself up. Which means you need to find someone to marry first. I don’t care who, so long as he is kind to you. And the second my uncles return home or are dealt with; you can get a divorce and do whatever you please.”
Mama nodded, and I let the words hang in the air, giving them time to sink in. Then I softened my tone, glancing around the table.
“But before we deal with that,” I said, “I need to know—what can I fix that our father ruined? What can I do now to make sure there is nothing but truth and strength between us?” My chest was tight. “I should have stepped up years ago. Should have made sure none of us had to deal with him. But I was… I didn’t do it then. But I am doing it now. And I will make sure that you get to do the things you want to do, and you do not spend another moment of your lives suffering because of that man.”
The question seemed to catch them off guard. For a moment, no one spoke. Then Vincente cleared his throat.
“That’s… a long list,” he said.
“Then we start at the top,” I replied.
Arabelle leaned forward. “What about the kids?” she asked softly. “Do we tell them any of this, or leave them in peace? They would be in the most danger here, Gio.”
My eyes flicked toward the door, where I knew Elio, Mariella, and Violetta were playing in the parlor.
“I’ll protect them,” I said firmly. “I’ll protect all of you. But I need your help. That’s why I’m here.”
The silence that followed was heavy, but I didn’t push them. They needed time to process, and eventually, when their shock died down, they spoke.
List after list. Word after word. Crime after crime. All of it mashed together into one giant mission that lay ahead. Not that I minded so much, in a way. With my girl on my lap, my man beside me, and my family nearby, it kind of felt easy in a way.
I could do this. Whatever happened.
I was sure it would all be fine…
Chapter Thirty Four, Rest In Peace? Fuck No
The garden of the De Luca mansion was cloaked in shadows, the deep sort of darkness that made the soft glow of the dining room window seem even brighter and made my soul happy.
I crouched low behind a thick hedge, my breaths measured, the faint scent of earth and roses filling my nose. It was enough to make me want to sneeze, but I was not an amateur. A breeze rustled the leaves above me, brushing strands of hair into my face, but I still didn’t move.
I was a ghost now. And ghosts didn’t move for shit unless they wanted to.
Or there was a Ghostbuster, but I mean… that was just my bitch ass brain being pedantic.
Through the window, I could see them all—sitting at the long table, laughing, talking like they didn’t have the weight of the world pressing down on their fragile little shoulders.Like they hadn’t sat there for hours already, plotting and planning away with whatever their smooth brains could think of. It was strange, almost surreal, to watch a family like this. Like something out of a cringe movie that I scoffed at when I bothered to break in somewhere and watch TV. But I knew better.
The De Luca’s weren’t some picture-perfect family. They were chaos and violence wrapped in silk ties and dinner parties, and yet… there was something different about them tonight. Something almost human.
Human enough to make me think, for the tiniest second that my brain decided to be a dick to me, that perhaps I wanted it. To be part of a family. To have other humans care about my well-being and existence.
To have a delicious creature like Francesca De Luca bake me cakes and ask if wanted a fucking hug because whatever generic sports team I liked had lost their match and somehow that made my day bad.
But I wasn’t interested in most of them. Not even Heather, in a pretty blue dress covered in clouds and a matching pair of pumps. No. My eyes focused on one person:Atlas.
He sat near the end of the table, relaxed but alert, leaning back in his chair as if he didn’t have a care in the world. He was talking to one of the younger girls, and his lips curved into a rare smile at something she said.
It was a soft smile, almost boyish. And it made something sharp twist in my chest.
It wasn’t the first time I’d watched him. I’d done it every day since I knew he was alive. I’d done it all summer long as I pretended I was hunting Giovanni, just to keep his father’s paycheck. But had spent my nights sleeping in a car or shitty motel, bored and thoroughly… empty. Unsure.
I hadn’t wanted to kill him. Only because he belonged to my brother.
But it had taken me a while to make myself okay with that fact.
Just because I was watching now, didn’t mean I was suddenly soft or weird. It wasn’t my fault that I had nothing better to do. Or that my brain was making me come here. I just didn’t know how to handle the reality of the truth between Atlas and I.
