Page 49 of Rosetti Family New York
I start the climb up the driveway, aware of Leonardo’s eyes and the eyes of a half-dozen armed men. I feel perfectly safe since this is the house I grew up in. Father’s men won't shoot on sight.
Before I can second guess myself, the main gates open. A black Town Car glides out like a serpent, sleek and dangerous. I duck behind a hedge, and my father’s driver doesn’t see me as he accelerates away from the estate, from my sister. She’s inside waiting for me.
I follow her, nervous energy pushing me up the drive. I can still feel Leonardo watching me from the bottom of the hill, and I fight the urge to turn back.
The guard house is the first test, but they know me. They see what they expect to see, an obedient daughter of a ruthless father, home at last.
“Your father didn’t tell us you’d be coming,” says one, frowning from the open door.
I smile. “I’m surprising him.”
“He’s gone out for the morning.”
“Never mind, I’ll just say hello to Juliet then. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to stop me from visiting my own family,” I add with an edge to my voice.
He shrugs, lifts a pack of smokes to his lips, and returns to his seat.
I slip into the house. I turn the corner and see Juliet at the top of the stairs. She looks paper white and paper thin, fragile as ash.
“Eleanor?”
The first sentence out of my mouth is snapped and curt. “Why didn’t you answer my calls?”
She looks at me blankly, with none of her usual joy. “Father took my phone away.”
“Controlling ass,” I say, and Juliet raises a brow at my language. I think my new crime family must be rubbing off on me.
“I can’t believe he let you in,” she says.
“Father doesn't know I’m here.”
She follows me into the empty dining room, into cavernous hallways. We stop in a narrow room, my mother’s room. She used to play here with us when she was still alive. Juliet’s done her best to bring some of the sunshine back, but it still feels like a tomb. Still, it’s the one place father never comes, so it’s the safest place to talk.
“If father finds you here, he really won’t be happy. He’s convinced you’re not upholding your end of the bargain with the Rosettis. He’s even been talking about doing business with another group instead.”
“The Albanians.”
“Yes,” she replies, her voice a dull echo in the empty room.
“Bastard.” Heat rises in my chest, burning like the fire Leonardo would set to this place. Father sold me off for that precious business deal, and now he’s found himself something better. He has no use for me, so he’s just abandoning me.
Juliet is watching me, her brows knit with worry. “He’s getting worse, Eleanor. He’s desperate. Obsessed. You have to leave before he gets back. If he catches you here, he might not let you go.”
I picture my possessive husband outside, itching for a fight, and I laugh. I actually laugh. “There’s no way Leonardo will allow that.”
She shivers, misunderstanding. “I’m so sorry you’re stuck with those…those criminals. They sound even worse than father.”
I grip her shoulder, feeling the delicate bones under my fingers. She’s weightless and whisper thin. “You can’t stay here.”
“Where else would I go?”
“With me. The Rosettis can protect you until—”
She shakes her head, and her braid swings against her back. She must have put it in this morning without her maid’s help; it’s loose and messy, with none its usual neatness. “Father would never allow it.” Panic rises in her voice.
“Father doesn’t get to control you.”
“You want the Rosettis to control me instead?”
