Anger snapped free of its leash. “What do you want me to do, throw a parade? For fuck’s sake, I just saved your life, and all you can do is comment on whether I look happy!”
Luca didn’t flinch. “You’re my brother,” he said calmly. “Your happiness is important to me.”
Just like that, my anger fizzled as quickly as it came. “If that were true, you wouldn’t have gotten us into this mess in the first place.”
He grimaced. “Yes, well, I’ve done my fair share of…questionable things, as you might know.”
I snorted in agreement.
“But you were right to make me get a job. I actually like working at Lohman & Sons, and the structure has been good for me. It’s nice not waking up with a hangover every day.” A smile flitted over Luca’s mouth. “I admit, I was resentful as hell when you first brought it up. The whole blackmail thing didn’t seem real at the time, and I hated how you punished me like I was your child instead of your brother. The job, breaking up with Maria. I was…selfish.”
I lowered my bottle and narrowed my eyes. “I’m not the one whose body was taken over by aliens. Who are you, and what the hell have you done to my brother?”
Luca laughed. “Like I said, the structure has been good for me. So has not hanging out with my old crowd as much. Actually…” He cleared his throat. “I met a girl. Leaf. She’s really put things into perspective for me.”
“You’re dating someone named Leaf?” I asked, incredulous.
“Her parents were hippies,” he said by way of explanation. “She’s a yoga instructor in Brooklyn. Very flexible. Anyway, that’s not the point. The point is, I’ve been doing a lot of inner work with her.”
I bet he has. I should’ve known. All the big shifts in Luca’s life revolved around women, booze, or parties.
“She’s helping me heal my inner child,” he continued. “That includes fixing our brotherly relationship.”
Jesus. I supposed a Brooklyn yoga instructor named Leaf was better than a mafia princess. Higher chance of turning my brother vegan, lower chance of getting him killed.
“What about Maria? I thought you were in love.”
“I haven’t talked to her in—er, since we spoke in your office.” Luca coughed. “I was talking to Leaf about it. I think I mistook the thrill of the forbidden for love love, you know? The two are easily confused.”
You don’t fucking say.
“But enough about my love life. We were talking about yours. With Vivian.”
I tensed again. “We sure as hell weren’t.”
“You should be celebrating after getting rid of the Laus,” he said, ignoring me. “But you’re here drinking alone like Great Uncle Agostino after losing at poker. We both know why.”
“Because I’m trying to forget I have an annoying as fuck brother with terrible taste in women.”
“No. Because you actually like Vivian,” he said pointedly. “You might even love her.”
The wrecking ball of his speculation ricocheted through my chest and knocked my heartbeat off-kilter. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Is it? Be honest.” Luca leaned forward and fixed a hard stare on me. It wasn’t an expression I was used to seeing on him. It was unsettling. “Putting aside all the bullshit with Francis, do you want to be with her?”
I tugged at my tie, only to realize I wasn’t wearing one. Then why the hell did my throat feel so tight? “It’s not that simple.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Because it’s not,” I snapped. “What do you think will happen? We’ll have happy family meals at Thanksgiving after I destroy her father’s company? Get married in front of all our friends like the way we got together wasn’t completely fucked? If I marry her, Francis wins. He’ll still have a Russo as an in-law. People will question why the fuck I’m not saving him when his company goes up in flames. It’ll be a goddamn mess!”
“Sure,” Luca said, seemingly unimpressed by my explanation. “But that doesn’t answer my question. Do you want to be with her?”
Forget Romano’s wrath. I was seconds away from giving into mine and strangling him with my bare hands.
If it weren’t for him, Francis wouldn’t have blackmailed me. If he hadn’t blackmailed me, I wouldn’t have gotten engaged to Vivian. If I hadn’t gotten engaged to Vivian, I wouldn’t have fallen—
Realization punched me in the chest, so hard and sudden I swore I heard a crack.
Bruised heart, fractured ribs, stolen breath, all in the space of a minute. It was like my body was punishing me for not recognizing the truth earlier when it’d been so damn obvious.
The way I’d stayed in bed longer every morning just to catch her first smile of the day.
The way our takeout lunch dates became my favorite part of the work week.
The way I’d opened up to her about my family, my life, myself…
Andthe way watching her walk away on Monday had cost me an irretrievable piece of my soul.
The breath left my lungs.
Somehow, somewhere along the way, I’d fallen in love with Vivian Lau.
Not like or lust. Love, in all its terrifying, unpredictable, unwanted glory.
Luca watched me process the realization, his expression equal parts amused and concerned. “That’s what I thought.”
Fuck. Fuckfuckfuckfuck FUCK.
I rubbed a hand over my face, restless and unsettled.
What the hell was I supposed to do now? I’d never been in love. Never planned to be in love. And now, I’d gone and fallen for the one woman I shouldn’t have like a damn idiot.
“When the hell did you turn into the older brother?” The topic was safer than the unresolved one hanging in the air.
“Trust me, I’m not, and I don’t want to be. Too much responsibility. But that’s the point.” Luca’s face sobered. “You’ve sacrificed a lot for me, Dante. I don’t always acknowledge or openly appreciate it, but I…” He swallowed hard. “I know. All the times you showed up for me when others couldn’t or wouldn’t. Agreeing to marry Vivian, then giving her up. That’s what I meant when I said we need to fix our relationship. You’ve always been a parent figure because I needed a parent figure. But now…I’d like us to try and be brothers.”
This time, the pinch in my chest had nothing to do with Vivian. “Meaning?”
“Meaning I’ll try not to fuck up and have you bail me out.” He gave me a lopsided grin. “And I call you out on your bullshit when I need to, like now. You love Vivian. I saw it happening even in Bali. But you let her go because of what? Your pride and vengeance? Those things will only get you so far.”
“Did Leaf tell you that?”
“Nah.” Another grin. “I read an article about the seven sins in my dentist’s waiting room.”
I let out a scoff, but his words replayed on a loop in my head.
You let her go because of what? Your pride and vengeance? Those things will only get you so far.
“I should’ve put you to work sooner. It would’ve saved me a shit ton of money and headaches.” I scrubbed my face again, trying to make sense of this rollercoaster of a day. “Why are you so invested in my relationship with Vivian?”
Luca’s grin disappeared.
“Because you’ve protected me my whole life,” he said quietly. “And it’s time I returned the favor.”
I blamed the burn in my heart on the alcohol. “That’s what my security team is for.”
“Not from other people. From yourself.” Luca nodded at the half-empty bottle still loosely clasped in my hand. “Don’t let your pursuit of wrath ruin the best thing that’s ever happened to you. Yeah, figuring things out with Vivian will be hard, but you’ve always been a fighter. So fucking fight.”
Vivian
The Wednesday after I moved out of Dante’s house, I chartered a flight to Boston. According to my mom, whom I’d called under the guise of discussing wedding arrangements, my father was already back home.
I’d spent the plane ride rehearsing what I would say. But as I sat across from him in his office, listening to the clock tick and the shallow cadence of my breaths, I realized no amount of rehearsal could’ve prepared me for confronting my father.
Silence stretched between us for another minute before he leaned back and raised a bushy, gray-tipped brow. “What’s the emergency, Vivian? I assume you have something important you’d like to discuss if you showed up unannounced like this.”
He was the one who had something to apologize for, but his stern voice sent a knee-jerk spiral of shame through me. It was the same voice he’d used whenever I received anything less than a perfect test score. I tried not to let it affect me, but it was hard to overcome decades of conditioning.
“Yes, I do.” I lifted my chin and straightened my shoulders, trying to summon the fire from two days ago. All I managed were a few puffs of smoke.
It was much easier to rant at my father in my head than in real life.
Part of the reason was how exhausted he looked. Heavy bags hung beneath his eyes while lines of worry formed deep crags and crevices across his face.
News articles had started popping up about trouble at Lau Jewels. Nothing major yet, just a few whispers here and there, but they were a sign of the storm to come. The office buzzed with nervous energy, and stock values had dipped.
An unreasonable pang of guilt pierced my gut.