This was a good idea, bringing the girls here. I didn’t want Caitlin to think she was our captive. And she’d seemed at ease around Ari, Alessia, and Bella. Of course, I had no doubt Nora would insert herself into our fledgling relationship, or whatever was left of it. But I’d take whatever I could get.
Nicco kissed Arianne before watching her disappear inside, then he got into the truck.
“You’re not taking the Range Rover?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I figured we could ride together. Then you can bring me back later.”
Sneaky.
But I couldn’t deny that having an excuse to come back out here was welcomed.
As I pulled onto the dirt road leading back to the highway, I glanced in my rearview mirror and saw Caitlin watching us.
I had to fight the urge to pull a U-turn and go back for her, to demand she heard me out. But she wanted time, and I would give it to her.
“She’ll come around,” Nicco said as if he heard my thoughts.
“I’m not so sure.” I glanced in the mirror again, but she was gone.
Maybe she’d never been there at all.
“I know you… feel something for her. But what do you really know about her, Matt?”
My brows furrowed. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
If anyone got it, I thought it would be Nicco. He’d fallen for Arianne in a heartbeat, not realizing who she really was until it was too late.
Theirs had been a case of star-crossed lovers. The tragic kind. The kind that ended in death and heartache. But they had survived. He’d gotten the girl and the life he wanted with her.
So yeah, I thought he might understand how it felt to fall so deeply into someone without ever truly knowing them.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he rolled his eyes. “I don’t have the luxury of being sentimental, not now.” Not since his father had been taken sick. “I have to make decisions in the best interests of our business. Decisions that protect everything the Family has built. You know that.”
“I know. Fuck, Nic, I know that. But if anyone understood, I thought… it doesn’t matter.” I released a strained breath, keeping my eyes on the road.
“I get it, I do. I’m just worried. She has you all twisted up in knots and I know that feeling well. It leaves you unable to see straight.” It was his turn to sigh. “All I’m saying is, tread carefully. You said it yourself, she’s hiding something. I don’t want you to be blindsided.”
“Yeah.” I didn’t expand.
His words left a bitter taste in my mouth. So it was okay for him and Enzo to pursue women who they knew deserved more than this life, but the first time I actually showed any interest in a girl, it was deemed irresponsible?
Fuck that.
Caitlin was entitled to her secrets after what she’d survived at the hands of DiMarco.
Nothing she could tell me would change how I felt; of that, I was sure. Because you didn’t pick the people you cared about, the people you loved. It wasn’t something you could control or switch off. It was something you couldn’t fight. Something you couldn’t ignore.
“I just keep thinking what happens after, you know? Once this shit with DiMarco is handled. What then? If she doesn’t want me, what will you do?”
“I’m not a monster, Matteo. This you know.”
“I know. But you are the boss now. I understand that comes with responsibility.”
“Once we decide what to do with DiMarco, Caitlin will be safe. I’ll see to it personally. You have my word.”
“You’ll make her disappear,” I said, the pit in my stomach stretching.
“It’s the only way, Matt, and you know it. Unless—”
“Unless she decides to stay and be with me.”
That was it then.
If Caitlin didn’t choose me once this was all over, she’d be gone, and I’d never see her again.
Nicco, with the help of our trusted associates, would make her disappear. Give her a new life in exchange for her silence.
I guess I should have felt lucky she wouldn’t find herself buried in a ditch somewhere, never to be found again. But I couldn’t find it in myself to feel anything but a stab of regret.
Surely the universe wouldn’t be so cruel to bring her back into my life and then take her away again?
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m sorry it has to be this way.”
“Me too,” I murmured as realization sank deep into my bones.
Everything was changing.
It had always been the three of us—Nicco, Enzo, and me—against the world. Then he met Arianne, and Enzo found Nora. But I was okay with that because seeing them happy was worth being the fifth wheel. I didn’t feel like an outsider then. But now, sitting there with Nicco, the guy I’d loved like a brother for my entire life, I couldn’t help but feel the power imbalance between us.
He was no longer just my cousin, my best friend, my family. He was the boss. He couldn’t let his familiarity or attachment to me get the better of him, and I knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t.
Just like I knew if Caitlin refused to give us a chance—refused to give me a chance—after this shit with DiMarco went away, I’d probably never see her again.
What did you do to her?
I stared at Bella’s text message, reading the words over and over again.
What’s wrong?
She seems… sad.
Fuck.
There’s some stuff you don’t know…
Arabella’s reply came straight through.
Isn’t there always.
Even over a cell phone, I felt the bite to her words.
Is she okay?
I don’t know. She seems off, but she won’t talk about it. I tried to talk about you, and she completely shut down.
I tipped my head back against the couch and let out a weary sigh. When we’d gotten back to Verona, I’d asked Nicco to drop me off at the apartment. I hadn’t officially moved out of my parents’ house, but sometimes, I needed the space.
But space from Caitlin was the last thing I wanted. It felt like there was an ocean between us.
Just be there for her. She’s had a rough time of it. She needs a friend.
Alessia and Arabella might have been younger, but they were wise beyond their years. I guess that’s what happened when you grew up in a family like ours. We tried to protect them as much as we could, but they both had a knack of uncovering the truth.
God help the men who stole their hearts. A shudder went through me. I didn’t want to think of my sister falling in love. Not now. Not ever. But I wasn’t stupid enough to know it wouldn’t happen one day.
My cell vibrated again, and I opened the message, my breath catching at my sister’s reply.
Maybe she needs more than a friend.
I screwed my eyes shut, forcing myself to take a deep breath. That’s all I wanted—to be Caitlin’s guy. To be there for her, to protect her.
To love her.
This was bigger than the both of us though. Bigger than what I wanted, or Caitlin needed.