So it didn’t matter if my father saw this as a bad union. He’d never go against orders.
“Why am I here?” Once again Nikolai’s voice was even. “I thought we were here to have dinner with family?” The way Nikolai spit out that last word told me he didn’t consider Marco such.
And the truth was, neither did I. After moving out of my childhood home I realize that this has never been my family.
My mother started speaking to my father quickly in Italian, but my father refused to look away from Nikolai, and when he lifted a hand in her direction, she became silent instantly.
And then all of our attention was turned to the entryway as two people stopped right inside. One of the servants stood beside Francesca, the latter looking at everyone with wide eyes, her oversized jacket dwarfing her, and her hair looking windblown.
The silence stretched out heavy and thick, and as I stared at Francesca, I felt my brows lowered. There was something off about her, something about her demeanor that screamed panicked. Although she appeared fine, relatively speaking, her eyes had a glossy tint to them and were red rimmed.
She looked around the room with a startled expression on her face, her hands moving up and down her jacket.
“Oh. I didn’t realize there were… family plans going on.”
“It’s okay,” Claudia said and let go of my hand to walk around myself and Nikolai to stand beside Francesca.
I was still so confused over the friendship between my sister and Francesca that none of this made sense.
“Now is not the time, Francesca.” My father spat out the words and cast a withering stare in her direction, which had her cowering and taking a step back.
“I just wanted to talk,” she whispered, as she stared at Marco.
My father huffed out and stormed toward her, taking her by the arm and pulling her out and into the foyer. Everyone left in the room stared at each other with clear confusion on their faces.
I walked toward the entryway and peered out to see my father and Francesca standing in the foyer, my father a foot from the small girl, his hand swinging between them and his hushed voice slightly raised in clear anger.
“I don’t understand what’s going on,” I whispered more to myself, but before I could turn back around to stand beside Nikolai and wait to get this over with, father was striding away from Francesca, who was now crying heavily by the front door and staring at him as if he’d just torn her heart out.
I felt Nikolai’s hand curl around my wrist and then he was pulling me back to his side.
“Claudia,” my father barked out once he was back in the sitting room. “Deal with her and get her out of the house. She’s causing a scene.”
Claudia looked at me with wide eyes and confusion on her face before she left the room and went to tend to Francesca.
“What was that about?” I asked but my father didn’t answer. He paced back and forth as he ran a hand over his hair. He murmured low, his words muffled so I couldn’t understand him clearly.
I looked at Nikolai, who gripped my waist with his firm hand, squeezing me gently in reassurance. I slipped out of the room and walked into the foyer, where Francesca was still standing. She was sobbing at this point, and the closer I got to her, the more I realized she wasn’t just upset. She was drunk. The scent of alcohol poured from her.
My heart hurt for her. I could only assume how much pain she was in over Edoardo. It wasn’t like she could actually confess her feelings about him. She’d have to take that secret to the grave with her or risk tarnishing her and her family’s reputation.
“Francesca?” I said in a gentle voice and stopped a few inches from her, not moving or speaking again until she sniffed, wiped her cheeks, and then looked up at me.
She wiped her eyes quickly and cleared her throat. “I’m sorry. I’m a mess. I just… I felt so out of control. I walked out of my house and didn’t realize I was here until I was knocking on the door.” She wiped away a few more errant tears again I looked over my shoulder and into the sitting room to where everyone still was.
“I’m sorry if my father said something that upset you further. He’s… well, he’s like all the men in our lives.” I knew she would understand what I meant, but what I didn’t expect from her was the expression on her face. Narrowed eyes and pure hatred.
For long moments she didn’t speak to me, just stared as if I were the worst thing she’d ever seen. It was as if a switch had been turned inside of her. Gone was the girl who appeared to have a broken heart and in her place was one who appeared to not even have one.
“Look at you,” she sneered. “Got everything you wanted. A marriage where your husband clearly treats you well.” She pursed her lips. “The way I’ve seen him look at you…” she shook her head. “A man who would level anything who tried to hurt you. He’d never toss you away.”
I had no idea what the hell was going on. “Is everything okay?” Something inside of me said I needed to back away, to go back to Nikolai, the room full of people. But I had a feeling I knew what this was about. She probably blamed me for Edoardo’s death.
If I hadn’t stepped into that hallway, hadn’t seen what I’d seen, Edoardo wouldn’t have a bullet in his head thanks to my husband.
And a part of me couldn’t blame Francesca, couldn’t hold any ill will toward her in that regard. If the roles reversed and something happened to Nikolai, I would’ve definitely blamed Francesca as well.
I found myself lifting my hand and placing it over my heart, my chest suddenly aching , a premonition that something horrible was going to happen.
Nikolai.
I looked over my shoulder and could see him and my father speaking. I was thankful no one was paying attention to me out here.
“This is all your fault. It has been from the very beginning.”
I faced forward again, my face no doubt showing my utter shock and confusion. “I’m sorry about what happened to Edoardo. It was a ‘wrong place at the wrong time’ kind of thing. I know how hard this must be for you, especially since you can’t tell anyone about your relationship or how you felt about him.”
Francesca slowly shook her head. “Edoardo?” she chuckled humorlessly again. “You think this is about him?”
“I–”
“No, this is about how you ruined everything.” Her voice was high-pitched. It was reminiscent of what I assumed someone sounded like who was losing their mind. “Do you think these tears are for Edoardo? Stupid bitch. No, I’m not crying because he died. I’m crying because Marco found out what I was doing behind his back with that low-life foot soldier.”
For a minute I was stunned speechless. I had no idea what she was talking about. What did my father have to do with this? I looked over my shoulder again but Nikolai and Marco were still speaking. The longer I looked at my father, the more my thoughts started turning.
I don’t understand,” I said softly and faced her once more. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. You were afraid my father would find out about you and Edoardo? Why would he care?” I held my hands out, palms up, shaking my head.
“Are you really that dense? You really can’t let the truth sink in.” She took a small step toward me. “Really think about it, Amara. Really think about what I’m telling you right now.” She gave a humorless laugh and shook her head. “I have nothing now. Nothing to lose. I don’t care who knows the truth.”