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“She is fine, Muse. Don’t get involved in this.” Gino’s voice was low when he spoke to Muse, but he was still tense as an arch.
“Don’t get involved? This is not your business; this is your family.”
“My sister, Muse!” he roared, and I stepped back. Gino never – never – raised his voice at Muse. He was ready to slit the throat of anyone who did so. “My little sister, whom I was supposed to take care of. I had to come and pick her up from a man’s bed. Not any man, my general, my subordinate! She was there half naked like some kind of prostitute!”
Muse looked at him with her mouth gaping, and Roman shook his head with disappointment. Me? I would have rather had Gino slap me.
“Or a stripper,” Muse spit back at him. “I’m sorry for getting involved in your family, Gino.” She was using her words as a sharp machete, and she was aiming for his heart.
“Muse, I’m sorry, I…”
“I’ll go help Catherinelle get changed.”
“Muse,” he tried again, but she ignored him.
She took my hand and dragged me to the stairs, but I didn’t protest. I needed to get out of there as much as she did. I needed a moment of peace, away from Gino, so I could cry my eyes out.
I followed Muse into my room in grievous silence. Her fight with Gino only added to my bleak mood. The last thing I wanted was to see others hurt.
“Muse,” I finally said, “he didn’t mean…”
“I know.” To my surprise, when she turned to me, a smile was gracing her features. “Don’t worry about me, Cat. I’m alright. You two needed a few moments apart, and Gino needs to calm down before he says something he’ll regret.”
I puffed a gush of air and crossed my arms under my breasts.
“Too late for that.” He had said more than enough. Threatening Hugo, telling me to move out of his house. It would take some time before I could look at my brother again. “Thank you, Muse, for taking me out of there. Gino won’t even listen to me.”
“Give him some time, ok? You shocked him tonight. When your cousin came here to ask if you wanted to go out to dinner with her, I saw him going white as a sheet. He thought something might have happened to you.” My stupid, overprotective brother. “Hey, let’s all just sleep on it and start fresh tomorrow.”
“Gino’s banishing me to the suburbs tomorrow.”
“He will come around, Cat. I’ll go get you something to change into.”
Change? Oh, right, I was still dressed in Hugo’s t-shirt and Roman’s coat.
Suddenly, everything crushed into me like a tsunami of sadness and self-pity. The fear I felt for Hugo when the gun was aiming for his head, the look he gave me when Gino dragged me out the door, like it was the last time he’d look at me.
A knot settled in my throat, and my knees buckled together, almost giving out. I couldn’t let Gino do this to me. I didn’t care if he sent me to Great Neck. He could ship me to Italy for all I cared, but I wouldn’t let him keep Hugo away from me.
Muse looked my way and stopped.
“Cat? Are you ok?”
“Yeah, umm…” I took off the coat and hand it to her. “Here. Ask Flora Maria to launder this for Roman.”
“Sure. Let me get you some pajamas.”
“No!” I braced myself, clutching at the t-shirt.
I couldn’t let go of it right now. I was feeling hollow, and the piece of clothing drenched in his smell was the only thing that was keeping me together. If I took it off, all my cracks would show.
“Oh, honey.”
Muse took me by the hands, walked me to the bed, and we sat together on the edge. I didn’t know what to do, and the wound in my heart was too raw to talk about it, so I just put my forehead on her chest and cried in silence. My tears were falling, forming small wet stains on Muse’s jeans, but I kept the sobbing for me.
There wasn’t much to say or do, and Muse had to go and make amends with Gino. There was no need for her to live my misery with me, so after about half an hour of crying in her arms, I insisted I was ok and rushed her out the door to go find my brother. He was so callous tonight, nothing like I’d ever seen before. She was the only one who could tame him, and maybe in the morning, I could talk to him like normal people.
Finally alone, I went to my nightstand and opened the drawer, pulling out a white envelope. I wasn’t crying anymore, but my head was booming with pain. I had no idea if it was because of the pregnancy or the horrific events of the night, but I needed something gentle. Hugo wasn’t here, and the worst part was that I had no idea when I’d get the chance to get close to him again.
I opened the envelope and dumped it on my pillow. A handful of white petals fell and covered my pink sheets. Rose petals from the first and only flower Hugo ever gave me back in the Hamptons. A few weeks had passed since, but it felt like a lifetime ago. It was weird, like my life didn’t exist before Hugo, and now I had a hard time seeing life after him too.
NO!
This would not be our end. I wouldn’t let it. A Nucci always gets what they want.
But what happened when two Nuccis went head-to-head?
