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“And to avenging our father’s death,” I added.
CHAPTER 26
Selena
Days had passed. Ones of darkness and anxiety.
Sadness and trepidation.
Tragedies and sorrows had a way of bringing out the best or worst in people.
With Valerio, the verdict was out.
Yes, he’d gone out of his way to make me feel like a part of his family, including helping me pack my things inside my small apartment, arranging for a moving van for what little I’d wanted to bring with me and helping me settle into his gorgeous beach house.
He’d called his attorney, arranging for a meeting between the man and myself so I could put my codicils into place, no questions asked.
Hell, he’d even set up a special bank account in my name only, already depositing one point five million dollars with promise of access to the family accountant to ensure there weren’t too many tax ramifications.
But he’d been cold, completely unemotional since our return. Not a tear shed. Not a glass thrown across the room in a fit of rage. Nothing.
He’d provided me with my own suite at his house, including a room used as my exclusive office. Meanwhile, his bedroom was located on the opposite end of the house where he’d remained in the five days since our return.
Not forcing me to surrender.
Not making demands of any kind.
And certainly not sharing one moment of romance.
Yes, he’d admitted he wasn’t a romantic under the best of times, but I’d never expected him to shut down so completely. It was as unnerving as him being dead set on finding a killer. There’d been so many details about the funeral, so any aspects about business he’d been forced to deal with that we’d yet to delve into his father’s computer files. However, Gilly had allowed us to remove the man’s private laptop from the estate the day we’d returned.
It sat in my office, neither one of us finding the energy to even open the lid. Maybe later today after the funeral was over and the visit with my father had been completed.
The other thing that I’d been reminded of more than once but had no real interest in was planning a wedding. However, the circumstances had changed and we needed to carefully put everything together in a quicker timeframe. I was sick inside thinking about how everything was a ruse.
I wasn’t that kind of girl.
Then again, I wasn’t certain who I was any longer.
The air felt stagnant on a usually gray day in San Diego where the sun seemed to almost always shine.
Unless the Santa Ana winds were blowing.
Even the air smelled of gloom, as if disaster was right around the corner.
While Gilly had insisted on a church service where at least two hundred attendees had come to pay their last respects, the smaller gravesite service was less formal and more about family and closest business associates and friends.
I’d never felt so lost, the smell of money thick in the air. It wasn’t that I wasn’t used to being around rich people from time to time given my parents’ wealth, but I couldn’t help but feel like a fraud.
“Are you okay?” Valerio whispered.
How could I be? Gilly was crying, her face covered in a black veil. All three brothers were somber, dressed in Armani suits. There were even tears being shed from people I had no clue about. Yet everything seemed odd, as if this was all a dream.
“I’m fine,” I whispered, more cognizant than ever people were watching us. My skin was crawling.
“We’ll get through this.”
We. I wasn’t entirely certain there was a real we other than on paper. I hadn’t been able to think straight since the night he’d gotten the phone call on the island. Every day since had been one big blur.
