Page 19 of Fractured Empire

We were gathered here not just for her, but for my sons. To rally around them and show them that they’re not alone in their grief. Bastian and Leo did very well during the burial prayers and ceremony, sticking to me like glue and remaining quiet when necessary. The two brave boys only left my side minutes ago to go back to the house with their grandfather to eat lunch and get out of the chilly weather.

“Do you want me to tell her to fuck off?”

The sound of Rayna’s question reminds me that I’m not the only person still outside. She chose to stay out here with me, silent as she may be. I’ve been staring at my wife’s grave for far too long, thinking about everything and nothing all at once. I should have told her to go inside and warm up forever ago.

Looking over my shoulder to see what she’s talking about, I bite back a grimace at the sight of blonde hair and dark designer sunglasses. Turning back to my sister-in-law, I shake my head. “It’s fine, I can handle her. She was going to find me alone at some point to say her piece anyway. Will you go check on the boys for me? I’m sure they miss you already.”

Her lips twitch into a small smile and she nods reluctantly. “I’ll go check on them. Tell me later if she crosses a line. Ana and I will handle her.”

Trying not to chuckle, I comment, “My feral sisters coming to my rescue.”

“Mhmm,” she hums. “And don’t you forget it.”

Rayna leaves me and I watch as she passes Melani wordlessly. The two of them don’t even spare a glance for one another, but at least they don’t start yelling.

I don’t usually avoid my brother’s wife the way Rayna does, but I also know she isn’t looking for me to exchange pleasantries. She’s pissed, but there’s no use in hiding from her now. She’s found me alone, away from prying eyes and ears. So unless I want to be a total, cowardly dick, I can’t just ignore her and walk away.

I’ll let her say whatever she needs to say so we can be done with it.

Lifting her glasses up and settling them on the top of her head, Melani stops a few feet in front of me. The wind is tossing her beige blonde hair around her back even as she becomes still. Still and staring at me.

“You could have told me.” Her voice is cold, and her eyes are obviously puffy and red-rimmed from crying. “You should have told me.”

My eyebrows raise slowly in disbelief. What a way to start a conversation. “I should have ignored my wife’s wishes and told you her private medical information?”

“My wife,” she echoes with a scoff. “You didn’t even like her and now you’re acting like her big protector. She should have had a friend with her, a real friend.”

“Cleo didn’t like me,” I remind her with a forced smile. “Don’t try to twist the reality of things just because she’s gone now.”

“Just because,” Melani repeats, her lips twisting like the words taste foul. “Cleo is dead, Leon. There’s nothing just about that. She was my friend and she was dying and you didn’t have the decency to tell me so that I could be there for her.”

“She didn’t want you to be there for her,” I counter, voice dropping as I do. “She didn’t want anyone to know. You two weren’t exactly confidants, Melani. Your friendship was a new development. In the year that you two became closer, you hardly visited each other. That doesn’t exactly scream besties. If she wanted you to watch her slowly die, she would have invited you to.”

“You don’t know anything about our friendship,” she hisses, taking a step forward. “You don’t know anything about her. You hated her, and you knew that I didn’t. You should have insisted on telling me.”

“You keep saying I didn’t like her, that I hated her. How exactly do you think I feel about you?” My eyes narrow as my patience dwindles. “You’re my brother’s wife, but we aren’t friends, Melani. Why would I override Cleo’s wishes for your benefit? Do you think I like you more than I liked her? I’m not sure where you’d get that idea, but let me clear it up for you. If you weren’t technically my family, I wouldn’t care about you at all. My brother loves you but that doesn’t mean I have to. And being friends with Cleo doesn’t mean you knew her any better than I did.”

I don’t think anyone can claim to really have known her.

“You’re pissed off at her for dying without telling you she was sick, you just don’t want to be mad at a dead woman. Pick someone else to take your anger out on and leave me alone before you say something that you can’t take back.”

She freezes for a moment, her eyes going ice cold. “Fuck you, Leon. You didn’t know her, and you don’t know me. Call us if you need help with Bastian and Leo. Emilio and I will babysit if they need to get out of the house.” She starts to spin around and storm off when my reply stops her in her tracks.

“Rayna and Apollo will be here. I have all the help I’ll need.”

“Rayna,” she says with a stiff tone. “Of course.”

I don’t tell her that I’ll be remarrying soon and have even more help through that arrangement. The last thing I need is for her to be even more pissed and cause a scene that can’t be ignored. Her relationships within the family are already rocky since her little sister Sienna came around. Melani might be able to mend those once strong connections if she told her side of that fucked-up story, but she hasn’t tried to defend herself—at least not yet.

Whatever happened to keep the sisters apart led to Sienna’s abuse being ignored, and it hasn’t been hashed out. Emilio seems as in love with his wife as ever, which leads me to believe Melani has a good reason for not trying to get her little sister out of their family home since becoming a Moretti. But who knows? Emilio has been obsessed with her and head over heels since they got matched. It would take a lot of straight up evil behavior for him to think less of her.

I wonder if Cleo knew, or if they both kept secrets from each other.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they did.

“Go home, Melani,” I tell her, my voice going softer than before. “Nothing we say or do will bring her back. Being mad at me won’t change anything.”

A single tear rolls down her pale cheek and her throat bobs. Without a word, she leaves me, heading back toward the house.