“You didn’t give me a chance to make a decision for myself.”
“What would you have done?”
“Gone to him,” I reply. “Talked to him, man-to-man. Explained that I loved you and that I’d do anything to be your husband.”
“It wouldn’t have mattered. You’re not from the right bloodline. You’re not who he picked out for me. And if he’d been willing to give you a chance, he would have made you become part of the family. The mob family. And that’s not okay, Archer. It would have only made things worse.”
“I lost you,” I say, frustration flowing through my veins. “It didn’t get much worse than that.”
“Losing you and the pain that came with it was nothing compared to the agony I knew I’d feel if he killed you, Archer. So, yes, I made a decision for both of us, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
“No. You won’t. You won’t ever make a decision like that for me, for both of us, ever again.”
“This is ridiculous. I don’t know why you’re here. Why didn’t you just move on? Find someone else and get married. Have a dozen kids. Live your life? Because you being with me puts us both at risk.”
“I tried,” I admit. “I dated, and there was even someone who loved me enough that I considered marrying her. But it wouldn’t have been fair to her because I never would have loved her the way I loved you.”
We cross over the Oregon/Washington border, and I feel Elena stiffen beside me.
“No one’s going to hurt you, E.”
She simply shakes her head once. “They hurt me. Every day. You have no idea.”
It’s six in the morning when I pull up to my sister’s home with Elena. We spent the night in a hotel south of Seattle. Elena didn’t trust me to take her to my place, in case it was being watched, and I was inclined to agree.
“You’re here,” Lia says when she opens the door. She immediately pulls us inside, shuts and locks the door, and then tugs Elena into her arms for a long hug. “Oh, I missed you so much. We have to do all of our crying now so we don’t mess up your makeup later.”
“I missed you, too,” Elena whispers into Lia’s shoulder.
After a long embrace, Lia steps back and smiles at Elena. “I always loved your eyes. The one brown and one green is so cool, but they’ll give you away in a heartbeat.”
Now, she’s all-business.
“I can’t change my eye color,” Elena says as we follow Lia through her home to her studio. “What is all of this?”
“Oh, Archer didn’t brag about his baby sister? Tsk tsk.” Lia shakes her head at me and smiles at Elena. “I do YouTube videos.”
“This looks like more than the occasional video.”
“She’s being humble,” I say. “She has five million followers on YouTube and just launched her own makeup line.”
Elena’s eyes are huge as she stares at my sister in surprise. The last time she saw Lia, my baby sister was still in high school.
“Wow. Good for you.”
“Thanks. Makeup is my jam, and we’re going to make you look not only incredible but also completely unrecognizable.”
“But how?”
“You’re going to look like a man.”
Elena and I both blink at my sister.
“There’s no way you can make her look like a dude,” I say.
“Of course, I can. I have wigs, facial hair, contact lenses to cover those amazing eyes, and I even bought her clothes. She’ll be short, but she’ll look like a guy in the next six hours.”
“Wow,” Elena says again. “Let’s do it.”
For the first time since Elena opened her door to me yesterday, she has hope in her eyes. If anyone can pull it off, it’s my sister.
“I’ll be back later to take you.”
“Where are you going?” Elena asks.
“I need to get a suit from my house, and I have a couple of errands to run.”
“You’re not going with me to the funeral.”
I shove my hands into my pockets, ready to go to battle. “Yes, I am. I told you we were doing this my way, and there’s no way I’m letting you go in there without me.”
“Then what’s the point of this disguise? If you’re with me, it’ll be a red flag. You can’t be there.”
“You’re not going in there alone.” I pace away, frustrated all over again because she’s right. If someone from her family sees me there, they’ll know she’s close by. I look at my sister and then Elena. “I don’t want you going in there alone. So, Lia goes with you.”
“Great idea,” Lia says. “I’ll put on a disguise of my own, and we’ll look like a couple. We’re about the same height. If I wear flats, we’ll totally pull it off.”
I nod, but Elena shakes her head no.
“I can’t let you do that, Lia. It’s too dangerous.”
“She goes with you, or you don’t go at all.” I cross my arms over my chest, not willing to budge on this.
Lia nods in agreement. “No one will recognize us.”
“I don’t like it,” Elena says, but then sighs in defeat when she sees the hard look on my face. “Okay.”
“You don’t have to like it. Keeping you safe is the most important thing.” I cup her cheek, wanting nothing more than to kiss her, but we’re not there yet. “I’ll be down the street from the church in my car. I won’t be far.”
“Is he always this bossy?” Elena asks Lia.
“Yeah. He’s the alpha type.”
“I’m right here.” I stare at them both, but they just smile back. “I can hear you.”
“We’d better get to work if we’re going to be ready to go on time,” Lia says, gesturing for Elena to take a seat. “Would you rather have dark or light hair?”
“Let’s go blond,” Elena says. “And maybe spiky. Can you give me tattoos?”
“Like, on your neck?”
Elena nods.
“Heck, yes. Should it be a girl’s name? That’s super classy.”
They giggle as they get down to business, acting as if they’ve been friends forever and saw each other just last week.
Elena always fit in well with my family. They accepted her unconditionally, and Elena spent a lot of time at our house while we were dating.
I, however, did not get the same reception from Elena’s family. In fact, I never met them. Even when we ran away to get married, I never met her parents. Elena told me about them and explained that it wouldn’t be safe if they found out about us.
I guess I just blew it off because I was in love, and I was young enough to think that love would conquer anything.
Until one day, she ghosted me. She was my wife, and she just disappeared, then called and said I wasn’t what she wanted. I was fucking devastated. Angry. Hurt. It took years for me to move on.
“What do you think?” Lia asks, pulling me out of my thoughts.
After only ten minutes, Elena’s face has already changed. I barely recognize her.
“You’re a damn genius.”