Both Maria and Dominic were more important than the others, and second only to Lucca, as it was clear they both wished to be him. Each wanted the power Lucca possessed but it was a power they could never hold.
She hoped Dominic wasn’t here to tell the truth; otherwise, the lies and promises she told Lucca would have been wasted breath. If Dominic knew she went to the shit side of Kansas City and took a step into the Luciano home, instead of the strong exaggeration she told him of taking a cab to the mall to meet Kat, then Todd might as well be making peace with God, because he wasn’t going to make it to the end of the week.
Hearing footsteps hit the foyer, her green eyes met the green in hazel ones that were much calmer now. Dominic’s fiery presence subsided after his meeting with her brother. However, the closer he got to her, the more she saw the hurt, which he was trying to hide.
Regret.
Knowing why he was here, she stayed right where she was on the steps.
Maria had never felt sympathy before, but she was sure what she felt looking at him in this moment was exactly that.
She didn’t expect him to say anything to her, knowing with the burden he carried he could only walk out the door.
“See you at the wedding.” He spoke the words grimly from over his shoulder as he went to open the door, but before he walked out, he gave her one last look. “I’ll be wanting a dance, princess.”
Watching him disappear behind the big door and into the night, she realized that hadn’t been a request, but a demand. She would have sworn he was hopeful, and if she knew what being hopeful felt like … Maria would have realized she felt the same.
Six
Ken was Kind of Ugly, and Barbie Could Do Way Better
“If my men see you dancing with him, then everything Dominic has sacrificed will be for nothing,” Lucca warned her, only letting his presence known when he blocked the view of the front door right before he passed by her going up the stairs for the night.
There was absolutely nothing she could say, knowing he was absolutely right.
On the inside, she might have screamed at the top of her lungs at the fact that since birth she had been promised to marry a man in the Caruso family. It was expected of her—without fucking saying—even though her father had reminded her of it on several occasions. Either she would marry a man who spoke the Omertà, becoming a Caruso, or she wouldn’t marry at all. Maria had chosen the latter long ago, and even though it wasn’t much of a choice … it was, nonetheless, her choice and she had been happy with it.
But now her world was starting to tilt. The invisible axis that held it up began to slip and her infamous feel-no-remorse, fuck-empathy, switch-for-psychos didn’t seem to work around Kayne or Dominic, making her suddenly feel like her decision of never marrying a man wasn’t really a choice. Because, if her switch wasn’t working around them, she wasn’t allowed the choice to find out.
Maria’s destiny had been decided the day she was born. It was like that “written in the stars” bullshit, and she hadn’t realized the graveness of it all until right this moment…
…“What are you doing in here?” her father asked once he found her in his office hidden behind his wooden desk. Coming over to her favorite spot perched on his big leather chair, he picked up the little awkward Maria, whose legs were too long for her young body, reminiscent of a baby giraffe. Placing her down on his desk, he sat in front of her. “I thought I told you that you weren’t supposed to come in here.”
Her caterpillar-like brows furrowed together, not understanding why it was such a big deal when she wanted to pretend to be like Daddy and not like Mommy. “But you let Lucca come in here whenever he wants.”
“Well, he’s older than you.” He settled for the older card, instead of the “because you’re a girl” card, hoping it would last another year.
“You let him sit in your chair when he was as tall as me!” It didn’t.
Sighing, he realized it was time. “That’s because, one day, when Lucca gets older, he will take over the family business from me.”
“What about me?” she asked, staring at her father, who hadn’t even shown a gray hair yet.
Dante smoothed down her dress. “Well, if you’re anything like your mother, then you’ll have every man who works for me wanting to marry you, and the choice will be yours.”
Her tiny nose scrunched up. “Why?”
“Because, my bella Maria, it is your destiny.”
She had heard all the girls her age already arguing about who got to marry Ken when they played Barbies, but she always thought Ken was kind of ugly, and Barbie could do way better than him. Therefore, she stayed silent, letting the other girls argue over him.
“What if I don’t want to marry anyone?”
“Oh …” Her father chuckled, all-knowing, like he thought the same thing when he had been her age. “You will.”…
Maria unconsciously made her way to the kitchen, staring down at the wad of cash Nero had left on the counter.
Fuck destiny.
She padded her feet across the floor like she was on a mission, getting to the steps and finally going up. She saw Lucca in the hallway, standing outside Nero’s bedroom.
“I’ll go to bed in just a bit. I’m just helping Elle finish up her paper.” A calm, sweet voice came from inside.
Lucca nodded before leaving to go to the bedroom at the end of the hall.
Stepping up to the spot that her brother just left, she saw the BFFs sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at a laptop. The shower running in the bathroom let her know that Nero was in it, and the coast was clear.
“How important is that paper?”
The strawberry blonde looked up from the screen first. “Judging by the look on your face”—Elle excitedly closed the tiny silver computer—“it can definitely wait.”
Maria had known the second she met Elle that her asshole of a brother, Nero, didn’t deserve her, and, well, Chloe went without saying.
Both girls stood, swiftly and quietly following her into her bedroom before closing the door behind them.
Taking their places back on the edge of the bed, they watched Maria pace in front of them until the scarred beauty couldn’t take it anymore.
“W-What is it?”
The truth was that she didn’t know where to start until she did. Holding out her pinky with a perfectly shaped, long, oval, nude nail, she turned deadly serious. “I need you to promise me that you won’t tell anyone about what we’re about to talk about.”
“Anyone” was a.k.a. her brothers.
“I promise.” Elle wrapped her own pinky around hers first.
She stared down at the gray eyes that were hidden behind a long scar. “Both of you.”
Knowing that Chloe didn’t like to touch or be touched, she did with Lucca, and from time to time, Elle, if she had to. And, right now, she had to touch Maria.
Swallowing a lump in her throat, Chloe lifted her hand, lightly twirling her pinky with theirs. “Promise.”
Each taking their hands away, Maria just came out with it. No fucking regrets.
“You were in Kayne Evans class, right?”