Who was he playing the devoted brother for now?
"Don't worry. I know where my place is. Uncle Vittorio arranged it, so you do as the old Don says. I won't make trouble over it."
"Go on. See to your business. I'll wait for you back at the Estate."
He let out a breath, then flagged down a car himself and sent me home in it.
And turned around to take Adriana to the dressmaker.
Mother and Uncle Vittorio already knew Adriana was coming to the house.
They'd had the kitchen going since noon, the whole place thick with garlic and simmering sauce, the way it always smelled before a Sunday sit-down.
The moment Lorenzo walked in with Adriana on his arm.
The two of them pressed an envelope into her hands together, a hundred thousand in tribute, laid out for all the inner circle to witness who was being honored under that roof.
I made the excuse that I wasn't feeling well and shut myself in my room.
But Lorenzo came in carrying a gift box.
As he fastened the bracelet around my wrist, he drew a blue rose from inside his coat, still warm from his body.
Dropped to one knee on the floor.
His eyes full of devotion.
"I know being with me, with no real title, no name to stand on, has made you suffer. But after the wedding, I'll still be your brother, and I'll still live here, keeping you company just like before."
"Kate, don't be angry with me, okay?"
I looked down at the Hermès emblem stamped into the leather.
It was the exact trinket that came free with that handbag of Adriana's.
"Fine. I won't be angry with you."
"Go eat. They've had it ready a long time."
The sounds of congratulations kept drifting up from downstairs, the low warmth of men who knew which way the Family's favor ran.
Mother stood beside the table, smoothing the front of her dress with both hands, fidgeting like one of the servants.
Lorenzo ordered her around as if it were the most natural thing in the world, telling her to bring the dishes, to ladle out the soup. A woman who'd married into the Falcone blood, reduced to carrying plates for the son of the man who was supposed to be her husband.
Everything I'd swallowed down these past years erupted from my chest.
I gathered up every gift he'd given me over these six years, and threw them all into the trash.
The moment the trash can tipped over, Adriana suddenly appeared in the doorway.
Looking at the mess on the floor, she raised a smug smile.
"What, you can't even handle this much?"
"Caterina, you're even more useless than I thought."
"Then again, what could a homewrecker's daughter ever amount to? Watching your own mother scurry around like a maid, not even allowed a seat at the table. That must be agony, isn't it?"
I looked at her coldly.
"What are you trying to say?"
Adriana's lips curled into a mocking smile.
She pulled out her phone, opened her messages with Lorenzo, and waved the screen in front of me.
"Oh, that's right. You don't know yet, do you? Every night, the way you and Lorenzo get close. He sends all of it to me to look at."
"If these videos landed on your mother's phone, wouldn't she just lose her mind on the spot?"
"One's her own flesh-and-blood daughter, the other's her stepson from her second marriage, and the two of you carrying on night after night behind their backs. In this Family, that kind of thing gets people buried."
"Don't you dare!"
I couldn't hold back the fury in my chest any longer.
I swung my hand and slapped her across the face.
The crisp sound rang out, and for a half-second the whole house went still.
Adriana dropped to the floor, shattering a glass photo frame beneath her. Her too-bright cry cut off a beat too fast.
Blood instantly welled up from her palm.
Lorenzo rushed in and gathered her into his arms.
The look he turned on me was full of rage.
"Caterina, what are you doing? Have you lost your mind?"
"Adriana came up here to call you down to eat. What the hell has gotten into you?"
Uncle Vittorio's face went cold beside them. He set his glass of grappa down on the sideboard, slow and deliberate, the way he did before he said something no one could take back.
Mother hurried to explain, her voice thin with panic, her hands smoothing her dress again and again:
"Kate didn't mean it. There's some misunderstanding here, that's all."
"Kate, apologize to Adriana. Now."
Adriana, eyes red, pressed herself into Lorenzo's arms.
"I'm sorry, I only came to invite Kate to our wedding. I don't know why she suddenly hit me."
"Don't blame Kate. She didn't mean it either."
A cold smile curved at the corner of my mouth as I stared straight at the two of them clinging together.
He ignored my expression, his eyes full of icy hatred.
"Caterina, apologize!"
My nails dug deep into my palms, blood sliding down drop by drop. My other hand had gone very still around the thin silver band on my finger, and I did not let go of it.
