Haven (26 page)

“No.”

Thomas gave me a squeeze. “We can tell you we love you and how much we regret the protective measures we had to take when you were a child. How much it pained us to retreat to the shadows and watch you grow to womanhood from that dark periphery. But if you let us in, you can feel it—and see it—for yourself.”

“No.”

Lorenzo cleared his throat. I stepped out of Thomas’s embrace to face my brother. The latter swayed and gripped the railing, face scrunched with worry. He didn’t deserve this. We’d both been hurt by this mess.

Time to get a grip. “I’m sorry Lo-Lo. Let’s go downstairs. You need to sit.”

Thomas and Jonas already awaited us downstairs. No sign at all of Dr. O. I helped my brother descend to the foyer, keeping a firm grip on his elbow to steady him.

The front door opened. Dom and Tony entered, armed with grocery bags and wine bottles.

“Yo, dinner has arrived,” Tony announced.

The happiness faded from his face as he took in our somber ones. An awkward silence ensued, broken by the hammering and drilling from the kitchen where housekeeping staffers puttered in their black coveralls and surgical gloves.

Tony elbowed me. “What did you do this time, lil’ sis?”

I punched his arm. Hard.

~ * ~

Dom and Tony descended upon the kitchen to whip up a tasty dinner. I stood on the front porch observing the mass exodus of vehicles from Adrian’s driveway. Housekeeping in a black van, Thomas and Jonas in a Mercedes, and Stella and Lorenzo in my brother’s Ferrari.

They disappeared down the street. My gaze wandered to the black SUV in front of the house. Two men sat inside and smoke wafted out the open passenger window. Greg and Paolo. Damn. I resisted the urge to march over and tell them to leave, because a) they wouldn’t listen, and b) I didn’t like them so the less contact with them, the better.

Paolo scowled at me, causing the hairs on my arms to stand at attention.

Enemy. Had to agree with my inner voice. My body fell into fighting stance.
Bring it, goon.

He said something to Greg too low for me to hear, but a bark of laughter from the younger man told me it wasn’t complimentary. My temper flared and I forgot about points a and b. I was gunning for them when Faith and Kai pulled into the driveway in our car. My friends jumped out to join me.

Kai put himself between the SUV and me. Faith touched my arm. She carried a large, silver make-up case. “Not worth it. Let’s go inside.”

“What Faith said,” Kai glowered at Paolo. The latter made no move to exit the car.

Smart goon.

My anger deflated and my sanity returned. I didn’t usually
let those two baboons get to me. What had changed? Oh, right. That would be
me
.
The half-breed.

I entered the house, Faith and Kai on my heels.

“Upstairs.” Faith raised the make-up case. Party-prep time.

Faith was already dressed for clubbing. A white baby-doll tee hugged her small breasts and waist while a red plaid kilt mini gave her slim hips the illusion of curves. White thigh-high stockings with a tiny red bow on the front, and chunky heeled, red, patent leather Mary Janes made her legs miles longer. Her bobbed black hair was dusted with red glitter, her eyes huge and framed with eyeliner and thick red-tipped false lashes.

“Whoa, Faith, you look smokin’ hot tonight.”

“Yes,” she agreed, “as will you.”

Kai stretched out on the bed, staring at his cell phone. “Text from Mark. He says Ren is awake and starving. They both say they’ll kick my ass if I don’t shadow you all night tonight.”

I crossed my arms. “I don’t need a sidekick on a date in my own club.”

“Because it worked out so well for you kids the first time around.”

Okay, maybe he had a point. “I’ll be fine. Tell Mark and Ren not to worry. I’m glad they’re feeling better, and I’ll visit them tomorrow. And put
xo xo
at the end.”

Kai cocked an eyebrow. “XO? Who are you and what have you done with Rina?”

“Shut up.”

Kai grinned. “Ah, there you are.” He sent the text I’d dictated.

Faith sat next to Kai and opened the large make-up case. The trays fanned out revealing brushes, pencils and assorted eye shadow, blush, and lipstick. A rainbow of girlie products. From the bottom of the case Faith pulled out a pair of black patent leather, knee-high go-go boots with a two-inch square heel.

I looked the question at her.

“I saw what you’ll wear tonight.” She handed me the boots.

“Of course you did,” I replied, bemused.

“Did what?” Tony appeared in the doorway, a bottle of red in one hand, four wine glasses held upside down by their stems in the other. Like Faith, he was club-ready. Snug, black, v-neck tee, black jeans, black and gold belt, designer shoes. A gold chain link necklace adorned his neck with a matching bracelet on one wrist.

He tilted his head and a lock of hair fell across his forehead. His wavy brown hair was stick straight and smooth tonight, sweeping forward to frame his handsome face, drawing attention to his large milk chocolate eyes and high cheekbones. My gorgeous brother, the perfect male model. He would be very popular with the boys at Haven tonight.

“You look ready to party, my brother.”

“Of course. Wouldn’t miss it.” He flashed his perfect, white teeth and struck a pose. All we needed now was a camera.

He put the glasses on the dresser and poured the wine. “What’s up, my party people?”

“Faith had a vision about what I’m wearing tonight.”

“Cool.” He handed me a glass and settled next to Kai on the bed, legs stretched out, back against the headboard.

I surveyed my clothes. With the ultimate dance-a-thon in mind, I chose a black, short sleeved, hooded crop top with plunging v-neckline. Three buttons and extra material to tie under my breasts provided enough coverage for a black bra. I was endowed in the breast department—a hearty handful, Adrian said—and needed the support for hardcore dancing. Pants would not do in the hot club, so I slipped into a black mini, pleated around the hem for a sexy sailor look, with black and lacey boy cut panties underneath.

Next, I pulled on the low-heeled, black go-go boots provided by Faith. A good choice for dancing all night without twisting an ankle. I accessorized with the barbell navel piercing I already wore and a pair of long, black, fingerless fishnet gloves.

Tony insisted on doing my face and Faith fussed with my hair.

“Finished,” my brother declared and turned me to the mirror. He possessed true talent when it came to artful makeup. I supposed that came with the model territory. My skin was its usual pale-as-snow color, yet smoother and aglow. Blood-red lipstick plumped my lips. Cleverly applied eye-makeup gave me enormous eyes.

He draped an arm across my shoulders. “You like?”

I nodded. I liked the hair, too. Faith had wrangled my long layers into some sort of funky French roll using two, dark wood hair sticks and assorted jeweled hair clips. Jagged pieces of hair fanned out here and there, while another swath of hair slashed across my forehead, held in place by a shiny red clip near my right temple. Another good anime style. I sensed a theme for the two of us this evening.

I smiled. “Wow.”

He patted my arm. “We’ll take that as a thank you.”

“Why do I look all aglow?”

“It’s called blush. You should try it sometime.”

I gave him a faux pout. “Maybe I like my dead girl look.”

“One more thing,” Faith said.

Tony stepped away while she buffed the exposed bits of my torso with glitter body powder. “So, Little Miss Psychic, is this her outfit in your vision?”

Faith nodded. “Of course.”

I sipped my wine, leaving behind a red print on the rim. “You know, Tony, we should’ve waited until after dinner to do the whole perfectly-luscious-lips.”

“Nonsense. A girl should always look her best. Never know who might stop by.” His eyes glinted with mischief.

I narrowed mine. “Like?”

Tony fussed with his hair. It was already perfect.

“C’mon, Tony, who’s coming over? Do you have a new boyfriend I haven’t met?”

“Nope.”

“Then who?” I prompted.

Tony shrugged and shot me a sly smirk.

I sank onto the bed and drank more wine. “Fine, if you won’t tell me who’s stopping by, let’s talk about something else, like my absentee father.”

The wine and pampering had relaxed and rejuvenated me, so chatting about the hot topic sounded like a fine idea. Definitely the alcohol talking.

Tony froze in mid-primp and our eyes met in the mirror. I’d already given him—and Dom—an abridged version of events before their arrival. He knew what I now knew, but I recognized the trepidation in his eyes. He didn’t want to talk about it. He usually laughed his way around tough subjects, the master of light-hearted distraction. No laughing this time. Or talking.

Faith broke our staring match. “Yes.” She snuggled up to Kai.

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, I knew he was your father.”

I gave her a long, slow blink. “How long have you known?”

“Since my vision at the clinic.”

Why had she kept something so monumental from me? She could’ve told me at the clinic, or before we hopped in bed this morning, or after we woke up, or before I went for a run in the ’hood. I wanted to be mad at her, but this was Faith. I trusted her. Unlike the vampires, she had no hidden agenda.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” My voice was calm.

“Well, at first it was a confusing jumble of words and images. I needed some time to sort it out.”

“How long did that take?”

“Not too long. But I had some help. After you and the Key—I mean, Alexander went outside, the Contessa and Thomas helped me sort through the pieces.”

Ah. The meddling vampires strike again. “They asked you not to tell me, didn’t they?”

Faith nodded.

I let out a bitter little laugh. “Of course they did.” The vampires were managing me, as per their usual, controlling the flow of information at every turn. I took a big drink of wine, squeezing the stem. Urge to throw a tantrum rising...

“Please don’t get drunk, lil’ sis.” I let Tony take the glass and set it aside. “We don’t have to talk about this stuff now.”

“When would be a good time?”

He gave it some faux thought. “After we shake it all night on the dance floor?”

Ah, there was the Tony I loved. Distraction from the rough stuff.

My anger faded.
Phew
. “Yeah, and then we’d be too tired to talk. I got your number, brother. Seriously, though, there’s no perfect moment for anything. Apparently, we have so many family skeletons it would take weeks, no, months to sort them all out. Might as well start now.”

“Nonsense.” Tony waved a dismissive hand. “Let’s leave them in the closet.”

My lips curled upward. “I can’t believe
you
of all people just said that about the closet, mister way-out-of-the-closet.”

He pulled me to my feet. “C’mon, let’s go have fun. I mean, how often do we get to party together? It has been
way
too long and it will be so much better now that you remember everything. Maybe we can even get Dom to come.”

“Oh, I doubt that,” Dom replied from the doorway, a red-and-white checkered dishtowel in one hand. “Dinner is ready.”

“Great, let’s go.” Tony pulled me to the door.

“We’re not done with this,” I objected.

“Yeah, yeah, we’re never done with the family drama. C’mon.”

Thirteen

In the dining room, Dom had everything on the table. Pasta spirals in red sauce, Caesar salad, sliced and warm sourdough bread, grated Parmesan, black olives, red wine.

I bumped his shoulder with mine. “Thanks, Dom, this looks great.”

He nodded.

I sat with my brothers, facing the living room. Kai and Faith took the other side. We’d just passed around the food when the front door opened. Stella strolled in clad in a black cat suit, boots and a leather jacket. “
Ciao, tutti
.” She sank onto the living room couch.

“Hey, Stella,” I greeted her. “How’s Lorenzo?”

“Sleeping.”

“Good.”

Stella grabbed a magazine off the coffee table, ending our brief chitchat.

Tony and Kai struck up a conversation about music while the rest of us ate in silence. Well, external silence, anyway. The thought of my upcoming date with Alexander jangled my nerves, and the doubt-versus-desire tug-of-war resumed in my head. Were the feelings real or a trick? Should I trust them? Him? Hell, could I even trust myself?

I stabbed a piece of romaine lettuce harder than I needed to and attempted to quash my mental struggle.

There were plenty of other topics to explore, abundant unanswered questions, and my brothers probably knew more than enough answers to satisfy my curiosity. So why not tackle the whole
my-uncle-is-my-father
deal? Plenty of questions about that. For example, what did this mean about our mother? Did she have an affair with Uncle Zi-slash-dad or had Edoardo been the other man, or, were they
—
ew, uncomfortable idea forming—were they a ménage à trois?

Okay
,
I had to ask, but would they tell me the truth? I could tell when Tony lied. Like me, he had no poker face. Dom, on the other hand, was good at hiding his true emotions. His blank-face would make a statue proud.

I ate the last few bites of pasta and salad on my plate. I had to go for it. It would drive me crazy all night if I didn’t. “Tony. Dom. What was the, um, love triangle deal with mom, dad, and uncle Zi?”

Conversation halted. Dom froze, fork full of pasta halfway to his mouth.

Faith and Kai hopped up to clear their side of the table. Tony rose off his chair but Dom stopped him with a stormy glare. Tony slumped, crossed his arms and legs and pouted at me. I rolled my eyes and faced Dom. He put down his fork.