The Fortunates (Unfortunate #2) - Skyla Madi Page 0,79

reminds me…Vince. He’s banned from the Milano household until further notice. He claims it’s because we sympathise with Unfortunates—an accusation the heads of the families are more than happy to look into—but John says it’s because Vincent Sario damages the functionality of their house by killing needed Unfortunates when the Milano residence has already reached their limit. I don’t know what the verdict is. Last I heard, the heads of the families were waiting for Kade to resurface and slip in his two cents. As far as they know, Kade is suffering a stomach bug and cannot leave the room. We’re supposed to launch into civil war today. How can he do that if he’s still in bed and it’s already launch?

Knock.

I flinch, snapping my attention to my bedroom door as the handle turns and it opens. In bed, Kaden pulls his pillow over his head and tugs the blankets up, shielding himself from the visitor. I take in Oliver’s dirty appearance, from his week-old beard growth down to his ripped jeans and dirty sneakers.

“I thought you’d forgotten about us,” I say, pushing myself to my feet.

Oliver has been a no-show since the night Portia was killed. Some nights, I hear him drag his drunken body down the hallway and into his room and others, I hear him cry, but he doesn’t show up to important Ribbon meetings anymore.

Swallowing, he blinks, scanning my room. He bypasses the lump that is Kade underneath my sheets and turns his sad stare on the fireplace. On the mantle is Portia’s beautiful glass urn. In the lid, there’s a tiny terrarium. Now she can be under the trees without a care, like she wanted.

Oliver grimaces when he sees it and he has to swallow hard to quell the tremble in his lower lip. He swipes at his face and sways with a lazy blink. Still drunk. A pang of sympathy hits me in the gut. I have been mad at Oliver for weeks. I was mad the night he allowed Vince to kill Portia and I’ve been mad since…until I realised there was nothing anyone could have done. Vince was going to kill Portia regardless and he was going to kill whoever stopped him.

Oliver did the right thing. The thought makes me sick, but it’s true. This war was his brainchild. We need him to finish what he started. I can’t run this without him. I just can’t.

“You’ve lost people you love. How do you do it?” he slurs, swaying to the side. “How do you keep going?”

“I’ve lost people I care deeply for,” I say, walking around my desk. “If I lost the person I love…I don’t think I could carry on.”

Live a life without Kaden? I’d sooner allow myself to fall in love with Vince.

“The past few days have been rough.”

I frown. He’s not serious? How much alcohol has he consumed over the past twenty-one days?

“Three weeks.”

His face remains placid, his eyes thin and tired. Then it hits him. His eyes widen. “Three weeks? It has been three weeks?”

I nod. “Today is the day. You know that, right?”

Cursing, he starts to pace, and he rakes his fingers through his oily, blond hair. “I can’t do it today. I’m not ready.”

“You don’t have a choice.”

“But I—”

I click my fingers, demanding his attention. “Shower, eat a big lunch, set an alarm, and sleep. When you wake up, you’ll be good to go.”

Oliver blows air out of his cheeks, resting against my doorframe. “We’re actually doing this, huh?”

Nervousness coils in my belly. “Yeah. I guess we are.”

“They’re going to slaughter us.”

Gee. Thanks for your vote of confidence. “You weren’t born an Unfortunate. The rest of us have nothing to lose. They’re going to slaughter us all anyway. Might as well go down fighting.”

He purses his lips with a clenched jaw. Nodding passively, he sulks away, slamming the door behind him. I don’t know what it means. Who knows whether he’ll show up or not? Exhaling, I sit against the edge of my desk and cross my feet at my ankles. For the first time, I’m wearing long pants. They’re weird…and uncomfortable around my hips, but they cover my legs and I like it.

I glance down at my hands as I smooth them along the black fabric against my thighs. My wedding ring looks so beautiful on my otherwise bland hand. I’ve been so busy I’ve barely had time to sit down and appreciate the fact that I’m married to Kaden Sario. God. It would be