things…it wasn’t like he said, ‘Marry me or I kill the chef,’” she said, making her voice sound like his. “Well, kind of. But I don’t want to get into what happened before that, okay? It’s personal. But the point is…I’ve been disowned! I thought…I thought if we were married ma would have to accept it.”
I took her chin and made her look at me. “She will. Corrado is right. Give her time.”
She shook her head. “You don’t understand. You didn’t see her face. I knew she would have a hard time accepting it, but never, never did I think she would stab someone.”
“You must not know your ma,” Corrado said. “She’s a wild card.”
I shot him a look. He was not helping.
One of the guys cleared his throat at the entrance of the kitchen. “Adriana,” he said.
Corrado nodded. The man left and came back with a woman a minute or two later. Brooklyn shot up from her seat and stepped in front of her husband, trying to use her body as a shield. Nunzio moved her so she was beside him, so they were standing side by side.
The woman, Adriana, was attractive. She was tall, thin, with long, blonde, wavy hair. I could see, though, that life had taken a toll on her. She looked haggard in a way that made me feel as if her soul was tired.
“Ma,” Brooklyn whispered.
“Don’t.” She held up a hand. “Don’t even call me that. I’m nothing to you. You chose this life over me.”
“I didn’t!” Brooklyn screamed. “Daddy did! Not me! I chose love!”
“Love.” Adriana laughed, actually cackled like a witch. “You’ll see what you’re going to get in a few years. Love—there’s no such thing in this life. Do you think she—” she nodded toward me “—is going to get real love? Do you think her daughter will? You know how it feels! You were ignored, always coming after this life, and then he left! Like I figured out he would. One way or another.”
“You knew that when you married him!” Brooklyn said. “You made your choice. Please. Let me make mine. Things will be different for me.”
“Ha! What a fucking joke. You think things will be different? That’s what they make you believe when you turn them away. You’re different. He’ll say the right words and do all the right things. Make you feel like you’re the only woman in the world. This one—” she nodded at Nunzio “—probably did something to make you feel like the world revolved around you and only you.” She shook her head, almost in disbelief.
“Women who are not in this life look at us and think, ‘They know what they’re getting into!’ Yeah, some of us do from the start, but some of us don’t. But even when we do, not many women stand a chance against them. When they want something, they’ll have it. So let’s use some common sense. If men like them don’t stand a chance against each other half of the time, what makes those bitches think we can? You’re no better than them for doing the same thing to me. Judging me for doing the best I could. And you still didn’t learn.”
“But I love him!”
The words were like a slap in the face. Adriana visibly flinched. “Love him today. Hate him tomorrow. Mark my words.” She looked at Corrado. “Undo this. Please.”
Corrado stared at Nunzio for a minute. He shook his head. “Nunzio is not a part of my family, not officially.”
“He’s not...one of you?” Adriana sounded almost hopeful.
Corrado shook his head. “He’s from Sicily,” was all he said.
I narrowed my eyes at Corrado. There was something he was not saying. Nunzio was not a part of his family, but he still did whatever Corrado told him to. Then again…I wondered if Corrado was doing this for him because he had agreed to protect me here. A favor for a favor.
A life for a life, judging by the look on Adriana’s face.
“No!” She shook her head. Then she went after Nunzio again with a knife she pulled from the pocket of her jacket. The man who stood at the door wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her back just as she went to slash him again. She was stabbing the air, kicking her legs, screaming, “NO! My baby! You won’t take her from me! You won’t kill her spirit like he killed mine!”
Then she started to wail as if someone had died when she realized she couldn’t