Chapter 3

"Adriana, get moving on supper. It's late, and the whole household's hungry," the matriarch pressed.

I didn't grace Rosa with an answer. Instead I turned to Bianca with a smile. "Bianca, you and Lorenzo came up together, didn't you? I imagine you took plenty of meals under this roof back then."

"Of course! In those days Lorenzo and I ate together practically every night," Bianca chirped.

"So after all those years away, you must be starving for Mamma's cooking." I looked to the matriarch and went on, "Rosa, shouldn't you be in that kitchen putting a proper plate together for Bianca?"

Having said my piece, I lowered myself onto the couch and switched on the television. A moment later Lorenzo came at me, irritation all over him. "How could you send Mamma into the kitchen? You know her health isn't good. Get up and make dinner."

I let surprise fill my face. "Rosa, you're unwell? Is it serious? Why would you keep that from me?"

The matriarch snapped, her voice sharp as a blade drawn. "Who's unwell? I'm perfectly fine. Stop trying to curse an old woman into the ground."

"Then why won't you cook for Bianca? Just don't feel like it?" I said, amused.

Her expression curdled in an instant. "Who said I wouldn't cook?"

She marched into the kitchen and spent the next two hours over the stove. When the food was finally set out, Gianna pulled Bianca into my chair. "Sis, Bianca's our guest. You wouldn't mind giving up your seat, would you?"

The matriarch joined in, pressing a bowl into my hands. "If sitting at the edge bothers you, take your plate to the kitchen and eat back there. And tidy up a little while you're at it."

So now I wasn't even fit for the table. In a house I kept lit, in a compound I'd paid for down to the last stone.

"No need. You all enjoy yourselves. A friend invited me out, so I'll eat with them," I said, flat and final.

Lorenzo looked put out. "We leave for the gathering tomorrow, and you're still going out? Have you even packed?"

"You don't have hands? Pack it yourself," I shot back.

That stunned him into silence, and I walked out.

I bought myself a fine meal at one of the better rooms in the city, the kind of place run quiet under a name everyone recognized. Steak, wine, lobster. With my own money, earned off my own operations, I could sit wherever I pleased and no one would dare seat me at the edge. I stayed out until well past midnight and took my time about it.

When I came back, the compound sat dark. However late the hour, not a single call, not a single message asking after me. They'd all gone to bed without a second thought, as though I were a soldier who didn't warrant one.

I felt my way through the dark, entered the bedroom, and sat down on the bed, only to be jolted by a scream that split the silence like a shot.

"Ah!"

I snapped on the light and saw Bianca lying in my place. The sight made my blood boil. Without thinking, I slapped her clean across the face.

Bianca burst into tears, and Lorenzo bolted upright, throwing an arm around her like a shield. "Why did you hit Bianca? We were only talking and must have drifted off."

"Is that so? You just 'happened' to end up in bed together, wrapped around each other?" I said, fury climbing.

"We were waiting for you! You were out so late, and Bianca stayed to keep me company. We talked a while, and then we fell asleep. It's perfectly ordinary!" Lorenzo thundered. His hand had already found the back of his neck, rubbing at it the way he always did when the lie ran ahead of him.

"Then why didn't a single one of you call? A message? Too deep in conversation with your 'oldest friend' to manage it? And the two of you couldn't sit and wait in the living room, you had to bring it into my bedroom?"

Lorenzo scowled. "You're being unreasonable, Adriana."

I was finished arguing. I turned to Bianca. "I'm back now. So why don't you leave? Or do you expect all three of us to share the bed?"

Bianca ignored every word, cradling her cheek and whimpering, "Lorenzo, it really hurts."

Lorenzo, all tenderness now, said, "I'll get you something for it."