Chapter 4

I shove the notebook back under the pillow. Too late. He already saw it.

Lorenzo scoffs. His voice drips.

"Still writing that self-pitying crap?"

He walks right past me. Picks Sienna's bracelet up off the floor. Heads for the door.

"Oh. Tomorrow. You're going wedding dress shopping with Sienna. You've got experience. Help her pick something out."

I almost laugh out loud.

A few months ago I said I wanted to try dresses on. He came up with a dozen reasons to shut it down.

I don't say a word. I just nod.

The bridal boutique is buzzing. Champagne. Soft music. Everyone smiling.

Except me.

The girls at the counter keep their heads down and whisper.

"Who does she think she's mourning? Looks like she came here to shop for a casket."

"Don't you know? She's Don Moretti's side piece. You'd look like that too if you had to help the real fiancée try on gowns."

"Side piece? Her? Look at how washed-out she is. No way the Don's actually into that."

I keep my eyes on the racks. Slide the hangers along, one by one.

Been a few months. The styles haven't changed much.

Sienna tries on gown after gown. Lorenzo never takes his eyes off her. Every word in the English language, he uses them all on her.

But she's still not happy. She throws the dress on the floor and looks up at me.

"Sis. You do it. I'm tired."

Before Lorenzo can say anything, I take the gown and walk into the fitting room.

He freezes.

I slip the dress on. I pull the curtain back.

The look on his face goes from anticipation to disgust in a single second.

Bruises everywhere on my skin. Three raw bullet holes on my left shoulder still leaking through the lace. A jagged knife scar running down my right side. The whole store sucks in a breath.

Sienna stumbles back. She slaps a hand over her mouth and shrieks.

"Enzo! Oh my God—what is that? Get it away from me!"

"She looks like a corpse someone dug up!"

Lorenzo's face goes black. He rounds on me.

"Put it back on. Cover yourself up. Now."

"Standing there like a butchered dog on my fiancée's big day. Have some shame."

Every eye in the store crawls over me. I peel the dress off.

The satin drags across the open wound. I flinch.

Every single bullet I ever took for him. Seven years later. Firing into me again.

Sienna still can't pick. Lorenzo waves a hand and buys the whole store out.

I grab a pink sundress off a rack. A homecoming present for Nina. For when she gets out of the hospital.

She's going to be so scared.

Someone snickers behind me.

Sienna rips the dress out of my hands. Her lip curls.

"What's this for? Planning to burn it at her grave?"