Evangeline
One Week Later…
“Evie, you were great up there. They’d be crazy not to give you a part. I’m so proud of you. You’re so much better than Mom ever was.”
I spun around. “Kon, what are you doing here?”
My brother shoved his hands into the pockets of his dark jeans. A yellowing bruise circled one of his eyes, and he had a scab on his lower lip. “We need to talk.”
“That’s funny. I’m pretty sure we don’t have anything to talk about.”
I slung my dance bag over my shoulder and pushed open the door to the outside. Wind whipped my hair around my face. The smell of an impending rainstorm mixed with grease from the burger joint next door hung in the air. I pulled my hood over my head and darted down the clogged sidewalk.
Halfway down the block, Kon tugged on the back of my jacket, stopping my retreat. All pretenses of humor had disappeared from his face. “I’m not done talking to you.”
I sighed. “You know what? I don’t care.”
“Why aren’t you answering Mom’s calls? She’s worried about you.”
I ripped my hand out of his hold. “Because I don’t have anything to say to her, just like I don’t have anything say to you or my sperm donor.”
“Don’t be like that.” He frowned. “We’re your family, and you need us. Especially now.”
“No, I really don’t. Quite honestly, if I never see any of you again, it’ll be too soon.”
He rolled his eyes. “Don’t be so dramatic.”
I curled my hands into fists, my fingernails digging into my palms. “You guys lied to me about everything.”
“Come on, Evie. Don’t be like this. You’re making a big deal out of nothing.”
“Seriously?” My voice was low and accusing. “My entire childhood was a lie. Do you have any idea how many hours I’ve wasted combing over every conversation and event in my head, searching for missed clues and hidden meanings?”
“We did what we had to.”
Squeezing my eyes closed, I shook my head. They had dangled the truth right in front of my face my entire life, and I’d been too trusting to follow the breadcrumbs. Every time I thought about it, I felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to my skull.
“Those summer camps on the East Coast weren’t really summer camps, were they? You spent the summers with Dad. You lied about joining the Army. When I questioned Mom about our dad, you never said a word to contradict her.”
My attempts to stay calm failed. Childhood memories banged around in my head, and they no longer seemed sweet. They were tainted with betrayal and lies.
I yanked on the emerald necklace Kon gave me for my sixteenth birthday and crumpled it into a ball. Its sharp angles bit into my palm, but it was better than letting it hang around my neck like a noose. “This necklace.” I shoved my fist into the center of his chest, and he grunted. “It wasn’t from you. It was from him. You didn’t save all your money from shoveling snow off our neighbor’s walks. He gave it to you to pass along to me. And those stupid Russian classes Mom made us take.” I ground my teeth together. “Ugh. I can’t even go there.”
He pushed my hand away. “Get a fucking grip, Evie. Don’t jump to conclusions. There are two sides to every story.”
I flung my hands into the air, the chain of the necklace slipping like sand through my fingers. “Then please, by all means, tell me yours. I'm dying to hear what compelled my entire family to keep me in the dark about the fact that my sperm donor is a lying, murderous criminal.”
A bolt of lightning flashed through the sky followed by a rumble of thunder. A few drops of rain slapped against the gray sidewalk.
“Don’t make this into something bigger than it is. We did what we had to do to keep you safe. Mom and Dad didn’t want you to get caught up in Dad’s life.” His lips pursed into a tight line. “It’s dangerous.”
“So their solution was to let me fumble around in the dark like an idiot?”
He scrubbed his hand down his face. “It kept you safe. It allowed us to do things we couldn’t otherwise do.”
“Like what? Bury my ex-fiancée under gambling debts so he has to mentor some woman whose sole purpose was to encourage him to cheat on me? Was that fun? Were you lurking around the corner when I caught them fucking? Did you laugh? Was it funny to watch your sister get her heart ripped out of her chest?”
“He didn’t have to gamble. He didn’t have to cheat. We might have manipulated things to shove him in that direction, but he could have resisted the temptation.”
I stared at him. Deep down, I knew he was right—though, it didn’t lessen the blow. “You didn’t have to meddle in my life. You could’ve told me what you thought of him.”
Konstantin tugged on the end of my ponytail exactly like he did when we were kids. I wanted to melt into him and let him shelter me from this like he did with so many things when we were younger. I stepped away to stifle the urge.
“You know that wouldn’t have worked, and we did you a favor. You didn’t really love him.”
I swallowed over the lump lodged in my throat. “Then what about Gian? Someone chased us in a car and shot at us. Someone threw a brick through Gian’s door. I know Alix is behind both of those things. Don’t try to deny it. All evidence to the contrary, I’m not gullible enough to believe those things were a coincidence.”
He scratched the side of his neck. “We did what we had to do. It’s the way things work in our world. Gian Trassato knows this. Hell, he’s done worse, and that’s exactly why I don’t want you anywhere near him. And trust me, he hasn’t let a day go by over the past week without fucking with us. You should be able to live your life untouched by all this shit. That’s what Dad, Mom, and I always wanted.” A hard edge of anger infused with frustration laced his words.
I stared at my shoes, lost in a daze. The people on the sidewalk wove around us. Horns honked. Music floated out of car windows. People laughed. Somewhere in the distance, a dog barked, and a woman screamed insults into her phone. None of it seemed real.
Memories of Gian assaulted my mind. The way he smiled at me like I was the only person in the world. His taste. His golden eyes. His rough laugh. The way his face crumbled when I told him he wasn’t enough and that we’d never work. My head started to pound again, and my chest felt empty. So empty I might as well have been dead. I clenched my teeth together to suppress the sob on the tip of my tongue.
Over the last week, I had fallen into a deep darkness that only dancing had pulled me out of. When I danced, I temporarily managed to convince myself I would get through this and stop missing Gian. As soon as the music stopped, I’d get caught up in the messy trap of reminiscing, and I’d promptly dissolve into another weepy fit of tears. Thank God the musical I’d auditioned for today dripped with sadness and melancholy. It suited my mood perfectly.
“Then cut the ties. Let me live my life how I see fit and make my own decisions.”
“Maybe at one time that would’ve been possible, but not anymore,” he said so quietly, I strained to hear him.
I adjusted the strap of my bag. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Now that your connection to us is no longer a secret, you’re a target. Without us, you could be killed or kidnapped for ransom by the end of the week.”
Bitterness rushed though me like lava, settling in the pit of my stomach. “Great. What am I supposed to do now? Walk around with giant crosshairs on my back?”
He stepped toward me, reaching into his pocket and pulling something out. He dangled a set of keys from his index finger. “Here.”
“What’s this?”
“Keys to your new apartment.”
I stared at the gold keys like they were a stick of dynamite. “No. I’m not taking anything from you.”
I’d checked into a hotel last week, promising myself I’d find a more permanent place to live as soon as possible because the money I got pawning the engagement ring from Kevin wouldn’t last for more than a couple of weeks with Manhattan prices. If I didn’t land a role in this play, I’d find a job and move out of the hotel.
“It’s temporary, and it will make my job a helluva lot easier. The building has a doorman and security. I wrote the address on the key chain.”
“Is this a consolation prize from dear ol’ Dad?” I raised my eyebrows, an indignant smirk on my face. “Whoops, sorry, long-lost daughter that I abandoned. I know I ruined your life and destroyed more than one of your relationships, but here’s a place to live. This should make up for it.”
“No. It’s actually my apartment. I’ll stay somewhere else until you get back on your feet.”
I inched backward. “No.” I didn’t want to be indebted to anyone ever again. I needed to stand on my own two feet.
“Just take them.” He shoved the keys into my pocket. “Think of it as my penance for lying to you.”
“Are you going stay there with me?”
He glanced to the side. “I’ll stay with Dad’s family.”
My stomach pitched. “He has another family?”
“A wife and two daughters. They’re a good ten years older than us.”
“So Mom was his mistress?” I asked, my mouth twisting with revulsion.
He shifted on his boot-clad feet. “Don’t feel bad for Mom. She knew the score.”
“His wife doesn’t care that he shoves his bastard son in her face?”
“He wanted a son, and she couldn’t have any more kids. They made a deal. He got his son, and she got to keep her life as long as she welcomed me into their house every summer. It worked out for everyone.”
I fought back a scream of frustration. I couldn’t believe this. My life was a joke that never stopped. “I guess that makes me collateral damage. A necessary evil. An unwanted complication on the road to conceiving the golden child.”
“Don’t think about it like that,” he said, pity splashed all over his face. “Dad loves you as much as he does the rest of his kids. He just has a screwed-up way of showing it.”
Fuck this. I was going to use the apartment. I saved and scraped over the last few years, trying to make my dreams comes true. My brother was right. He owed me.
“It’s too late.” I pulled the keys from my pocket and dangled them from my fingers. “Thanks for the place to live. I’ll text you when I move out.”
I took a few steps backward then paused. “Oh, and Kon?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t contact me ever again. You can slink around in the shadows and do whatever it is you do, but I never want to see you or anyone in my so-called family again. You’re all dead to me, and if any of you meddle in my life again, I’ll find a way to kill you myself.”