Page 45 of House of Lies
“She won’t forgive you.”
“No, she won’t. She hates hearing the truth. How about you? How are you holding up?” I attempt to change the subject.
“I’m fine.”
“Answer again.” I nudge her. “Without lying.”
Her mask falls. What remains is a tired smile and exhaustion.
“I feel like crap.” She laughs. “I couldn’t find a good enough excuse to stay home tonight, so here I am.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not right now.”
Cosima has been avoiding my calls since the abortion, and when we do speak, she’s always lying, pretending that everything is fine. But I know it’s not. She wants to mingle with others at the ball, and I don’t want to be left alone, so I follow her, even though I’m unfamiliar with most of the people she stops to talk to.
“I think I need some fresh air,” I announce when everything overwhelms me.
I make my way toward the exit, a strange feeling tingling at the back of my head. Glancing over my shoulder, I see Domenico following closely behind me.
“If you’re going to follow me, you could at least entertain me with conversation,” I tell him, catching him off guard.
He nods and closes the distance between us. Domenico has become a familiar presence in my life over the past few months. While I don’t recall him being one of Mattia’s most trusted men, something has changed. He’s always there, watching and guarding me from the shadows. I wonder from what or from whom he’s protecting me.
“Don’t you think your skills would be better used to guard Mattia?” I question him.
“He can take care of himself,” he responds with a smile.
“And you don’t think I can?”
I try to avoid the photographers outside, so I sneak into the gardens through the back of the house.
“I didn’t say that, Mrs. Benedetti.”
The night sky is a blanket of stars, with the scent of flowers filling the air. Lanterns and strings of twinkling lights illuminate the gardens. It seems magical. The music fades behind us; the sounds of crickets come alive. There’s a water fountain in the middle, surrounded by a stone patio. There’s a pound at the end of the garden. It’s a beautiful place, with lily pads floating on the surface and fireflies lighting up the night. It’s the place Mattia kept my head underwater until I almost drowned one year ago. Now that I think about it, I don’t even remember what I did to offend him. It was summer. We were having dinner with his parents on the patio. I must have said something that displeased him.
“Are you all right?” Concern pours into Domenico’s voice.
“You’ve seen me naked. You could at least call me Caelia.”
I never got used to being called Mrs. Benedetti.
“Half,” he corrects me. “Half naked.”
“You’re right. Still, call me Caelia. Mrs. Benedetti is Mattia’s mother. And some unfortunate woman that’s going to marry Ludovic one day.”
“Let’s hope she wasn’t born yet. Or that no father hates his daughter that much.”
I laugh. I think I’m starting to like Domenico, although he reports back to Mattia, and he’s seen me naked. Well, half-naked.
I’m about to ask him something, but I don’t get a chance to. A gun goes off inside the mansion, and it doesn’t take long for people to come out screaming and running in all directions. I blink, confused, trying to understand what’s happening. An alarm triggers in my brain. My heart stops. It’s not the first time there’s been an attack during an event like this. God knows what’s going on this time. Some business went wrong. Another war is brewing. I stand still, my heart tugging me in a different direction than my body.
“Don’t!” Domenico shouts, grabbing my wrist and halting my escape.
“Mattia is in there!”
“I know, but my instructions are clear for situations like this,” he explains as gunfire continues to echo from within the mansion. Someone screams, and my heart pounds while my head spins. “Don’t fight me, Caelia,” he warns firmly.