Page 37 of Claiming Vanessa
Elena laughs though, like it’s an actual joke. “It doesn’t change what it is. But enough about me. I wanted to get to know Vanessa. Giulio said you were, um, Giorgis Bellini’s daughter? I think I might have met your father once, many years ago.”
I flinch when the conversation turns back to me, but I can feel Giulio’s grip tighten slightly on my shoulder. Don’t upset her, he’d said. That means I have to play nice—to pretend everything is fine when I’m so far from fine that I’m not even in the same zip code. I force myself to smile at her. “Yes, I’m his younger daughter. I…” How do I even go from here? “I met Giulio at, um, my sister’s wedding rehearsal dinner.”
A sudden thought hits me. What if she’d met my father in a professional capacity? He often left town to take care of business, and there’s nothing to say the Pavones hadn’t invited him to sample the “goods.”
But Elena nods casually. “Yes, I’d heard. Emilio did like his brides… young.”
Giulio scoffs. “Yeah, and look where that got him.” He suddenly kisses the side of my head. “But hey, good stuff came out of that wedding. Too bad about Clarissa, I guess—”
“You hated Clarissa, Giulio,” Elena points out. “Which wasn’t fair to her.”
“I’m just saying, he hadyou, and then he finds some random excuse to get rid of you, only to shack up with that bitch—”
Pieces start to click into place. Clarissa. The name is familiar, because it had been… one of Emilio Pavone’s ex-wives. The one who’d died so he could marry Lucia. Which means…
“Ididcheat on him, Giulio. He didn’t marry Clarissa until years later.” Elena reaches up to run her fingers over her scarred cheek. “It was my fault.”
“And it’s his fucking fault he got castrated at his own wedding,” Giulio answers, smiling darkly. “Kind of a shame they didn’t send me the body. Saved me on the funeral service fees, but half of the attendees at the memorial service wanted proof he actually kicked it. Either that or they droned on and on about what a great guy my old man was, like they didn’t all think he was a dick, too.”
“He definitely got what he deserved,” I mumble, not sure if my feedback is welcome but unable to keep myself from commenting.
Giulio laughs and slaps his thigh. “He did! All weddings should end like that. Which part was your favorite, Vanessa? The vows? The shooting? Our run-in with Corvi?”
All I can think about is the way my mother turned her back on Lucia and me, and tears blur my vision. “Not the part where you and Damien took me,” I find myself muttering before I remember I’m not supposed to upset Elena. I don’t know how to fix it, though, and somehow… I doubt Elena would care about this. If she’s been here this long, she’s probably too jaded to care how I ended up here.
Elena finishes the remainder of the sushi and places the empty tray into the plastic bag they’d all come in. “HowisDamien? I haven’t seen him in a while.”
“Running himself ragged trying to keep me on schedule.” Giulio bumps against me. “But Vanessa probably has a better sense of Damien’s mood in general. What with him being so love-struck. You kept saying he should find somebody to settle down with—somebody nicer than me—and look, here she is!”
“You’re sharing her, then?” Elena asks, her tone neutral as she looks between Giulio and me.
“Yeah. I told you, he’s all about me fathering a child, blah blah. It’s not a bad idea, and between me, Damien, and Slayer, one of us will get her knocked up for sure.” Giulio grins at me. “Aren’t you lucky. You won’t be working the floor after all.”
I shudder, the idea of the three of them working together to get me pregnant a terrible one—and I’m not sure if it’s better or worse than the thought of working the floor with the other women.
“Slayer?” Elena asks, wrinkling her nose. “You don’t want him fathering your child, do you, Giulio?”
“Eh. You know I don’t care about blood relations. Family is family.” The nature of his smile changes, and I’m shocked to see the softened features as he looks fondly at Elena. He’s almost handsome without the cruelty.
There’s a knock at the door, and the moment is gone as Giulio scowls.
“What?” he growls.
There’s a hesitation, then a man says, “Boss, Stef is crying on the floor again. No one can get her to calm down, and she’s pissing off the customers.”
“Jesus fucking Christ.” Giulio lets go of me and goes to rip the door open. “Did you get Bernardo to move her, at least?”
A seedy-looking guy with greasy hair pulled into a ponytail and a bad goatee stands on the other side. “Um, Bernardo’s not on shift today. It’s Abe, and he’s not strong enough to carry her.”
Giulio looks over his shoulder to give us both an incredulous stare. “Do you hear this?” He turns back to the other man. “Tell Abe he needs to lift more and hire some actual muscle!”
Elena stands up and goes to join Giulio, casually placing a hand on his shoulder. The other man flinches when he sees her, but Elena either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care. “Giulio, why don’t we go down and talk to her? She’s just scared.”
“Um,” the guy says. “I don’t think Elena should… That is, the other customers…”
Giulio slams his hand against the wall. “Are you sure you want to finish that sentence, Paul?”
“I’ll go too,” I say, getting up. I look quickly around for my panties, my cheeks crimson as I realize I’m exposing so much of myself to three other people. Giulio, Elena, and… Paul, who I hadn’t been eager to meet after what Stef had said. I pull the panties on, all too aware of Paul’s eyes on me.