“Denise hasn’t lied to us, I don’t believe,” Stacy said.
“You believe everything she’s said?” I asked again. She didn’t hear what Denise had told the boys that morning, and I’d only heard the tail end of it, so all of that information was out of play.
Stacy nodded again. “I do. There’s a certain way to tell if people are lying or not when you have a deep connection with the universe. It sort of bends toward people telling the truth and away from those lying.”
“That’s how you knew something was up in your studio yesterday?”
A bright smile found Stacy’s face. “Exactly.”
“So, it’s always bent toward her, or whatever? Even about her wanting her own brother dead?”
Stacy’s head tilted to the side, and her expression went a little vacant. I waited, and a few seconds later, she came back to attention. “That’s the only one. Sometimes, the universe just goes a bit still. Usually, when there’s a mix of lies and truth. It creates neutrality, and that always makes me nervous.”
“What do you make of it?”
Stacy crossed her arms. “I guess it makes me think that maybe she really does want him dead, but potentially not for the reasons she’s saying.”
“Do you trust her?” I wanted her desperately to say no.
“I trust that she wants the same thing we want, that is to say, our motives are in line with one another. I wouldn’t say I trust her, but I don’t think I need to. As long as she isn’t lying to us, I’m okay with how she can help us end all of this.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond. I was treating Stacy’s words like she was some great deity. I asked Stacy her thoughts because I figured whatever she thought, I would go with that, but something just felt wrong to me about giving Denise any sort of leverage. If we couldn’t trust her, why have her around at all?
Finally, I just settled for sharing my true thoughts. “I guess I just don’t understand why we think we need her.”
“You don’t have to understand.” It wasn’t Stacy who spoke then, but Molly’s venomous voice. I’d been so concerned with keeping an eye on Denise that I didn’t notice Molly had walked away from her and back toward the cooler of drinks to our right. “It’s not your place to understand. You have no business poking around in it, regardless, especially because you don’t understand it.”
“I’ve told you before that I know my place, and it’s to do whatever the fuck I feel like,” I spat back at her. “I’ve had just about enough of you trying to tell me what to do. Maybe everyone else around here bows before you for some reason, but you’re just a kidnapped chef with Stockholm syndrome. Back off.” The words felt evil crossing my lips. I didn’t entirely believe them, but I was also sick of Molly taking any opportunity she could find to test me. “You think because you welcomed the life that you’ve got some sort of seniority, but I grew up in this. Just because I was smart enough not to get involved doesn’t mean I don’t understand it.”
“You,” Molly said, closing in on me, “better watch your fucking mouth.”
I turned to face her, unafraid. “Yeah? Or what? I’m not afraid of you, and I never will be.”
Stacy walked over and tried to push us away from each other. “You guys, come on. We’re having such a good time.”
“Stace?” Gabriel called out.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that the boys had stopped their game and were watching the interaction closely, but I kept the bulk of my attention on staring up at Molly and letting her know I wasn’t going to continue being pushed around.
“You should be afraid of me, Willow Moretti.”
“My name is Willow Varasso,” I hissed back.
Molly scoffed. “Varassos aren’t scared of the life, and they certainly don’t run away from it. They know better than to question the commands of the head of the family, although I guess I can’t blame you there.” She got a little closer. “I suppose none of us take Alessandro seriously, either. Tell me, which personality is he on today? Maybe ignoring the thoughts of a psychopath is the smartest thing you’ve done.”
My mind went blank. All I could hear were Molly’s nasty insults ringing on repeat through my ears. I lost control over my body, and without so much as the thought of a command from my brain, I cocked my fist back and decked Molly right in the face.
13
Alessandro
I was barely over the shock of hearing Molly describe me as a psychopath when Willow threw her punch. I wanted to ask my brothers if that was really what they thought of me, but suddenly, Molly was throwing a punch back, and then Molly and Willow were in an all-out brawl. I looked over at Luca, but he had a disgusting smile on his face that made me want to punch him. Even in the confusion that was my mind, I knew starting a separate fight with Luca wouldn’t be a good idea.
I remained frozen in place while Marco and Gabriel both jumped into the fray. Stacy and Denise were both yelling from the outside of the fight, telling them to knock it off, that they were sisters, and Marco and Gabriel were trying to restrain them. At first, Marco went for Molly and left Willow to Gabriel, but it proved problematic. Marco didn’t struggle to get Molly to calm down. Every time he laced his arms under hers and pulled her back, she would put her arms up and let herself be dragged back. On the other hand, Gabriel was struggling. Marco would manage to pull Molly away, and Gabriel would release Willow, thinking it was over, and Willow would charge at Molly, and they’d be back at it again.
Willow tackled Molly to the ground and slammed a fist across her face, and a splatter of blood flew out of her nose. Luca took a step forward at that, but I took a step forward with him. He turned and eyed me, and I glared back at him. He swallowed hard but didn’t move toward them again. It was a silent agreement between the two of us—we would either both stay uninvolved, or both get involved, and Luca was smart enough to know why the latter option was a bad idea. I had my dad’s ruthlessness running through me while Luca had inherited his temper. If we got involved, it wouldn’t likely end until guns were out.
Both of us redirected our attention back to the fight, and Molly was looking worse for wear. Marco and Gabriel were trying to drag Willow up now, but she was small and kept slipping from their grip. To make matters worse, neither of them was trying to use too much force, probably for fear of earning anger from me, but honestly, I would have understood. Willow was tearing into Molly, punch after punch, until her face was a bloody mess.