Ettore peered down at me before he lifted his gaze to the trembling wrath that was my sister. “It was a quarterly meet. Everything was going smoothly until it came to the Vero seat. Normally, your pops spoke but that day, he allowed Vincenza to speak for him. Instead of sticking to script, you sister decides to make demands for more territory. And I don’t know what she thought would happen but, everyone laughed at her and I was stupid enough to tell her that she could have my territory if she could fight me for it. The laughter turned raucous and I laughed too, because what she was asking for was crazy. She hadn’t earned shit. Obviously, this was not something she wanted to hear. Embarrassed, Vincenza lost her temper and did something stupid. She pulled her piece. The laughter stopped immediately. She was warned that this was an expelling offence. She knew she fucked up the second she did it, but her ego was triggered and her response to that was, ‘Oh well, better make it worth it then.’ She pulled the trigger. Mine followed. And while your sister is about as bad a shot as you are, baby, mine would have met its target…” Oh God. I knew what was coming before he even said it. “If your father didn’t take the bullet meant for her. Your dad died and the Vero seat sat empty. Until now.” He looked at me earnestly. “I would never have done it if not provoked.”

“He’s lying,” Vincenza uttered. “He’s lying. I’m your sister.” And then she cried, “He’s lying! It wasn’t my fault.”

It wasn’t her fault. Nothing was ever her fault.

“I believe you.”

Tor’s face softened as my words reached him.

“What?” Vincenza was shocked by my admission. “But I’m your sister.”

“Funny you say that,” I spoke sadly. “You never treated me like one.”

I could see she was stunned by my candor. “Vicky, please. Everything I did, I did for us. I sacrificed everything for this family.”

“Including me.” Her mouth gaped and for the first time in my recollection, she looked powerless. “You knew about this?” I asked Como and his hesitation said it all. I could barely contain my disappointment. “Of course, you did.”

The silence carried as I processed.

The emotions in the room intensified and Ettore wanted to avoid another Vero family drama. “I think it’s time to leave.”

He was right. It was, and I doubted I would ever come back here. Weirdly enough, I didn’t feel sad about it. Just… empty.

I slid my hand into his, looked up into his face and let out a weary, “Let’s go home.”

That night, I left my sister behind. That didn’t mean I didn’t love her. It just meant that I had grown enough to know she would never love me.

* * *