Page 89 of Damiano De Luca (The Five Syndicates)
She sighed. “I guess my mom was right to run.”
“She was probably better off outside Devils Ridge,” I agreed.
“She died giving birth to me.”
Shit. “I’m sorry.”
And I was. Not just because she was my sister—and holy shit, I had a sister—but because I liked her as a person. The night shift came and went, and by the time all the employees left, Ariana and I still sat in a booth, talking.
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Ariana shrugged. “There are a lot of issues when it comes to my mom, but I didn’t really know her. I miss something I’ve never had but know I should love.”
“Are you always such an open book?”
We’d dived straight into the deep stuff, not bothering with the pleasantries. In one night, I learned more about her than I knew about some of the kids I’d gone to school with my whole life.
“No. Never, actually.” She took a sip from her coffee mug and looked up at me. “We have decades of lost time to make up for.” I already knew firsthand how that felt with Ren. “I figured if it took you this long to come see me, you had to talk yourself up to it, and the least I can do is be open and honest with you since I couldn’t bring myself to see you either.” She looked around the bar and sighed. “I’m also averse to lying. I used to work undercover. It gets so damn tiring.”
“That may be my favorite thing about you so far.”
“That I worked undercover?”
“No, that you’re committed to honesty.”
“I hear you’re having some trouble with that.”
“Your boyfriend has a big mouth.”
“He said you didn’t look happy when he saw you in Oklahoma, and you couldn’t get over the lies Renata’s mom embedded your life in. We both know better than anyone else that our parents’ actions hold no bearings on our own.”
“I know that now. Hell, maybe I knew that then, too.”
“Then, what happened?”
Something about her drew me in—maybe the way she looked at me like she genuinely cared, her face so similar to Nana’s. It made me want to confess everything. I figured she must have developed that ability working undercover, but I liked it. I liked the idea of having a sister, someone tied to me by De Luca blood who hadn’t been tainted by the De Luca madness.
“I couldn’t stop the accusations from spewing out of my mouth. Our relationship never moved on from Devils Ridge ten—almost eleven—years ago. So, all that frustration I felt in Oklahoma…” I shook my head. “It was really what I felt from Devils Ridge after our relationship ended the first time.”
“And now?”
“I’m trying to release every lie I’ve accumulated in my life, so I can move forward and be someone Ren deserves.”
“Is that what this is?”
“A little. Yes, I’ve lied to you and want to apologize for it, but I also want to see you. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you when I found out that you’re my sister. I’m also sorry it took me this long to come see you.”
She reached out and squeezed my hand over the tabletop. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I’m your sister. I knew since birth, and I could have approached you when I turned eighteen. The truth is, I was afraid. I’d heard a lot about your dad, and when rumors reached the bureau that you took over, I could have reached out. My job didn’t matter enough to me to prevent me from doing so. It was the fear that you’d be the monster my aunt always told me your dad is.”
I shook my head. “I don’t blame you. He’s a real piece of work, but I promise you, I’m not like that. At all. I want to get to know you.”
“I’d like that. How does the truth feel?”
“Like I should have done this in the first place.”
“Hindsight’s a bitch like that. What are you going to do now?”
“Go get my girl.”
