Chapter 30

NICHOLAS

"It's been a long time since I've seen one of you in here. To what do I owe this visit, good sir?" Andrea asked with a smile I saw right through. She wasn't happy to see me in her liquor store.

"You realize I'm not Gregorio, right?"

Her eyes narrowed into slits. I knew how much she loathed Gregorio after all he did to her. He got her pregnant, made her have the child, and abruptly cut off all communication between mother and daughter when she was born.

That didn't mean Cara didn't sneak out to see her mother when their relationship rekindled, though. Things wouldn't be looking too pretty for them if Gregorio ever found out, but the man had his head so far up his ass that he didn't notice what happened around him.

"Of course. You're the douchebag boyfriend of his little cunt of a daughter."

"Watch your mouth, Andrea."

"The denial." She shook her head, an amused look crossing her face like she knew something I didn't.

I cocked my head to the side, studying her smug features. Yeah, she knew something. "What do you know?"

"And if I choose not to tell?" She challenged, making a mistake others had made in the past.

Even though I had no intention of blackmailing them or threatening their lives when I first visited, their defiance made me give up on the point one percent that might have given a fuck about them.

I got my answers from stubborn people the old-fashioned way - torture.

"I'm sure Gregorio wouldn't appreciate your little coffee dates with Cara." I shook my head at her when she looked taken aback that I knew the truth. "Don't be shocked, Andrea. It could be our little secret if you spill your guts. Fair warning, I'm not opposed to getting you to do it the literal way."

She gulped audibly. "What do you want to know?"

"Why don't we have this conversation while sitting down?"

Her jaws locked in anger. "Follow me," she said through gritted teeth. I didn't miss the way her employees' eyes followed us as she led us to the back room where her office was located.

"What do you want to know?" She asked again, remaining firmly by the door as I took a seat on one of the chairs scattered around the office.

She did realize she wasn't faster than a bullet, right?

"Something new was brought to light by Giselle. The girls were coming from your place the night of the accident. They weren't going to get pizza like Gregorio said."

"Any man would be foolish to believe the words of Gregorio, but I'll give you a pass because you were a stupid teenager in love. Why would the girls be allowed to go get pizza when they have a fuck ton of guards positioned around the house?"

"So, what were they doing at your place?" I asked.

"They snuck out because Cara finally learned of my existence. Giselle wanted her to meet me, so they came. For some reason, that little bitch, Gianna came along with them." She rolled her eyes. "Contrary to what everyone thinks, Gianna isn't nice or sweet. Lucia trained her to appear nice, but that's by the way. The girls were running late, and they took the bus to my place, so I offered them my car."

"Who was in the driver's seat?" I knew the answer to this question, but I wanted to hear it from her mouth. I just needed that confirmation that Giselle wasn't the liar in all of this.

"Giselle. Gianna doesn't know how to drive."

***

GISELLE

"I'm sorry, Cara, but I won't be able to take you to school," I told Cara on Monday morning as she wolfed down her breakfast.

When we were younger, she had a huge appetite and would eat anything in sight. Some things never changed, and she was still able to retain her slim physique. She had her mother to thank for that because Father was far from what you'd call fit.

"I've sorted everything out with your principal over the phone."

"Why can't you come?" She asked, after gulping down some water.

"Migraine." It didn't happen often, but when it did, it was one of the days I could curl up in bed all day, and Raquel would wait on me hand and foot. Sure, I exaggerated things, but she got her payback when she got cramps from her period.

It had been a struggle to get out of bed, and I wanted nothing more than to climb back under the sheets.

"You should get some rest. I heard it's no fun. Lucia can relate. She's a ticking time bomb when she has a migraine."

"I'll be fine after I rest up for a few hours. I took your bags downstairs already."

"You didn't have to."

Cara chose to attend a boarding school because she didn't want Nicholas to feel like she was intruding on his space, even though he never once complained.

Things would go back to being boring around the house, but I respected her choice. It was her life, after all.

"I can drop her off," Nicholas offered.

Cara and I turned to look at Nicholas, who stood in the doorway. Didn't he say he'd be away for a few days to sort out his business?

"Okay?" Why was he going out of his way to do something nice for me? The old Nicholas wouldn't have spared us a glance, but here he was offering to drive Cara to school when he had guards that could do that.

"Thank you," Cara said, sliding off her stool. We exchanged air kisses, and she followed Nicholas out of the kitchen.

***

NICHOLAS

"My mother said you paid her a visit," Cara said, looking down at her hands. I figured she had more to say, so I said nothing. "Are you going to tell Giselle?"

We were in her school parking lot, but we had things to discuss before she got out of the car. Her question didn't come as a surprise because I knew Andrea would have called her to fill her in the moment I left her liquor store.

"Tell her what exactly, Cara? That you've been lying to her all these years? You knew the truth, and you said nothing. You let her live with that guilt weighing her down. And I'm supposed to believe you care about her?"

"There was no guilt weighing her down. Our parents were the ones weighing her down with the constant accusations. She knew she would never do anything to hurt Gianna."

"No one else knew that. I didn't know that. You should have told me."

Cara finally looked up at me. "Would you have believed a single bad word against Gianna? Be honest here, Nicholas. You two were in love with each other. Your father even told my parents that."

"There was incriminating evidence against Giselle. Did you expect me to believe what your parents labeled as a sob story?"

"So, you would have believed mine? Why do you believe that same sob story now? Are you in love with Giselle?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Cara. I do not love your sister."

Sure, I wanted her in my bed, but it didn't mean the feelings suddenly developed overnight. Just one night of fucking couldn't do that for me. Weeks of fucking couldn't do that to me, and that was because I'd sworn off everything that had to do with catching feelings.

I'd lost all sense of reasoning when I got the news of Gianna's death, and my father had taken action after a few days of mourning. I'd probably be dead if it wasn't for him, and that was the only thing I had to thank him for in my life.

"So, you hate her," Cara said, bringing me back into the present.

Some months ago, I wouldn't have hesitated before I answered that question. When her father told me she was responsible for Gianna's death, my hatred for her had no bounds. Hell, I even loathed her more than I did my father.

The only reason I hated her in the first place was because she killed Gianna, but with questions raising in the air, I wasn't so sure anymore.

"No more beating around the bush, Cara. Tell me what happened that night."

I wasn't eager to hear the truth because the possibility that I'd done something despicable to Giselle over a lie told by her father made me disgusted with myself.

Cara swallowed, taking a few deep breaths before exhaling. "Giselle was in the driver's seat. I was in the backseat, and Gianna was in the passenger seat. It was raining heavily. The road was slippery. I was complaining about how scared I was because we just passed an accident scene. I didn't want us to die like that, but then, suddenly, Gianna took hold of the steering wheel.

"Giselle and I weren't scared at first. I thought she wanted to stop the car because I said so. I wanted Father to come pick us up, but she did something none of us expected. She veered off the road, and Giselle was screaming at her to let go because she couldn't control the car. She didn't listen. She had a back and forth with Giselle, and before I could get a word out, we collided with a tree."

I held the steering wheel in a death grip until my knuckles turned white. "Gregorio and Lucia knew the truth all along?" It was a struggle to remain calm, but I knew I couldn't lose my shit in front of Cara. She was too young.

"Yes. He arrived at the scene shortly after. According to him, Mom informed him, but she said she didn't. I thought Giselle was going to die. There was a lot of blood, and she wasn't moving. I was frozen for hours. Everything passed in a blur, and when I got out of my trance, Father told me Gianna was dead. Giselle had just gotten out of surgery, and Father told me to tell him all that happened. I did."

Cara's eyes filled with tears. "That was the biggest mistake of my life. Father put all the blame on Giselle, and when eleven-year-old me confronted him, he threatened to kill both Mom and Giselle. He said I'd have no one else in the world. I was young, and the possibility of being alone freaked me out, so I kept quiet. I watched them tear Giselle apart, and with no recollection of what happened that night, she took it. With the edited conversation from the dash cam, there was no going back. Everyone labeled her a murderer, but in reality, Gianna almost killed Giselle.

"I've been tempted to tell her, but she's been through enough. She suspects this, but if she finds out Gianna tried to kill us all, she won't recover from the news. She loves Gianna and me more than she loves herself. That was why she was willing to take a risk and take me to my mother's place even after Father made sure I couldn't."

"Did Gianna show any signs of being suicidal before that night?"

Cara shrugged, sniffling. "I wouldn't know. She hung out with you the most. Do you think she was suicidal?"

I went through memories in my head, some of them faint from years, but nothing hinted at her being suicidal.

"No."

Gianna tried to kill Giselle and Cara on purpose.

Giselle had been in the driver's seat.

The argument we had on the second day of our marriage chose that moment to mock me.

'I didn't kill her,' she whimpered, tears streaming down her face. 'I swear I didn't.'

'There's no need to lie. I know you did it.'

'You're hurting me, Nicholas.'

'Good. This must be nothing compared to the pain that pierced Gianna's heart at your betrayal. Don't make me fucking repeat myself. Get your ass together, and prepare that breakfast, or so help me God.'

The tears in her eyes when she asked me why I got married to her. Thinking about it tore my soul apart.

'Why did you ruin my life?'

'Because you do not deserve to be happy. You deserve to be miserable. You wanted to marry a man who loved you as much as you did him, right? I guess not all dreams come true,' I said with a smirk.

More tears streamed down her face. 'Why are you doing this to me? I've done nothing wrong.'

'I know you killed her,' I sneered, my anger shooting through the roof. "Everyone knows you killed her. You were always jealous of her, no?'

'No. I loved her.'

She loved Gianna. She loved a woman who tried to kill her. The same woman who caused her to suffer.

'Monster. That's what the tattoo says.'

'Why?'

'Because that is what everyone believes I am. Including you.'

I was the monster for pulling her away from whatever new connections she'd formed during those six years she was away. I was a monster for making her feel miserable. I was a monster for stopping her from getting her white picket fence.

Cazzo. I buried my face in my palms as I replayed every word I said to her in my head, putting her down for something she didn't do, but I'd been too angry to go search for answers, too desperate to blame someone.

"You may go."

"Ni- Nicholas?" Cara stammered, her voice laced with uncertainty. "Will you keep this a secret? If Father finds out I told you, he'll kill my mother. I know Giselle is under your protection now, but my mother has no one."

"Leave, Cara."

I wanted to be alone just in case the rage bubbling inside of me poured over, and from the look of things, it wouldn't be long before I exploded.

"I know you're angry, but please, don't hurt Giselle. She did nothing wrong," she said before climbing out of the car. She got her things out of the trunk, and she was off.

"I'm not going to hurt Giselle," I promised, even though she was long gone.

She would never know pain from my hands, which was why I needed to make things right, but first, I needed to visit someone.