“You mean Carlo and Mario made it poorly just to leave a clue?” Antony asks.
“It’s possible.”
“But how did Cherry end up with Sofia Ramsay?” Antony tilts his head to one side as he considers this. “Janna went to see Cherry. Does she know Cherry is really one of us, or does she think Cherry is really her sister?”
“Damn good question.” Threes rubs his finger over his chin. “This mystery just keeps getting more complicated.”
“We could try questioning Jay,” Antony says. “We could—”
“No!” It takes everything I have not to haul back and punch him. “No more fucking investigations! It doesn’t fucking matter anymore! Don’t you see that? Everything I’ve been doing these past months has been to get her back, and it worked. It fucking worked!” I slam my fist on the top of the desk. “What was it all for? Nothing, that’s what!”
“We needed to know the truth,” Antony says quietly.
“Yeah, a lot of good that’s done me.”
“We still have shit to figure out,” Antony says. “We’re…we’re here for ya, but we have to figure out how this is going to affect the family.”
“It doesn’t.”
“It might not be up to you anymore,” Threes says. “I mean, if Cherry is an Orso, she and Nora have a say in what happens with the family business, right?”
“Of course they do.”
“Nora’s never been all that interested,” Antony says. “If she wanted more control, she could have pushed for it.”
“But we don’t know how Cherry will feel abut it,” Threes says. “She might want some control.”
“She doesn’t want anything to do with any of us.”
“For now, sure,” Threes says. “She’s upset, just like you are. But what if she changes her mind in the future? We have to prepare for that.”
“No more.” I shake my head, no longer yelling at either of them. I don’t have the energy. “I can’t deal with this anymore. I know you’re both trying to help, but consider it closed for now.”
“Nate—”
“I said it’s closed!”
“All right, boss.” Antony lets out a long sigh. “It’s closed…for now.”
They decide a game of pool and more drinking are needed before dinner, but I’m just not up for it. I don’t think I could stomach food right now, and the whiskey I’m drinking isn’t sitting well. Maybe it’s best I just call it an early night.
I leave the unfinished drink on the desk and head back to my room. Before I get to the stairs, I hear a soft voice calling me.
“Nataniele?”
“What?” I turn to see my aunt Kate standing in the hallway behind me, wringing her hands.
“I need to speak with you.”
“About?”
“In your office, if you please. We should speak privately.”
Something in her voice makes me follow her back to the office. She sits in one of the high back chairs and continues twisting her fingers in her lap.
“Kate, what is it?”
“Would you mind pouring me a brandy?” she asks.