“Don’t be a dick,” he says as he pushes me around the car. Daniella manhandles me into the passenger side and gets into the back. “I’ll drive if you’re on the phone.”
I alternate between giving him directions in my coldest voice and trying to get through to Heather. My heart clenches unpleasantly in my chest every time it goes to voicemail.
“We’re sorry,” Daniella says quietly from the back. “In our defense, it’s just a game. Why are you so upset?”
I can’t answer. We reach Heather’s apartment block but the lights are out and she doesn’t answer the door. Her car isn’t out front either.
I get back into the car shaking.
“I guess that’s that then,” Daniella ventures, sharing a look with Apollo. “Shall we go to a bar and find you a nice waitress?”
I crumple in my seat and start sobbing. It surprises me as much as it does my cousins.
“Um.” Apollo puts his hand on my back in what I suspect was meant to be a comforting gesture. He clearly doesn’t spend too much time around crying women.
“I love her. I love Heather.”
The realization hits me like a ton of bricks. I love Heather. God if only I’d figured this out sooner then I never would have taken her into the lion’s den like that.
Apollo and Daniella exchange looks, wondering whether I’m telling the truth or just completely deranged. I can’t bring myself to care about their opinions anymore.
I think about Heather and Emma, about the fun we’ve had since we met and how much they make me laugh. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much in my whole life as I have these past couple of weeks.
I sniff and try unsuccessfully to stop crying. I can’t believe how badly I’ve screwed this up. Now I’ve gone and ruined everything, and lost Heather for good.
Daniella passes me some tissue and then hugs me from behind, awkwardly crushing me against the headrest in the process. I’m still angry with them though. I know they were just getting into the spirit of the bet and none of us realized then that it was no longer a game for me, but they didn’t have to get so carried away.
We sit quietly for a while until Apollo suddenly turns on the engine and starts driving. “I’m taking you home.”
I’m too tired to argue, to tell him that I want to stay outside Heather’s house forever.
“Rafaela, listen to me. The three of us, we’re as good as brothers, yes? Far more than that pig Stefano anyway.”
I sniff and nod, not bothering to argue that two of the three “brothers” are actually women. I’ve always been so much closer to Apollo and Daniella than I am to Stefano. When people ask about my family, these two are the first people I think of.
“You remember when we were little, when I always fixed everything, always took care of the messes you two girls made?”
Daniella punches his arm at this comment, but he’s right. He’s always been our protector, my right hand guy, the most loyal brother I could’ve asked for.
“I’ll sort this out too,” he promises. “I’ll take care of everything.”
Seventeen
Heather
I manage to keep my composure just long enough to get out of the gates and then I collapse against a streetlight, sobbing. People rush around me, casting suspicious looks in my direction, but I can’t bring myself to care.
I can’t believe it was all a lie.
I think about Rafaela, her soft hair and beautiful eyes, how happy she looked whenever she saw me. But it’s all been an act, some kind of terrible, disgusting joke. They’re all laughing in there right now.
Laughing at me.
It begins to rain and I huddle under the beautiful new coat she bought me just a few days ago as a gift. She bought one for Emma too. At the time I was so relieved that they were getting on well, so relieved that Emma has a warm coat for winter and I won’t have to worry about how I can afford one.
And now I’ll have to send it back and work out how to afford a new one. She loves that coat.
I start walking, not sure where my feet are taking me but just knowing that I can’t stay crying right outside Rafaela’s family home. I can’t go back to my apartment either. My dad has Emma for the whole night and the thought of spending the evening alone in the dark, or of heading to his place and admitting that everything was just some twisted lie, is just too much to bear.