“No, we don’t. I don’t like to think about it. Too many bad memories, but it’s time we faced the truth, isn’t it? After what Papa did to you, putting you here, making that deal with Maxim and then betraying you both for no reason other than he got impatient, I’m just starting to wonder if he’s in his right mind.”
“Enzo, Papa’s never been sane. You know that.”
“I know. I’ve got the scars to prove it.” His eyes are haunted then. I remember the sound of the leather switch as it whipped down onto his bare back. His screams and the blood. Papa saying it was for his own good. Papa used that switch a lot in those days, but one afternoon he went too far and Enzo passed out, and after that the switch went away. Everyone was happy for it, especially Enzo. Though the long, ugly twisted lines of pink flesh crisscrossing his spine never disappeared.
“Why now? Why all of a sudden?”
“Papa’s been doing things at the other houses. Shit you don’t know about and none of the others do either.”
“Like what?” I step closer, heart racing. “Are the girls in trouble?”
“Trouble is one way of putting it. Can you be in trouble when you’re dead?”
I blink rapidly. My mouth falls open and my tongue goes dry. “He’s killing them?”
“Not him. But he’s giving them the drugs and letting them overdose. He’s letting the violent customers come back again and again. He’s burying the bodies in the desert and finding fresh replacements all the time. It’s bad, Siena, and getting worse. I’ve been trying to ignore it for a long time, but what he did to you, it knocked some sense into me.”
“My god. I had no clue Papa was that bad.” I knew he was a pimp. I knew he was violent. He’d been hurting me and my brothers since we were children. But I didn’t know he let his girls die that easily and treated them like trash. I didn’t realize the darkest, most terrible depths my papa had slid into.
Enzo looks shaken. I can tell this is hard for him—he’s always defined himself by his loyalty to Papa and the Familia—and the fact that he’s here, saying these things, means it must have gotten terrible. I feel bad for him, but I’m furious that he let it go on this long. How many innocent girls are dead because he didn’t speak up? How many wasted lives?
Anger at him won’t fix a damn thing. Enzo’s an ass and he deserves to be punished, but he’s here now. He seems like he wants to do the right thing, and he’s my brother. I have to help if I can.
“Yeah, well, nobody does,” he says, twisting his hands together. “I’m the only one he tells anymore. And I can’t keep taking it, Siena. I don’t know what to do.”
“Talk to Franco and Santo. Tell them what’s going on.”
He scratches his scalp. “Are you sure?”
“Tell them, Enzo. They can help you and they need to know.”
“Right, yeah, okay. I’ll tell them.”
“Swear to me you will.”
“I swear, Siena. I promise. No more bullshit. I’ve been bad enough to you already.” He rubs his eyes with both palms. “Fuck, I feel like I’m waking up from a nightmare, except reality is even worse.”
I go over and hug him. My brother hugs me back and I feel his racing heart. He’s afraid and in trouble, and so much starts to make sense. Enzo’s always trying to be perfect—because he’s terrified of Papa.
I had no clue, but it’s all falling into place.
“Talk to Santo and Franco,” I say as I pull away. “I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
“Thanks, sis. Just talking helps. I’ll tell them the first chance I get. As soon as Papa leaves tomorrow morning for work, I’ll stay behind and talk to them.”
“Good. You’re doing the right thing.”
He grunts and nods. “I hope so. But I should get going.”
“Don’t worry about me, okay? I’m fine here.”
“You always were willing to put others before yourself.”
“It’s my best and worst trait.”
He nods and pushes off the wall. He starts back to the parking lot but stops and looks back. “You really loved him, didn’t you?”
I look away. Pain lances my heart and all I can do is nod. Thinking of Maxim is too painful, and I try my best not to dwell on what I can’t have. I don’t speak. I don’t want to cry right now. I’ll save the tears for later.
“I thought so. I saw it in your face when we took you from that house.” He lets out a long breath. “I’ll try to help you, Siena. No promises, but I’ll try.” He waves and walks off.
I watch him go. My poor, asshole brother. Tortured as a kid. Broken beyond anything. And still suffering so much.