“Eren and I… we never really discussed final wishes,” I said, moving over into the kitchen. “Do you have any idea if he wanted a large service, or just family?”
“This is Eren we’re talking about,” Berat said, and there was a ghost of a brotherly smile on his lips then. “Of course he wants it as over-the-top as possible. I can handle the guest list. I trust you can handle the arrangements for the casket and flowers.”
“Of course.”
“I will handle the financial aspect of that. I don’t think Eren had much in the way of money,” he said, and I felt the base of my spine start to tingle.
Because that was a bald-faced lie.
Eren had a lot of money.
I just didn’t know where it was.
“Okay. I appreciate it.”
“Just have the bills sent to my address,” he demanded.
“I can do that.”
“Is there anything else with the estate you need to know about?” he asked.
This was it.
This was what Brio needed me to do. To talk about it. To get some answers.
But everything within me wanted me to say no, that I didn’t have any more questions.
I had to fight past that, though. Because being in the dark was only going to hurt me more in the long term.
So I went ahead and raised my hand, running it through my hair as my gaze lowered.
“Honestly? I don’t know,” I said, deciding that playing dumb was the best bet right then. “I have no idea how to navigate this. Eren handled everything,” I added, wide eyes lifting to Berat’s face. “I don’t even know how to pay the bills or who to call about his subscriptions or memberships. I… I didn’t handle any of this before.”
“Take a breath,” Berat said, reaching out to place his hand over mine on the counter, and it took some real focus not to flinch and pull away from his cold touch. “I’m sure the bills are all paid up for the month, so you don’t need to worry about them too much, okay? Don’t try to take on too much. You’ve had a major shock. It must be hard even to be back here.”
“A part of me just wanted to keep staying at the hotel,” I told him, because it was true and it would ring that way to his ears.
“That’s understandable,” Berat agreed. “But it is probably best not to avoid the inevitable. I imagine you will be moving soon anyway,” he said, and there was just… something in his voice that I didn’t like. A command, maybe? Like there was no discussing it, that it was just understood that I would give up the apartment.
“I haven’t really given it much thought,” I said, pouting my lips and furrowing my brow. “It’s home,” I added, even if the word felt clumsy on my lips.
It was my prison.
It would never feel like anything else, even with Eren gone. It was the walls that held the secrets of my lowest moments. It was the floors where I’d cried my eyes out and prayed for something to change.
It would never feel like home.
“It makes more sense for you to downsize. You know, with your new financial situation.”
“My new financial situation,” I repeated, letting my frown deepen. “What do you mean?”
“Well, without Eren here to earn money…” Berat said, waving a hand outward like the rest went without saying.
“Wouldn’t there be income from the restaurants?” I asked, forcing my eyes to go doeish. Silly, stupid girl. That was what I wanted him to see when he was looking at me. Certainly not smart enough to align herself with the mafia. No way. He probably thought it was a miracle I could get my teeth brushed each morning.
“Well, there will be some, sure,” he agreed, nodding, tone going solemn.
“Oh, are the restaurants not doing well?” I asked, pressing a hand to my heart. “They always seem so busy when Eren would bring me.”
“They are up and down. You know how the economy is,” he added, shrugging. “But a lot of the profits are going toward new restaurants, so there isn’t much left over after that and all the bills and employees are paid.”
“Oh,” I said, lips parting, and I imagine I would hate my reflection right then, but it seemed to make Berat soften a bit.
“You’re not destitute. But the bigger share of profits go to Deniz and me,” he said, meaning the other, younger brother.
Again, that was a lie.
And it was unsettling how convincing he was right then.
If I didn’t know better, I would have believed him, no questions asked.
“Oh, I see,” I said, gaze lowering.
“You will have a couple thousand a month,” he said. “To start over with. “Eventually, though, that is going to go away. So you are going to need to start making plans. Like I said,” he added, ducking his head to catch my gaze, “you have the rest of the month here without worry. But after that…” he said, giving me a sad nod. Like there was nothing he could do about it.