She trails off, as if realizing what she’s said. Ana stares daggers at her, and she licks her lips quickly, knotting her hands in her lap. “I’m sorry, Sofia,” she says quietly. “I know both of your parents are gone. That must be hard—not having your mother here.”
“Can I talk to you outside?” Ana stands up, and I can see the tension in her shoulders. “Give Sofia a minute.”
Caterina looks unhappy, but stands up, glancing at me before following Ana out into the bedroom.
I lean forward as Brigit starts to paint dye onto my hair, trying to hear what they’re talking about. Ana closed the door as she left, but I can still hear murmurs.
“You don’t know Sofia,” I hear Ana say coldly. “You shouldn’t even be here.”
“I’m just trying to help.” There’s a note of defensiveness in Caterina’s voice. “Luca asked me to be here—”
“Sofia is being forced into this marriage, by himandyour father. Do you really think she wants that reminder? Today, when she’s being prepped like a Barbie doll?”
“I didn’t get to pick my husband either,” Caterina says quietly. “I can offer her some insight into what that’s like—”
“Your life wasn’t in danger if you said no.”
“I still didn’t have a choice, either way.” There’s a steely edge to Caterina’s voice now that reminds me of Luca, but oddly it makes me like her more. She’s holding her own, at least, and Ana’s not an easy person to argue with when she’s angry.
“You don’t belong here.”
“Neither do you, little ballerina,” Caterina says softly, so low that I can barely make out the words. “You owe Luca your life too, just like Sofia does.”
There’s a long moment of silence in the bedroom. My heart thuds in my chest, squeezing painfully. I had no idea about any of this, and I strain to hear as much as I can.
“What do you mean?” I hear Ana whisper, her voice choked. “You can’t tell me that you know what’s going on in your awful family. No one in the mob tells women anything, it doesn’t matter what kind. Italian, Russian, Irish—they all treat women like toys.”
“I’ll ignore the insult to my family,” Caterina replies calmly, her voice hushed too. “But I’ve learned how to listen, Anastasia. I hear things. And I know that my father wasn’t happy that a girl with Bratva ties, no matter how distant now, had moved in with Sofia Ferretti.”
“So what? He was going to have me killed?”
“Probably.” Caterina’s voice is flat. “That’s his solution, usually, so far as I can tell from what I’ve overheard. Luca was the one who insisted that you meant no harm, that your father was long dead and that you weren’t of any interest to the Bratva any longer.”
It takes all of my effort not to react. I’m not surprised that Rossi wanted to get rid of Ana, as much as it makes me hate him more than ever—butLucasaved her? Luca disagreed with his boss over a Russian girl he hardly knew? It, like the plate left outside of my door last night, doesn’t fit with the cold and heartless man that he’s made himself out to be.
“We women, in this world, don’t have choices.” Caterina’s voice drifts through the door again, firm and cool. “It’s up to us to find ways to make the best of it. I always knew I wouldn’t get to choose my husband. I knew that I wouldn’t get to choose who I slept with for the first time. Someone would be picked for me, and I’m glad that it was someone young and handsome, and not some old capo that my father wanted to elevate. Franco will think that he has the last word in our family, but I will find a way to be my own person still, and a way to make sure that my life is at least something resembling what I want it to be. And I can help Sofia learn to do that too, in a way that you can’t.” She pauses, and when she speaks again, I can hear sympathy in her voice. “You’re her best friend, Ana. I’m not trying to take your place. But Luca doesn’t trust you. The closer I am to Sofia, the easier it will be for you to be, too. I really do want to help.”
“Why would I believe that?”
“Because, Anastasia, none of us as women are safe in this world. Not even I’m safe. My father, and Luca, and Franco are all that stand between me and the Russians, or the Irish. They’re all that stand in front of Sofia. They can protect you too, if you’re someone that they can trust. You can help Sofia better by letting me in than you ever can by fighting me.”
“Sofia doesn’t deserve any of this—”
“None of us do. But when my father is gone, I’ll be the wife of the second most powerful man in the family, and Sofia will be the wife of the first. Don’t you see the power there? Franco is enamored with me. I can make him believe that some things that I want are his own ideas, if I’m careful, and learn how to play him. Sofia can do the same with Luca.”
“I don’t believe that anyone can do that with Luca.”
There’s another long pause. “Maybe not,” Caterina admits. “But it’s better than the alternative.”
The bathroom door opens, and I lean back in my chair, trying not to look as if I’ve been listening in. Caterina’s face is very smooth, giving away nothing, and I can see that Ana is doing her best to look happy, and not as if they were just arguing outside.
Brigit steps out, leaving me with my hair plastered atop my head with dye, and Caterina carefully sits on the edge of the tub again. “I know you probably don’t want me here, Sofia,” she says quietly. “I know you didn’t invite me. And I know that this is very hard. I don’t know everything about the situation—but I do know that you aren’t choosing any of this.” She pauses, glancing nervously at Ana, and I can tell that she feels out of her depth. “I didn’t choose to marry Franco, either. But I plan to make sure that I’m more than just another mafia wife. And I can help you too, Sofia.”
“I appreciate it.” I can’t quite look her in the eye. “But I don’t want help being more. I don’t want to be anything in this family. I just want to get this over with, and then disappear until Luca needs to pull me out to parade me around some charity event or something.”
“You’re going to have to—”
“That’s fine, Sofia,” Ana says quickly, cutting Caterina off with a sharp glare. “Luca can force you to marry him, but he can’t make you play a part that you don’t want to.”