Page 26 of Birthright (Sinners of New Orleans #4)

TWENTY-FIVE

Olivia

T he car stops in front of a quaint gray house in the French Quarter with white trim and bright blue detailing sitting behind a wrought-iron gate. Greenery grows along the siding, and there's a floral reef hanging in front of the stained-glass window on the door.

It seems homey.

Before we even get to the door, it swings open.

A woman, probably around the same age as me, with wavy auburn hair, steps out.

She's dressed casually in an oversized t-shirt and a pair of jean shorts.

When she sees Sam, she smiles and calls behind her to someone else in the house.

Moments later, a man with slicked back hair and tattoos covering every inch of his arms down to his fingers appears in the doorway.

Sam presses his palm against the small of my back and leads me forward. "Olivia, this is my cousin, Lana, and her husband, Naz."

Lana's face lights up when he says “husband,” and she peers over her shoulder at the tattooed man.

"Lana is Damien's daughter." Sam continues, and the pieces click into place. I can see the way she resembles the woman at the funeral. The dead man's wife, who was sobbing as her husband was sealed away in the cemetery forever. "Can we come in?"

Moments later, we're seated out back on a cute patio that's surrounded by plants. There's an herb garden with popsicle sticks poking from the soil to identify the different sprouts. Potted ferns hang from the railings, and there's a large magnolia tree that I want to lie beneath.

"How’s the new house?" Sam asks Naz as Lana places a glass of lemonade in front of each of us.

"Good. Different than being in New York, but it's good to be home."

Sam nods. "And your family?"

That question seems to make Naz smile. "Good. Anthony's getting too big, and my sister’s working toward her degree now."

Sam returns the smile. "I'm glad to hear it."

"I know you didn't come over to ask about the house." Lana plops into the seat across from me. "So what's up?"

"I want you to tell Olivia about your father."

That seems to quiet the group. Lana's face falls, and she takes a moment, swallowing hard before she looks back up.

It's not lost on me that Lana wasn't at her father's funeral this morning, and the look on her face tells me this is a sore subject. That's something I understand well. I felt like a fraud at my own father’s funeral, the daughter who hadn't seen him in fifteen years.

Lana chews on her bottom lip, and her eyes flash to Sam, as if asking if she really needs to share this.

Naz folds his hands together on the table and drops his head.

This is a sore subject, I can tell. Guilt settles in my gut.

I don't want to force them to tell me anything; this is all Sam's doing.

"My dad just died too," I offer, the words leaping from my lips in an attempt to soothe the energy at the table.

Lana's face pops up, and she looks at me with a hint of shame. "I'm so sorry to hear that."

"It's okay." I shush her apologies as quickly as possible. Maybe because I feel like I don't deserve them, or maybe I'm just tired of hearing apologies over a death that really didn't affect me. You can't miss someone you never had a relationship with, right? "We weren't really close."

A soft smile lifts her pink lips. "I get that. I wasn't really close with mine either."

Beside her, Naz snorts. Lana tosses him a look. " Wasn't close is an understatement," he mutters, causing Sam to chuckle under his breath.

"You don't have to tell me anything," I say. "Despite what he says."

Lana smiles and looks at Sam with a quirked eyebrow. "I like her."

"Yeah, yeah." Sam waves his hand.

"Why don't you show Sam the bar you built, hmm?" Lana nudges her husband, who takes the hint easily.

Sam looks at me, giving me a quick nod before following Naz and leaving me alone with Lana.

"Figured we'd get the peanut gallery out of here." She takes a sip of her lemonade. "So, I know why you're… here. Or I guess, with Sam, I should say."

I nearly choke on my own lemonade, sputtering out the sour liquid while Lana hisses an apology and hands me a napkin.

Is she saying she knows that I saw Sam kill her father? An awkward grief settles over me. I'm not sure what to say in this situation.

"It's okay. You don't need to feel bad. I'm guessing that's why Sam wants me to tell you about my father, so you know he wasn't a good guy."

There's an ache in my throat as I struggle to find any words. It shouldn't matter who her father was. No one deserves to be murdered. And definitely not killed and tossed into a swamp to become gator food.

"Sam told me he wasn’t a good person. And that he framed him for his father’s murder..."

Lana nods. "He wanted Uncle Junior dead, and while I don't think he pulled the trigger himself, I know he was behind it. He hurt a lot of people Sam cares about. Me included. "

I meet her eyes, hazel orbs that seem to be filled with grief. I want to ask her what happened, but I don't want to pry.

"I was supposed to marry someone else when I met Naz," she says after a moment. I stay quiet, giving her space to continue. "My parents arranged the marriage. He was… awful."

Tears sparkle in Lana's eyes, and guilt fills my chest. "You don't have to tell me?—"

"No." Lana shakes her head. "I want to. You should know who my father was."

I nod, albeit shakily.

"I wasn't the one who was supposed to marry him at first. My father arranged for him to marry my older sister, Lily.

" A single tear drips from the corner of her eye.

She wipes it away quickly. "I was young.

I don't know what happened. But Lily went on a date with him, and when she returned…

she jumped off her balcony. She died from the impact. "

My breath catches in my chest. "Oh my god." I can't imagine what Lana went through. "I'm so sorry."

"After that, my father promised me to him instead.

The arrangement was part of a business deal, and Davis wanted a wife.

He wanted to be part of the Costello family, and Lily's death wasn't enough to stop him.

I didn't see a way out. My father got whatever he wanted, so if he said I was marrying Davis, then I was marrying him.

I wasn't supposed to be with Naz, but I just wanted an escape.

A moment for myself before I gave my life to this man.

Davis was cruel, and when he found me with Naz, he nearly killed him.

Sam stopping him is the only reason Naz is alive today.

My family didn't want us to be together, so I saw him in secret.

" She smiles fondly when she talks about Naz, but it quickly falls when she thinks about her ex-fiancé.

"He was violent toward me. And what's worse, my dad couldn't be bothered.

He would've happily sent me off to wed that man who would've beaten me every single day.

My existence would've been unbearable, and my parents didn't give a damn whatsoever. "

She swipes away another rogue tear. "Sam helped us get away. If he hadn't…I'm not sure I'd be alive today."

I can't imagine what it would be like to have your parents, your protectors, hand you over to a wolf with no care for your happiness and safety.

"I hope this helps you understand why I don't care that my father is dead. Actually, I think I'm happy he's gone. He wasn't a good man, Olivia. If Sam wouldn't have killed him, Naz and I wouldn't have been able to come home."

Her words tumble through me, tilting everything I know on its axis.

Murder is wrong, and that's something I've always known as a fact. You can't just go around killing whoever you want, whenever you want. But Lana's story blurs the lines between right and wrong, creating a murky gray where I'm not sure what's okay and what's not.

Her father sounds cruel for forcing her into an unwanted marriage.

Especially after her sister killed herself to escape it.

How many daughters was he willing to lose, all for a business transaction?

And then I think of Sam, how he spent eight months in prison because he was falsely accused of murdering his own father.

I kind of want to kill Damien too.

That line becomes a permanent shade of gray and, suddenly, Sam Costello doesn't seem so evil anymore.