Page 138 of Forgotten Sacrifice

“Thanks. Nice to see you too,” I snipe.

“Come to the kitchen and eat. I need to tell you something.”

I silently lead him to the kitchen, hitting stop on the toaster oven.

“Frozen pizza.” He makes a face. “Vince would have a conniption.”

I sigh loudly. “Why are you here, Aldo?”

“Eat, and I’ll tell you.”

I plop down at the table, grabbing the takeout boxes from the bag. Opening them, I find pasta, a salad with ranch, and a chocolate cake with cherries on top.

“Why are you here?” I grab a fork and twirl a bite of pasta, bringing it to my mouth. I know Vince’s delicious cooking when I taste it; I drop my fork.

Aldo takes a seat, clasping his hands together. “Vincehasn’t told you our history, probably in a misguided attempt to protect me.”

“Vince keeps his secrets locked tighter than Bluebeard’s dead wives’ room,” I gripe.

“What?”

“Nothing,” I say with a sigh, picking back up the fork and taking another bite.

“Vince lost his eye because of his mentor, Uncle Joseph, nicknamed ‘the Wolf,’” Aldo says bitterly. My arms prickle, remembering Vince’s reaction to the wolf stuffed animal at the arcade. “Uncle Joseph beat the shit out of Vince for refusing to follow a shitty order. My brother’s always had a big heart, even though he tries to hide it. Vince lost his eye, and was kicked to the curb. Or so we thought.”

Aldo goes on to tell me the rest of the gut-wrenching story of a predator and childhood sexual abuse, and the pasta I consumed churns violently in my stomach. The eyeball in Vince’s office: his mentor’s. Vince’s gruesome dead wolves tattoo: his penance.

“Don’t you see? Vince was terrified he was becoming Uncle Joseph, even though he’s nothing like that monster. My brother’s a good guy, Luna.”

“You don’t know everything about your brother,” I challenge.

“Would you have landed your coach without Vince? Would you have a chess club in AC without Vince? Would you have this apartment without Vince?”

I remain silent, because I can’t argue against any of those things.

“Everything he’s done for you is because he loves you, even him staying away.” He tugs the ends of his hair in frustration. “One of you has to be the bigger person, swallow your pride, and fix this.”

“There’s nothing to fix.”

He drops his hands. “Then you both deserve this misery. I’ll see myself out.”

Aldo leaves, and I’ve lost my appetite, so I box up the takeout to put in the fridge. There’s a flier in the bag I didn’t notice, and I grab it.

Coming Soon!

Ristorante Luna

Surf City, New Jersey

Chapter

Fifty-One

Luna, a few weeks later…

My coach and I enter the chess hall in Stockholm for the World Championship.

The fucking irony.