Page 108 of Last Breath

‘I don’t want his money. I’ve never wanted it.’

‘Yes, Little Miss Independent – you always were a spoiled brat who had the option to decline his offerings.’

The comment cut far too close to the open wound of Jett’s and Tomaso’s words.

‘If Tomaso read your father’s will, then going to Clarkson Lieu over you was a direct betrayal of Giovanni’s wishes.’

‘What are you saying?’

Matteo smacked his palms against the table but she refused to flinch. ‘I amtiredof saying anything. Take my words as they are or do not take them at all. But despite what you thought of your father, we were alike in one regard – we would burn the whole world down to save our families.’

She didn’t believe him. But somehow she also knew he was right. ‘So we have a deal?’

As Matteo shook his head, Nella went cold. ‘You are truly your father’s daughter, Antonella Barbarani.’ He closed his eyes, as though unable to bear witness to what he was about to do. Which was hold out his hand to her. ‘We have a deal.’

37

Nella

There was an Italian tradition at Easter orPasqua. Instead of chocolate egg hunts like in Australia, people painted the shells of real eggs, siphoning out the yolk through a tiny hole in the bottom so only the shell remained. That’s what Nella felt like as her family celebrated in the winery. A tough, hard shell on the outside, but absolutely empty on the inside. One tiny crack, a fall, a push, and she’d shatter completely.

The crack came in the form of Max.

‘What have you done?’ She rounded on Nella, eyes flashing.

Nella closed Grey’s cottage door behind them. Max rented a place in the Bindi Bindi town centre, but she spent most nights here. Nella selfishly wished this was not one of those nights.

‘Max.’

‘Don’tMaxme.’ The other woman’s eyes were red and swollen. ‘Do you know what you’ve done?’

‘Of course I do.’ Nella’s throat burned. She would not cry; Max would think she was trying to play the victim. ‘I know it’s unforgiveable. I know you’ll never speak to me again, I ...’

‘This isn’t about me!’ Max smacked her palm on the marble bench top Nella had painstakingly chosen for Grey when she’d remodelled this cottage. ‘This was justice for Libby, for Poppy – for two innocent women whose families are never going to get closure because you let Forrest Valentine sail off into the sunset!’

Don’t argue. Don’t tell her she’s wrong. Don’t tell her you plan on spending every waking minute trying to fix this, trying to find another way, more evidence ...

‘I trusted you,’ Max said. ‘I trusted that you cared, that you had some sort of heart underneath ...’ She waved up and down at Nella’s dusty rose Reiss pantsuit – her armour for fighting the La Marcas – ‘... all of this.’

‘Nope.’ Nella lifted her chin so the tears would cliff-dive faster. ‘No heart, I’m afraid.’

This was how it always ended – all those friendships that she’d started, that she’d tested, even though she knew they’d never make it. Only this time she was the one who’d broken first.

You are truly your father’s daughter, Antonella Barbarani.

Max shook her head. ‘Jett saw something in you, but I guess you managed to break his heart too somehow. Is that’s why he’s not around? I really thought he, of all people, would be able to soften you, melt you down – but I guess it’s fucking impossible.’

‘Max.’Grey’s voice joined from the hallway, a warning.

‘Stay out of this,’ she shot back at him.

‘We should let her explain ...’

‘What a great idea!’ Max’s eyes were wild as she opened her arms, beckoning Nella into her vortex of pain. ‘The floor’s all yours.’

Nella’s hands shook. ‘I ...’

Guess you managed to break his heart too somehow. Is that why he’s not around?