Page 36 of Twisted Trust (Mafia Lords of Sin #10)

MAEVE

“ P ink? Red? Pearl? Maybe even Oyster?” Marcella fans the cards out in front of me and looks up at me with a pleasant, hopeful smile.

But I don’t have an answer.

My life as an event planner usually has me in Marcella’s position where I provide the options and someone else picks the answers. Planning this wedding has shown me pretty quickly that when it comes to planning something like this for myself, I hate it.

Planning the engagement party was easier because my goal was to impress Marcella but with this wedding, I’m smothered and surrounded by people telling me it’s all about me.

For some reason, that makes me feel terrible.

I don’t want to be the center of attention, I don’t want to think about centerpieces or flowers or table drapes or lighting that I’d like.

I have no preference either way, but it’s not because I don’t want to get married.

The way I feel about Levi now makes it pretty exciting, but if I could choose, I’d have a quiet ceremony with just the two of us and Scott.

Sadly, I can’t get away with that.

“What do you think?” I ask Marcella, once again putting the choice onto her. “You’ve done so much for me already that you definitely have a much better grasp on how all these colors will weave together than I do.”

“Definitely the oyster,” she replies immediately. “Good choice.”

Letting her make the choices has been rather freeing and she seems to be enjoying it. A sweet relief considering everything she’s been through. Marcella notes down in the binder which color of centerpiece we’ll go for and then she stifles a yawn.

“Are you sure you want to keep going?” I ask, lightly touching her arm. “It is late.”

“Darling, your wedding is a handful of days away and we’re nowhere near close to ready! I’m fine, I promise.”

“Mmhmm,” I hum with a note of disbelief. “I’ll make some fresh coffee.”

Marcella waves her hand at me and flicks to the next page of the binder as I stand and head into the kitchen where Chip and Scott are engrossed in an intense staring contest.

“Who’s winning?” I ask as I set the coffee machine in motion.

“Me!” Scott declares gleefully. “Chip is weak.”

“Scott’s a cheater,” Chip scoffs softly.

“Am not!”

“Are too.”

“Not!”

“Are!”

“No!”

“Yes!”

“No—ahh!” Scott yells his displeasure as Chip leans across and tickles his tummy, leading to a complete failure in the competition. “You cheated!” Scott yells between his giggles. “You’re a loser. A loser!”

“It’s not my fault you’re just too adorable and it makes me lose.” Chip laughs. He sweeps Scott up in his arms and spins him around, tickling him and then setting him back down. “I had to win.”

“Again, again!” Scott demands, only to yawn so wide I can almost see down his throat.

“I think you’ll have to resume tomorrow because that, mister, is a sign that it’s past your bedtime.”

“But I’m not tired,” Scott whines as I scoop him up into my arms.

“Mmhmm, sure. Let’s go say goodnight to Grandma and then it’s bedtime.”

“Fine,” Scott groans and he swivels in my arms to glare at Chip. “Rematch tomorrow.”

“Sure thing, kiddo.”

I carry Scott through to the lounge where as expected, Marcella leaned back against the pillows, closed her eyes, and seemingly fell fast asleep. “See? Even Grandma’s asleep. That’s how late it is.”

“But I’m not… tired…” Scott tries again while yawning out his words.

“I totally believe you.” Kissing his cheek, I carry on walking through the apartment to his bedroom.

Thankfully, Scott accepted Marcella as his grandma and Levi as his dad rather easily.

The huge speech I prepared to explain it to him wasn’t needed because in his heart, he’d already accepted that they cared about him and that was all that mattered.

After helping Scott brush his teeth and change, I tuck him into bed and kiss his forehead. “Now make sure you get lots of sleep because tomorrow Levi is taking you to get your very first grown-up suit. How exciting is that?”

“Yay!” Scott cheers tiredly. “Will Uncle Cameron be there too?”

My heart squeezes in my chest. “Oh, honey, remember Uncle Cameron won’t be at the wedding because he’s not around anymore?

He’s had to go very, very far away.” No sign of Cameron in so long has broken my heart.

The mystery around his disappearance appears to have no end, so I’m trying to prepare Scott for the inevitability that he will never come back.

“But I saw him!”

“No, sweetie. It must have been someone who looked like him.”

“Not true,” Scott insists with a yawn. “I saw him in the picture.”

“Then it must have been an old picture, baby. I’m sorry.”

He insists a little more but tiredness catches up with him and Scott quickly falls asleep nestled into his pillows. I kiss his forehead again and watch him sleep for a few minutes, then I make myself scarce.

Back in the kitchen, Chip hands me a hot cup of coffee. “Levi’s home,” he says quietly. “I’m going to take Marcella to bed.”

“Thanks, Chip. And thank you for entertaining Scott.”

“You never have to thank me for that. He’s a good kid.” Chip ruffles my hair and heads off to the lounge while I walk back through the apartment and find Levi in his office.

“Well, hey, handsome,” I say, leaning against the doorframe.

Levi, perched and leaning over his desk, glances up over his computer and a warm smile immediately touches his lips. “You’re still awake.”

“Mmhmm. Wedding planning.”

“How exciting.”

“You’re mother’s enjoying it,” I say after a sip of coffee. “I think that’s the main thing.”

Levi scribbles something onto some paper, then he turns out the desk light and walks toward me. “My mother enjoying our wedding isn’t my concern. You are.”

“Me?” I bat my eyelashes. “You don’t need to worr—Levi! What happened to your hands?”

As his hand covers mine over the cup, I see an array of bruises and cut flesh along his knuckles that look painfully fresh.

“I was working.”

“Working?” My eyes narrow and I grab his other hand with mine to examine his knuckles. “Jesus… Are you okay?”

Levi brushes my concern away by lightly grasping my chin and kisses me. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Trust me. Although I’m more concerned about your drinking coffee so late at night.”

“Don’t change the subject.”

“I’m not.” His smile turns teasing. “But if you really want to scold me about my work, maybe we can take the argument to the bedroom?”

My concern for his well-being is quickly overridden by a rising warmth in my gut. While maintaining eye contact, I take a deliberate sip of my coffee. “Fine.”

Levi takes my hand, tangles our fingers together, and leads me down the hall to our bedroom. His implication of tiring me out makes me drain my cup by the time we reach our room. I set it down on the drawers by the door as Levi unthreads his tie.

“Did you have a good day?”

“Talking about my day won’t stop me from worrying about yours,” I murmur as I turn his hand over in my palm and study his injuries.

“But yes, my day was okay. Although Scott was asking about Cameron again. I don’t know how to make him understand, but he said he saw him in a picture, so he’s back to being convinced that he’s around. ”

Levi’s fingers twitch against my palm and when I look up, there’s a strange expression on his face.

“Levi?”

“About that… I wanted to confirm it before I said anything.”

“Oh God.” My stomach suddenly grows cold and tight. “He’s dead, isn’t he?”

“No, Maeve. He’s not dead.” Levi lightly touches my cheek. “He’s alive.”

“Alive?” The dread is swiftly replaced with relief. “Where is he?”

“Maeve…” Levi takes my hand and guides me toward the bed where we both sit.

“Just tell me.”

Digging in his pocket, he pulls out his phone and quickly scrolls to a picture which he then shows me.

Cameron is standing near Marcella and Elio. Behind them is a dining table and beyond that looks like the familiar lights and colors of a casino. My heart begins to pound as my eyes dart from Cameron to Marcella. “Levi… what’s going on?”

“Your neighbor and friend Cameron is my cousin, Antony.”

His words hit like a truck and for a few seconds, I stare at him like he just spoke to me in an incredible language. “ What ?”

“You never showed me a picture of Cameron so I didn’t know until now.”

“I… he never liked having his picture taken. I thought it was just a privacy thing but… what do you mean Cameron is Antony?”

“I don’t have all the answers yet so I don’t know why, but Antony is Cameron. He’s been watching you for years, and if I had to guess, he’s likely responsible for intercepting the letter you sent to Marcella. I also think he’s the one who sent men to lie to you about my being dead.”

This makes no sense.

“And George was working for him.”

“My landlord ?”

“Yes. He’s the cause of…” Levi flexes his knuckles. “He won’t harm you again, but while we spoke, he told me was a Red Serpent and he’d been working with Antony for quite a while. Just to keep an eye on you.”

“But…” My thoughts jumble, tripping over Levi’s words and repeating them.

“I don’t understand. This doesn’t make any sense.

Cameron is my friend. We went to the movies together, we had dinner.

He helped me unclog my toilet, took care of Scott when I was working late. He was just some normal guy! I don’t?—”

“I know.” Levi interrupts gently and cups my face with his warm hand. “He was keeping you close. Making you trust him.”

“But why ?”

“I can’t say for sure, but I think it’s about his desire for power.

He learned about you five years ago and set you up to take the fall for the explosion.

It would have painted me in an irredeemable light, but I was in a coma for three weeks, which delayed his plan, and he couldn’t have you turn up at the hospital as the loving girlfriend so he told you I was dead.

Made you run. I’m assuming that he then learned about Scott. ”

My stomach rolls so I press my hand flat to it. “Scott…”

“Yes. I’m working now under the assumption that he guessed I was Scott’s father and he’s been wanting to hold that over me if I ever got close to taking power, but until recently, he had a clear shot to Don.”

“Until we met again,” I whisper hoarsely.

“Exactly. Cameron vanished around the same time because he couldn’t reveal himself, and I think that’s why assassins have been trying to split us up since. And when it failed, he tried to kill us at the airport. With me gone, Antony’s path to power would be without hindrance.”

It’s a lot to process.

Almost too much.

My eyes glaze over as I try to merge these two people in my mind—kind, loving Cameron with the cold, calculating Antony.

How can they be the same person? Levi quietly shows me a few more pictures of Cameron—no, Antony—and the pieces slowly start to slip into place.

“He was at the dinner with your parents?”

Levi nods. “That emergency meeting he called, I think was to get me away from you. He just couldn’t resist being there to brag for an hour before his team made their move.

At the dinner, he saw Naz and I together, and if he’s been watching, then it would have been clear that we’re not enemies anymore. ”

“So the tattoos?” I look up into his safe, golden eyes.

“A setup.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Honestly?” Levi drags a hand down his face and sighs, shaking his head. “I don’t know. Right now, I’m too angry to think. Knowing he had you for years, that he was manipulating you and I had no idea. Knowing that he kept you from me… I want to kill him.”

“Will you?”

Levi nods. “But not yet.”

“What? Why?”

“There’s one thing I can’t work out. I can’t work out how he found out about you.”

Our eyes meet. “I swear I didn’t tell him!”

“No, honey.” Levi tightens his hold on my hand. “I know. But five years ago, I was doing everything I could to keep you a secret and somehow, he found out. Until I know how, I don’t want to move rashly.”

“Makes sense,” I say as my head continues to spin. All this time, someone I thought was a friend was anything but. “Shit.”

“I know this must be a blow,” he says quietly, pulling me close. “I didn’t want to tell you until I knew the whole truth. I only found out because Scott saw this picture and was excited to see Cameron.”

“Oh, Scott…”Shaking my head, I laugh softly. “And I told him he was wrong. I’ll have to make it up to him.”

“How do you feel?” Levi’s eyes fill with concern as he looks me over.

“I don’t know. I feel… raw inside. And my heart is racing and I feel angry and sort of pent up at the same time. And foolish for falling for that stupid kindly neighbor act.”

“You weren’t foolish,” Lev says softly. “You were trusting, and no one can fault you for that.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better,” I admit.

“I know. But in time, it will.” He slowly leans in and kisses my cheek so as he pulls away, I turn to face him and gently pull him in for a real kiss.

It’s the only good sensation inside me right now and I’m going to cling to it. Even with caffeine charging around my veins, the news about Cameron is like an adrenaline shot to the heart and I’m either going to scream, cry, or explode.

With Levi right here, I know my preference.

“Fuck me,” I demand against his lips. “Please. Make me forget before I explode from all this.”

Levi’s teeth graze my lower lip. “My pleasure.”