Chapter 3

Selina composed her face and pushed the door open. The moment she stepped inside, the two of them sprang apart.

Charles's face went red. Susie looked startled too.

Selina looked them both over and gave a cold laugh. "So you went to Sicily to pick Susie up."

"No!" Charles blurted. "I went to Sicily on business, and I thought I'd stop in to see her so you wouldn't worry. I found her in a terrible situation, so I brought her back. It's a good thing I did, or you'd have blamed me when you found out."

Selina gave him a hard look.

Susie saw that, and her eyes reddened further. She came forward and took Selina's hands. "Selina, why didn't you answer when I called? I had no one but Charles. Those two bitches humiliated me together. Thank God Charles helped me.

"I don't have a home now. Can I please stay here? Don't worry, I won't eat for free. I'll help you manage your businesses and take some of the load off you."

The more Susie said, the more upset she got, and she reached out to hug her.

Selina stepped back and turned her body aside, her distaste impossible to hide.

Susie stood there awkwardly and looked at Charles.

Charles backed Susie up immediately. "I think that's a good idea. You've got dozens of shops. They were all set up for laundering money anyway, and you don't need them for that now. Give a few to Susie so she has an income of her own and there's less pressure on you."

The words caught in Selina's chest. She stared at Charles with wide eyes and pulled her hand back out of Susie's.

Every one of those shops had been opened to launder money for the family. Selina had been investigated over those illegal operations more than once and had nearly gone to prison.

Later, when her father was killed by an enemy of the family and those shops lost their funding, she had gone to Charles and asked him to lend her money so she could get the businesses running as legitimate ones.

But Charles had cradled her face in his hands and said with a smile, "You can't lean on me for everything. Building it yourself is the only thing that really counts."

So she had borrowed from everyone she knew and sold her jewelry to scrape the money together. She had gotten where she was on her own. But now, for Susie, Charles was saying the exact opposite.

Selina's nails dug into her palms. She had never been more disappointed in him.

When she lifted her head again, she said mildly, "You can't lean on me for everything. If you want to survive, you do it yourself. These are businesses I built. Why would I hand them over?"

Charles's face darkened instantly.

"How can you talk like that?!"

The air went rigid. It was strangely silent all around them.

Susie stood frozen too. She bit her lip and said with her head bowed, sounding wounded, "It's my fault. Don't fight over me. I'll just leave. I'm only scared. If those two bitches find me, they won't let me go, and I honestly don't know where else to go."

Fat tears rolled down her face.

Charles clenched his fists and turned on Selina. "She's your sister! Selina, how can you be so cold-hearted! You have a steady business, and she has nothing. What would it cost you to help her get started? Isn't she offering to take some of the load off you?"

That actually made Selina laugh out loud.

He wanted to take shops she had built up and take her money, and somehow that counted as taking the load off her?

Charles's whole speech made it sound as though she were the ungrateful one.

Selina could not be bothered to argue anymore. She turned and walked out. "If you want to keep her, keep her. I'm leaving."

Her voice never wavered.