Perfect Enemies

7

“It’s so annoying.” I sighed. “Why do the pretty ones have to be such pains?” “Oh, that’s me.” She nodded toward a black Cadillac sedan. “I’ll see you tomorrow!” I waved her off, then walked to my mom’s car when she pulled up. She hated to sit in line, so she waited for the crowd to die down before coming. I had a driver’s license but no car, which left me subject to her whims. I was the baby of the family. A surprise baby, no less. My parents had thought they were done with diapers and bottles until I came along. What they say about the youngest in the family is true. There were no set nap times for me. No homemade baby food or cloth diapers. Not that my mom was the type anyway, but once she’d already had two girls to contend with, her parenting style was more of a lesson in survival than anything else. It worked for me. I was given a good deal of freedom so long as I stayed inside the lines. I made good grades and went to church without complaint —at least, not outwardly—and that was pretty much all they asked. I wasn’t overly deviant behind their backs, but I did sneak out on occasion. However, now that I knew my father was in the mafia and our lives were more dangerous than I’d ever suspected, I was more cautious about breaking the rules. My most egregious infraction was Reyna. My parents would be livid if they discovered we were friends, but I refused to turn my back on her. I just had to hope I didn’t come to regret that decision later. “How was the first day back?” my mom asked after I was in the car. “Just a normal day. Nothing to report.” “Well, only a few months left. This is the beginning of the end. You really need to commit to where you’re going after graduation.” I watched sightlessly out the window as we passed scenery I’d seen most every day of my life. “I know, Ma. I’m getting there.” I’d been accepted to all five schools to which I’d applied. The problem was, I couldn’t seem to decide on one. College, in general, held little interest to me. I couldn’t care less about a degree in finance or architecture or any academic pursuit for that matter. Nothing compared to the way I felt when I played the piano. That was my one true love, yet no matter how confident I was in life, piano was my one insecurity. I was uncomfortable playing for others, and there would be too many other talented musicians for me to get into a music school like Juilliard or NYU. My eldest sister, Giada, never went to college and relied on yoga to keep her busy. Something like that was an option because we each had ample trust funds, but that life sounded boring as hell. I needed a focus. A purpose in life. I’d assumed I’d go to college because I was a high achiever, but none of it truly interested me. How could I decide on a life path when nothing fit? The only time I felt perfectly at ease was sitting at my piano. When my fingers danced across the keys, the world around me melted away until all that was left was the comforting embrace of a haunting melody. Some people wrote in a journal or talked to a therapist. My coping mechanism was the piano. Every emotion under the sun was there to be drawn forth with the right combination of ebony and ivory. A lively Chopin mazurka for bright sunny Saturdays. Beethoven or Rachmaninoff when my emotions were dragging me under. Music was everything to me. But if I didn’t want to play for others, how could I ever take my music further? Being a music teacher was one thing, but being at a university would require performances. Just the thought terrified me. My father called me his songbird. Without the freedom to play my music regardless of the audience, I was a bird in a cage of my own making. Fear was holding me back, but I wasn’t sure how to overcome it, and going to a music school felt like an enormous leap from the safety of my bubble. It was so scary that I hadn’t even explored the options. Oblivious to my existential crisis, my mom continued. “I’m hoping we can all get together this weekend. Maybe you can give Camilla a call and help convince her to come. I’d like to have all my girls together for a change.” Something in her voice drew my attention. “Everything okay?” “Yeah, yeah. Just being a mom, that’s all.” Her forced smile wasn’t at all reassuring. Was there something bothering her, or was I just being overly sensitive? I had no clue, and between the pressure of helping Reyna and the irritation of dealing with Kane, I didn’t have the capacity to worry about my mom too. Instead of pressing her for an explanation, I debated what song I would practice when I got home. Something dark and intense. Something suited to amber eyes glowing like a wolf’s deep in the forest. If I could work through the complicated emotions Kane evoked, maybe I could relax around him. Maybe we could even become friends. I recalled the penetrating intensity of his gaze, the masculine cut of his powerful physique, and his natural abundance of confidence that was present in only the most capable apex predator. The combination was intoxicating. Breathtaking. I couldn’t imagine being around him and not being affected by his presence. Just the thought of him shot a zing of electricity from my belly out to the very tips of my fingers. Kane Easton wasn’t friend material. He was the type of man who elicited only the most extreme emotions from the people around him. Love or hate, there was no between. If I learned to see past my dislike for him, I shuddered to think where that might take me.