32. Sisters in order of most to least annoying （Today）

THIRTY-TWO

#1 omg still Lea

"Girl, I don't think I've seen you do the most like this since prom."

Rochelle sat beside me in Nathan's living room, getting her nails done with rhinestones while I sat very still as my manicurist painted gold French tips on mine, complete with sculpted gel extensions.

I'd asked for classy, but like a royal. Like Rihanna at a Met gala or Zendaya at her premieres. Someone everyone would look at and want to be, rather than the girl everyone felt sorry for. Someone Nathan would be proud to have on his arm.

Kiara, our girl from back home who owned a salon we'd been going to since we were fourteen, had taken my hard-earned lap dancing money and set aside her entire Saturday to get me ready—and threw in a manicure for Chelle just for kicks. She knew exactly what I wanted, asked for pictures of my dress, and had gone straight to work.

Even Nathan hadn't seen the floor-length gown since it had only arrived from the Bergdorf's alterations department this morning. Since we were meeting at the gala itself (he had to work until just before), a car was arriving for me at seven on the dot. Which left me four more hours to get ready for what suddenly felt like the most important performance of my life: my debut as Nathan Hunt's real girlfriend.

Oh God.

The truth was, while I was admittedly a bit overwhelmed, I'd also been walking on clouds since meeting Nathan's doctor friend earlier this week. Dr. McAndrew said he would be looking to fit me into his surgery schedule as soon as I could come up with the funds. Yes, it would be a while off. Yes, it would mean a few more months of working Kyle's smarmy little game nights to get the money together. But not even getting yelled at by a drunk at last call could dampen my spirits. For the first time in months, I had a plan, a boyfriend, a purpose. I had a life I could almost be proud of.

Or at least I had a vision of one.

"Well, I won't be doing it again for a while," I said. "The rest of my money has to go to pay for surgery."

"I thought your man said he would pay for things like this," Kiara said as she painted a thin stripe of gold at the tip of my nail. "Don't cut my gravy train, babe."

I sighed. "He did, but I don't want to take advantage of him. But don't worry, Ki, I'll find time to get my nails done."

"You better. Because these were trashed. I can't have you messing with my canvas."

Rochelle snickered. "So he's good with you working for Kyle?"

I shifted uneasily on my folding chair. "He's…all right with it."

I didn't know how to answer that question. Nathan had insisted that he had no interest in telling me what to do, so I wasn't sure if the feeling that it wasn't okay was coming from him or just from me.

"That's how you know he's a good one, then," Rochelle said. "Like my Carmine. What did he say about Shawn?" She shook her head. "I swear to God, I wanted to kill him myself when I saw him walk in."

"That asshole showed up?" Kiara's brows lifted. Like any good stylist, she'd heard all of my relationship drama over the years, including bits and pieces about Shawn Vamos.

I cringed and sucked in a breath. "Wellll…"

"Rolling with some gangsters, too," Rochelle added, only to receive a dirty look from me. "What? It's the truth."

"I didn't realize this was ‘air Joni's dirty laundry' time," I retorted as Kiara switched to my other hand.

"You're getting your nails done, baby," Kiara said. "What do you think we do?"

All of us chuckled, but Rochelle sobered immediately. "Seriously, though. Don't you think your man would want to know if Shawn comes by?"

I shrugged. "It was a one-time thing. Shawn lost so much money, I doubt he'll show his face there again anyway. You know how much he hates being embarrassed, and I don't think Kyle will want a loser like him poisoning the well."

Before either of them could reply, my phone buzzed on the table.

"Speak of the devil." I leaned over and answered on speaker. "Hey, Kyle."

"Joni, honey, how are ya?"

"Fine, you?"

"Good, honey, real good. Listen, I gotta say, you were a hit with the boys this week. Home run on your first night."

I made a face at Rochelle, who gave a silent laugh. "Thanks."

"So much, you know, that I got a call today from Ares Antoni himself."

"Who?" I mouthed the same word at Rochelle, whose eyes bugged out as she started making hand gestures at the phone. Clearly, someone worth knowing.

"Ah, you don't know him?" Even Kyle seemed confused.

I shook my head when both Kiara and Rochelle seemed to want to know the same thing. "No, I don't. Should I?"

"Maybe. He seemed to know you, kiddo. His dad is Lis Antoni. Older guy at your table last week. Big man, silver hair, don't take shit from no one. His kid was there too. Looks sort of like him, but younger, brown hair, no gut."

I vaguely remembered someone looking that way. Lis must've been the one with the paisley tie that Shawn was fawning all over half the night and Carrick freaked out about. His son must have been the quieter one at the table who never even looked my way.

"Anyway, Lis and his boys are looking to host their own party in a few weeks. It's on his yacht—huge fuckin' thing that's practically a cruise ship. Asked for you and a couple of other girls by name. Good money, kid. All you need is a weekend."

Rochelle was already nodding and mouthing "DO IT" in the loudest silent way she could.

"I don't know…" I said. "I don't mind doing your nights, Kyle, but my ex-boyfriend was at that table, and it got weird. I don't think I should serve his tables anymore, and spending a weekend on a boat sounds sus."

"I get that, kiddo. I really do. But, ah, Lis Antoni isn't really the kind you say no to, if you catch my drift."

Something prickled at the back of my neck. "Um."

"He'll make it worth your while," Kyle went on and rattled off a number that made every mouth in the room drop. "And that's plus tips."

I blinked. That was half the money I needed for the surgery—in one weekend.

"And…it will be safe?" I wondered.

"Oh, for sure it will. The girls get their own suite on the boat, locked doors, plus other security will be there. You'll be locked up tight, honey. Nothing to worry about."

Both my friends continued to look at me, completely aghast. Kiara looked more than a little skeptical, while Rochelle appeared to be waiting for her own personal invitation to the event.

Thousands. For one little weekend.

And yet.

"I need to think about it," I said. "When do I need to let you know?"

"End of the day. We gotta move on this."

I swallowed. Something was holding me back. "Okay, I'll text you later."

By the time we were done, Kiara had finished with my nails, which were safely under her UV light, while she went to work on my hair and makeup.

"You gonna take it?" Rochelle asked. "You'd be crazy not to. Kyle will make you some real money if you let him."

Even as she said it, she looked sympathetic. She knew what it would mean if I went to work with Shawn hanging around.

And even Rochelle didn't know about the video.

No one knew about that.

"I don't know," I said as Kiara started twisting my hair around hot rollers.

But before I could say anything more, my phone buzzed again. This time, with a FaceTime request from someone I definitely didn't want to talk to, but knew I wouldn't be able to put off until later.

"I'm going to take this in my room," I said as I stood up from the chair.

"Don't mess up your nails!" Kiara called. "Or the rollers!"

"I won't." I escaped to my bedroom and answered the FaceTime. "Hea, Lea."

"Joni, what in the actual fuck did you do?"

I had to hold the phone away—I honestly thought her voice might have broken the tiny speakers. "Excuse me?"

Lea's face scowled through the screen. She looked even more frustrated and mommish than usual, with her hair tied up on her head and dark circles under her eyes. All my sisters were beauties, but Lea had lost some of her luster over the years. I guessed that's what being married with four kids did to you. At least it did in Belmont.

"You heard me," she snapped. "What the fuck did you?"

I smarted—not at her tone, but at her words. Easily the most church-going of the Zola kids, Lea had cut out the swears a long time ago once she started popping out babies. I hadn't heard her say more than "fudge" in years.

"Well, right now, I just got a kick-ass manicure," I said once I'd composed myself. "But I don't think that's what you mean."

"I'm talking about Monday night. Some seedy bar or club or wherever people like you do these dumb things. What. The fuck. Were you doing with Lis fucking Antoni?"

At that, my mouth fell open. "How do you know who Lis Antoni is?"

"How do I know who Lis Antoni is? How do you know who Lis Antoni is? You're my baby sister! Michael and I have done everything—and I do mean everything—to protect this family from that guy. You're out of the house five minutes and already you're bringing trouble to our doorstep?"

I knew she was stressed when she went back to calling people by their formal names. "Michael" meant she was worried about someone she cared about.

Who, at this point, definitely wasn't me.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I said. "I literally just heard that name like one week ago, so you need to slow your roll."

"And how did you hear it?" Lea barreled on. "Don't lie to me, Joni. I know where you were at. I know these things because Michael got a phone call literally the next day asking him to meet up with those guys. They haven't looked him up in almost twenty years. That's two decades, Joni!"

"I know what a decade is," I said as I rolled my eyes. "What do you mean, looked him up? What does Mike have to do with a bunch of gangsters?"

Lea looked like she was about to hyperventilate. I watched as she looked away from the phone, rubbed her face, almost like she was pushing back tears, and then turned back after taking several long breaths.

"It was when you were little," she said. "When Mike and I first met. You wouldn't remember, but he wasn't always the most upstanding guy."

"Everyone in the family knows you married an ex-con, Lea," I informed her just as condescendingly as she had spoken to me. "But no one cares. Mike's always been good to you and us. He's a Zola now."

"Yeah, well, you don't know what it took for him to get to that. To get to this place, with our house, our kids. What he sacrificed to make that good happen."

I frowned. "Sounds like you'd better tell me."

Lea just shook her head. "It was when the Albanians started moving into Belmont. You were so little, but I remember. They bought up a lot of the restaurants in the area, and I guess the mob too. Merged with one of the local families—the one Mike was stealing cars for when he was put in prison."

I calmed down at that. I knew about that part of Mike's record, but not about his connection to organized crime in Belmont. That was no joke.

"They wanted him to come back to work for them when he got out," Lea said. "They only let him out because they respected him, but Antoni always said he would one day call back that favor, and I thought maybe he forgot, but he didn't, Joni! He didn't! Because someone in his group saw you at that fucking party, shaking your ass, recognized your last name, and came knocking at our door again. I guess they figured if one Zola was getting back into the life, Mike should come with her. Fuck, Joni! How could you do this?"

"Wait. Hold on, I didn't do anything," I protested. "It was a gig, Lea. I was serving drinks at a private party. How was I supposed to know the people there had some weird debt to call in from Mike?"

"You always do this," my sister spat. "You blink your big green eyes and act like you don't know anything so you don't have to take responsibility for what you do. You didn't even think if the ‘party' was sketchy, did you? Didn't even wonder if charming random dudes was a good idea."

"It's not like that," I said. "I needed to make some money."

"I'm sure you were doing a lot more than that, baby." Lea sounded so weary. "You act like your bad decisions don't affect the rest of this family. But now you've dragged mine into it. And I don't know what the fuck we're gonna do, because the last time we extricated ourselves from the claws of Lis Antoni, Michael and I both almost got killed. Get it now? Real stakes, Joni! Real lives!"

"Oh my God, I am not responsible for bad decisions you and Mike made twenty years ago!" I practically shrieked. "I'm sorry I served a drink to a bad guy who hates you, but it literally could have been anyone. It's not my fault he came calling!"

"YES, IT IS!" Lea shouted back. Her face was so red that she looked like she was about to boil over. Even tears were starting to form around her eyes. And this sister never cried. Lea was tough as nails.

I might have felt bad. I did feel bad. But I also felt angry. Too angry to be nice. Too angry to do anything but bite right back at her.

"NO, IT'S NOT!" I shouted right back. "And honestly, if you can't see that, then fuck you! I don't need this shit, Lea. I'm trying to get my life together, and you accusing me of all sorts of things I am not responsible for isn't helping. So, you know what? You can either start being a real supportive sister, or you can legit fuck off." I swiped at my face, aware I was probably ruining Kiara's careful makeup job. "Now, I gotta go. I have another gig tonight that I cannot be late for. With someone who actually cares about me. Bye."

"But, Joni?—"

"Bye," I said again, then turned my phone off.

I sat on the corner of my bed for a long time, sucking back tears, taking deep breaths, and trying to get myself together. A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. I looked up to find Kiara and Rochelle poking their heads in.

"Hey, mami," Rochelle said as she edged inside, followed by Kiara. "You okay?"

I shook my head. "Lea is such a bitch. Apparently, that Antoni guy called her husband for something bad, and she's blaming me. Because I had the bad luck of serving him drinks."

Kiara and Rochelle traded glances, but neither said anything.

"She's just scared," Rochelle said. "No one wants a call like that. Especially since your brother-in-law used to be wrapped up with those dudes too, right?"

I nodded. Like most of our extended family, Rochelle was well-versed in the gossip that had been Lea and Mike's beginning.

"I'm over it," I said as I stood up. "And I know what I need to do."

Without another thought, I swiped my phone off the bed and fired off a text to Kyle letting him know I was on for the boat party. I could go to that, make the money I needed for the surgery, and talk to Lis about leaving my family alone all at once.

"She needs me to take care of it?" I said once I'd set my phone back on the bed. "I'll take care of it. And I'll take care of myself too."