Whispers: A game of Lies & Deceit

Silvio Vitali

I opened my eyes in a car, while Vito was driving me to the castle, where my brother decided to have a wedding. It was not safe at all: outside the city, an open area, everything could end with a bloody wedding, which nobody wanted to, so I hired a few dozen more security men who would keep aloof and not appear in front of the guests, so as not to frighten them away.

I did not know my brother's bride personally but I had found some information about her. Lynette Carbyn was a twenty-year-old science student at a university in London. She comes from a poor family, as after her parents died, she was left with her sister in the care of her grandmother. In her final year, she created a chemistry-related project, for which she won a grant to attend a prestigious university. Lynette has not been seen in the police or the courts, moreover, she is not connected in any way to the illegal world.

"Is my present ready?" I asked Vito, touching up my black tight floor-length dress that I'd worn on the plane before I left; I didn't have enough time to fully think through my outfit, so I left my hair loose, tucked back and the casual makeup I'd done at five this morning. At the thought of seeing my brother's wedding as just another meeting, I needed to show up for, I felt a prick of guilt in my heart ─ it was important to Rafaele. But another part of me insisted that they would be divorced soon ─ the bright crush that had followed the proposal would fade as quickly as it had ignited.

"Yes," the man gave me car keys, "exactly the same model you've asked."

I left the car, when Vito, as a gentleman, opened a door, and I walked on the high heels to the castle. I stopped for a moment, looking at the building my brother rented: a stone two storied building in the Gothic style with several dark pinnacles, as well as four gargoyles that looked at me as if with animal interest, even though they were cold and unreal.

The doors of the castle were open, and I could see they had done the same with the doors to the backyard, the guards had already informed me that a table had been set in the garden, at which the guests had gathered.

Taking a deep breath and frowning, I entered the building, knocking thin heels on the stone floor, with a brisk step I covered the distance between the entrances, again went outside. Stopping a step away from the bend behind which my brother's wedding was hidden, I listened to the conversations at the table, which were difficult to make out because of the music in the background.

I did not want to undermine my older sister's authority, but despite my affection for my brother, I desperately avoided this meeting. It was easy to guess that the new woman changed him: he began to work less, taking over the entire economic part of the business in the Empire and his small bar, but thankfully, as Vito informed me, Rafaele had not told his fiancée about the Moretti family business.

My wedding was not as beautiful as this one, I was forced to hide and conceal my marriage from my father ─ I had no dress, no hair or make-up like Lynette, on whom the white silk fabric flowed like moonlight on a watery surface; my clothes were more suited to the long and painful road and, having registered the marriage in the United States, we went straight to Georgia, while Alessandro and Vito covered for me.

Though I could now afford to buy myself jewellery at any price, stones the size of my head and red diamonds in unlimited quantities, the rings my husband had bought on his teaching assistant's salary still seemed the most beautiful ─ white gold with a fine line of cubic zirconia in the center.

My breathing slowed and my chest heaved heavier, an unpleasant weight pressing down on my stomach; lowering my eyes to my pointy-toe shoes, I frowned, blinking rapidly to get rid of the uninvited tears. Suddenly I felt a burning sensation on my right shoulder, and turning my gaze to the inside of my elbow, I stopped at a wide stripe, a scar that, though over a year old, hurt as much as it had that day. I exhaled, shaking my limbs, and taking a step forward with a confident grin. All those present immediately paid me attention and only after a few seconds Rafaele realised who was standing in front of him.