Lights, Camera, Omega - Page 108

A tense silence rises, but not for long.

“Call me dense, but I’m still not quite understanding how this stacks with the missing money and the weekends away.” Julian rubs at his chin pensively.

“It’s not a happy story. Are you sure you wanna hear all of it?” Cosmo warns.

“I think the time for showing is over. Now is the time for telling,” I agree, doing my best to school the fury from my voice.

Cosmo nods.

“When I met Magnus, both of my parents—David and Aviva Silver—were alive,” he begins, his voice soft and vulnerable, his eyes cast down at the plush red carpet.

“My dad was the heir to a real estate empire here in New York. The family he came from was richer than god. I grew up like a prince,” he continues to weave his story—the four of us hanging on his every word as the buzz of people milling around during intermission hums in the background.

“Five different family homes spread all over the globe, governesses and nannies, private tutors and expensive private boarding schools,” he sighs—as if he’s looking into the past in those wine-colored carpet fibers.

“Both my sisters and I showed prodigious musical talent at early ages. Cammy and I took to the piano, and Lotte was an instant whiz at the violin.” He scuffs the toes of his patent leather dress shoes as he pushes on.

“We’re nearly ten years apart, but we all loved playing together. Unfortunately, once I hit sixteen and started the competition and concert circuit in earnest—we didn’t get to see much of each other.”

Daphne’s expression has softened—her eyes already glistening with tears, as if she can already see the tragic end to this story.

“I had just graduated from Julliard myself when everything really started to fall apart.” Cosmo’s voice tightens, a portent of the sorrow to come.

“Turns out my father had been involved in some shady shit. Money laundering, racketeering, and other white-collar crimes.” Cosmo clears his throat before resuming his tale.

“There were rumors about involvement with the mafia—all sorts of messy shit. There was going to be a big trial to shake out all the details, but the money started disappearing pretty quickly. Repossessions, bankruptcy, public disgrace—the whole nine,” Cosmo manages to get out before his voice begins to break.

“Some mafia don or underboss decided they didn’t like the odds on my dad getting a plea deal from the feds—so they whacked him,” Cosmo says quietly—taking a beat of silence for the first time since he began spinning this tale of woe.

“Beat him to death with a goddamn tire iron in the parking structure of the hotel we were staying at before the trial,” he chokes out.

“And what’s fucked up, is that’s not even the worst of it,” Cosmo hiccups, his sobs refusing to relinquish their hold on him.

“With the money drying up and the weight of my father’s murder on her shoulders—Mom decided she couldn’t hack it alone. She shuffled off this mortal coil—leaving me to find her; empty pill and vodka bottles strewn on the hotel nightstand.”

Daphne half gasps, half sobs—her hands reaching out to clutch Cosmo’s forearm in a gesture of support.

“That was six months before the Ipsysio Gavlana piano competition where I met Magnus. I was doing my best to make a living off of prize money; struggling to keep up appearances, to keep the girls, with their new last name: Amanpour, in their private high school—attending their expensive music lessons with the most prestigious teachers so that they might have a chance…” Cosmo finally breaks down, dissolving into tears. Daphne and Sol fold him into their dual embrace.

Suddenly, everything makes sense to me.

“Twins. Dual Juilliard tuition—doesn’t come cheap.” I uncross my arms from in front of my chest, slowly drifting toward Cosmo—wreathed in Sol and Daphne’s arms.

Cosmo nods, his glasses pushed up on top of his head, Daphne’s lacy handkerchief dabbing at his sodden face.

“And being the good older brother, you of course had an increasing number of recitals—of auditions, competitions, and awards ceremonies to attend to emotionally support the girls in addition to financially supporting them,” I unravel the mystery aloud—sharing my epiphany with the others.

“Yes, exactly—I promised both Cammy and Lotte that I’d help get them through whatever schooling they wanted. Just because Mom and Dad…” He trails off again, barely managing to keep it together.

“But…” Sol speaks, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Why didn’t you tell any of us?” Sol asks, his own voice watery with tears.

“I didn’t want to open myself up. I didn’t want to tell you about all the goddamn tragedy in my life, because I worried that’s all I would have been—a victim, a charity case,” his voice becomes ragged with gasping sobs.

“I wanted a chance to be something other than a burden,” Cosmo weeps openly.

“Shhhh, shhhhh.” Daphne soothes, placing a kiss on the angle of his jaw.