I held back.
They sat down in the cold, Frank on the top stair, Val, too, but as far away from him as possible, nearly underneath the railing, her arms wrapped around the post as if it was enough to protect her from a man like him.
“You’re upset,” Frank said in a bland tone.
I rolled my eyes. No shit she was upset, old man! She’d just been told that her family was mafia royalty, what normal, innocent girl wouldn’t be upset when you exchanged their iPhone for a gun and told them to make sure they always sit in booths when going out to eat?
Once you knew your own blood, it was impossible to go back.
The chilling knowledge of her heritage alone would make sure of that. She’d always watch her back from here on out, never stand in line at Starbucks, and, when she walked home at night, she would always think she was being followed.
Mafia breeds paranoia.
As well as insanity.
They go hand in hand, but they also keep you alive.
“I’m in shock,” she finally said, her eyes meeting his. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and ducked her head, staring down at her shoes. “My whole life is a lie.”
Dramatic, but true.
I frowned as she chewed on her lower lip, sucking it into her mouth only to release it.
A strange mixture of anger and lust jolted through me like lightning.
The wrongness of the emotion started a cold sweat as I continued to eavesdrop.
“We thought it best to protect you. Luca was a very dangerous man. He was also convinced you could never live a normal life if you lived under his roof. He knew something must be done. You were raised until the age of five in Italy. I’m sure you remember fragments.” He sighed, his breath swirled around his head. “There were two death threats against you and Dante… I’ll never forget the night my brother called me to say he needed to put you both in hiding. The only people I could think of…” He glanced back at the house. “Were also, at the time, not my biggest fans.”
“At the time?” She joked.
“Yeah well…” Frank chuckled. “Blood is blood. They had no choice, and they adopted you as if you were their own.” He angled his head and studied her. “You have been happy, no?”
After a few seconds, she nodded.
“And you’ve been well taken care of?”
Another curt nod.
“Believe me when I say, the last thing I want to do is ruin your future, but it was your father’s dying wish that you not only know him, but that you join the Family. By joining through marriage you are automatically—”
Val covered her mouth with her hand and laughed.
Frank frowned.
I stared harder. Had she just laughed? At Frank Alfero?
“I’m so sorry!” Val laughed harder. “I laugh when I’m nervous. I just… it’s kind of funny right? I read, Frank. That’s what I do.”
“I don’t think I understand.”
“My excitement in life.” She smiled again to herself. “Was reading, mainly historical romance. Women had no power in Regency England. They couldn’t even own property. Did you know that once they were married both the church and crown only recognized them as property of whomever had wed them?”
Frank shook his head.
“Marriages were formed based on wealth, power, protection, prestige.” A wry smile curved her lips. “Are you telling me the same thing, Frank? Am I supposed to marry Sergio for all of those reasons? Or is there more?”
Frank shifted on the step.
I waited to see what he would say. Because there was so much more to that story — to the real reason we were here, to why it was imperative that they join the ranks.
“Sergio doesn’t need you, not emotionally, not financially, not physically.”
She jerked back as if she’d been punched but kept her mouth shut.
“He has more money than he knows what to do with, used to work for the FBI, is an expert hacker, and now that his wife is dead…” He shook his head. “…he honors her memory by staring at walls.”
Thanks, Frank. Glowing review.
“The last time I saw him laugh it was forced, and I fear I have already lost him. Then again, nobody ever had Sergio — nobody but his wife, because even before her, there was an emotional detachment in his killings and dealings. He is not a safe man, nor a sane one, Val.”
I curled my hands into fists. What the hell!
“But,” continued Frank, his gaze growing intense, “he will protect you with his life — and more importantly, he will protect you with his name. For someone to make a murder attempt on an Abandonato is to invite the Cappo and the rest of the five families to wipe out that person’s entire existence, and not just the person foolish enough to try… but the rest of the blood line, and the best part?” He paused. “Our Cappo, he thirsts for blood. He’s like a lion, barely tamed by his wife, only able to stay trapped inside the four walls of his house for hours if she keeps him…” He coughed. “Occupied.”