He leant across the banister, his chin resting on his folded arms. ‘Try putting one word in front of the other.’
His tone was teasing but I could feel him studying me. I drowned the urge to flip him my middle finger, and instead made the choice that meant there was no going back. I said the words that would make me a Marino enemy and push my life even closer to the knife-edge.
‘Donata Marino wants me to help her kill your family.’
Silence enveloped us. Luca’s expression didn’t falter. He just stared at me, his eyes barely flickering in recognition.
I decided it would be best to add something, just in case there was any lingering confusion. ‘I’m not going to. Obviously.’
He pulled back from the banister and stood straight, seeming so much taller then. He stopped when he was just a foot from me. He scanned me, briefly, but not quickly enough that it wasn’t noticeable. Was he checking for a weapon?
‘What did she offer you?’ he asked evenly.
I shrugged. ‘Safety, mostly … from your family.’
‘From us?’ he said. ‘But we have no interest in you.’
Something about that stung me. I shook it off; he was right. That was the whole point: the Falcones didn’t care about me any more.
‘I don’t know what she’s thinking, Luca,’ I admitted. ‘She’s going to hurt me and my mom if I don’t help her. We have nowhere to go. We have no money to get away from them.’ I cleared my throat to stamp out the quiver in my voice and then I thought, What’s the point? Luca knew the truth. I was sick of trying to hide it. ‘And I’m scared, Luca. I am really scared.’
‘When?’ he asked, his voice level. ‘When does she intend to move against us?’
It hit me then. This was Luca in commander mode. This was Luca putting his duty before his emotions. He was keeping cool because he was trained to. I had no idea what he was really thinking or feeling. I tried to put myself in that mode too, but my heart felt like there was an iron fist around it, and I couldn’t help thinking of my mother packing up all her stuff at home, waiting for me to come back to her with a plan, with money, with a way out.
‘Soon,’ I told him. ‘She said she’d come back for me first. They’re going to ambush your family at the diner. She wants me to help her.’ I hesitated, embarrassed by the implication, by the absurdity of having to say the next part to his face. ‘She thinks I’m a … Falcone weakness.’
Something flitted across Luca’s face – a passing shadow, an unreadable emotion. His jaw tightened, but apart from that he barely blinked. ‘Is that so?’
‘Apparently.’
‘And she told you all of this?’
‘Yes.’
‘Without provocation.’
‘She wants me to help her,’ I repeated, feeling the dim heat of embarrassment in my cheeks.
He narrowed his eyes. ‘Does she know you have no experience with weapons?’
I held my palm up, the cut facing him. ‘I would have thought that was obvious.’
He didn’t smile.
‘She’s so angry, Luca,’ I said, feeling the betrayal sing in my words. Donata would have my head for this. She’d have my head for even stepping through these doors, but if I was going to pin my hopes on anyone in this whole mess it sure as hell wasn’t going to be her. ‘Her grief is driving her crazy. She wants to destroy your family. Soon.’
Luca’s eyes darkened. He studied me in the silence.
‘That’s all I got,’ I said quietly. ‘That’s it.’
His concentration broke. I could see the mask shifting – the barrier coming down, unsmoothing his features. He scrubbed a hand through his hair, his fingers pulling at his temples as he closed his eyes. ‘A bold move for the Marinos,’ he murmured, a frown twisting on his lips. ‘What is she playing at?’
‘What will you do?’ I asked, fear spiking in me at the idea of a retaliation, at how quickly the blood war was escalating. If Eden was anything to go by, it wasn’t like the Falcones were shy of grand bloody gestures. Nothing was too bold for them.
He stared at me, his tone deceptively level when he said, ‘I won’t let her harm my brothers.’ There was a short silence, then he closed whatever he was thinking off from me, and instead asked, ‘What will you do, Sophie?’
I looked at the ground, at the majestic crimson falcon. Something crumpled in my chest and I felt the sudden urge to cry. I wasn’t a Marino but I wasn’t a Falcone either. ‘I’ve said it now. There’s no going back.’ I paused, collecting myself, and then conceded, in little more than a whisper, what we both plainly knew already. ‘She’ll probably kill me for it when she finds out.’
Luca dipped his head but I decided not to look him in the eyes in case I projectile-cried all over him. ‘Sophie, are you asking me for our protection?’