I want to screamNo, but the word won’t come out. Instead, I cling to logic, try to rationally pick apart why my brother would do something like that. “Why would he? Outside of the Pagano shit, which is clearly fabricated, what motive does he possibly have for wanting you dead?”
Lena rubs small circles on my chest. It’s not lost on me that she’s offeringmecomfort while we’re discussing the real possibility that my brother is trying to killher.
“I don’t know, Rem, but setting aside motive for a second—does the rest of it track? Everything about the conversation we just had in Aldo’s office implies your uncle had no idea what Ari was doing. Aldo said it himself—he didn’t know anything about me specifically, a woman named Lena Haywood, until Agata connected me to Maria’s necklace. He hadn’t heard my name until that moment. So, he couldn’t have been part of the entire Pagano conspiracy theoryorthe one ordering you to kill me. That all came from Ari.”
Lena is connecting the dots, drawing a picture as infuriating as it is horrific. Especially when I realize: “I never discussedyou, your alleged connection to the Paganos, or the hit with Aldo directly. He left for Italy before the issue came up and, while he was away, my conversations with him were limited to the search for Maria. He trusted Ari and I to run the rest of the business while he was dealing with his own matters in San Luca.”
No matter how much I want to deny that Ari is behind all of this, I can’t stop the details from making sense. Can’t stop piecing together the puzzle now that we’ve started. “I just assumed that Ari was telling the truth about Aldo’s orders and involvement. I didn’t have any reasonnotto believe Ari. I’ve always trusted him, Lena. He’s my older brother, my family. We’ve watched each other’s back, protected each other for as long as I can remember. If I can’t trust him…”
I can’t finish the thought, a crippling pain in my chest making it hard to think. Lena goes up on her tiptoes, wrapping her arms around my neck. I tug her close, crushing her in a hug and burying my face in her neck. One deep breath. Two. Her scent trickles through my airways and slowly the clamp around my ribs lessens just enough that I can inhale properly.
“Your brother must really hate me,” she murmurs.
“Non ne posso più!He doesn’t have any reason to! How are you a threat to him? Seriously, Lena—what could you have possibly done to make Ari fabricate evidence of crimes against our family, lie to me about Aldo ordering a hit, and go behind my back to try to kill you when I refused?” I pull back, clasping her face in my hands, searching her features as if I’ll find the truth stamped there. “Why the hell would Ari want you dead?”
“Because—” Lena stops. I can practically see her weighing and measuring all the secrets and lies that have been exposed today. “What if he wants me dead because I’m Aldo’s daughter?”
I stare at her, dumbfounded.
“Back when this whole thing started, no one knew I wasrelated to Aldo. No one in your family knew he and Maria had had a kid. So, the biggest hole in that theory is: how would he know? But, say, somehow, Ari figured it out before anyone else—would that be a good enough reason? Would a surprise daughter, a child related to Aldo by blood, be a threat to Ari?”
I don’t have to think before answering, “Yes.” That corrosive metallic taste in my mouth gets even worse. “As Aldo’s daughter, you trump everyone else as heir to his fortune, his business, his position as head of the Family. Before you, Ari was set to take the role ascapowhen Aldo retired, a job Ari has craved since we were teenagers. But now, if Aldo’s claim that you’re his child is true, everything Ari’s been working toward for decades is in jeopardy. You could be the biggest threat he’s ever faced in his life. That’s a pretty solid motive for murder.”
For a moment, we just look at each other. The truth—if that’s what it is—is catastrophic. For me, my brother, Lena and Aldo, our entire family. The kind of shit that can tear us all down. The kind of shit that will get some of us killed.
“Che cazzo.” The harder the truth hits home the more violently I curse. “If Ari really uncovered that you’re Aldo’s daughter, he could easily want you dead. Especially if he was able to kill you before Aldo tracked you down.”
My brother is trying to murder my wife.
The person I trust most in the world is trying to kill the one I love most.
I don’t realize I’ve sagged against Lena until I feel her hands running up and down my spine, her voice soft in my ear. I wrap my arms around her hips, fisting her sweater at her lower back, dizzy from the war waging in my head. “I’m so sorry,mia amata. For everything. I’m just so fucking sorry.”
I don’t have the right words to make up for everything that has happened to Lena since my family invaded her life. There aren’t enough apologies in English and Italian combined tomake up for how the Cerretis have burned her world to the ground.
Lena runs her fingers through my hair, murmuring sounds of comfort as I shake in her arms. Slowly, the noise in my brain fades. The ability to think returns. I reluctantly pull away, cutting myself off from Lena’s warmth as I say what needs to be said. “I’ll get you out of here. Somewhere safe. Tonight.”
“What?”
“By sunrise you’ll be somewhere Ari will never find you. Come on.” I wave toward the door, not trusting myself to touch her and let go again. “We have to get you somewhere safe, away from my family, as fast as possible. Now that Aldo’s back and he’s aware of what’s been going on, things are going to get unspeakably hellish for everyone. You need to be as far away from the carnage as possible. Come,piccola, let’s get your stuff and?—”
“No.”
“What?”
“No,” Lena repeats, jaw set. “I’m not leaving.”
“You have to. You said it yourself. It makes sense, Lena. Now more so than ever. We have to get you as far away from here as possible. I’ll get you a new identity, a new place to live, a new life. Anything you want, as long as it’s away from here.”
“You’re not listening to me, Rem.”
“No, you’re the one who isn’t listening.” I’m practically growling, my fear for her safety like talons ripping me from the inside out. “If Ari is behind everything that’s happened, our family is about to go through the bloodiest fucking war we’ve ever seen. No one will be safe. Iwon’tbe able to keep you safe. The only way we can keep you alive is if we get you the fuck out of here. So get your sweet ass in line and do as you’re told. For once.” I grab her hands, caving into the need to touch her one last time. “Please,amore mio. Please.”
Lena looks up at me. Seconds tick by. Then, she tips herchin in the most subtle, powerful look of defiance I’ve ever seen. I want to kiss her as much as I want to scream. Because, before she says anything, I know that, yet again, my defiant little one is not going to be pushed around. Least of all by me.
“I’m not leaving, Rem.”
“Lena—”