Instead, I stare out the window, unsure whom I’ve failed more, Alessandro or Valentina.
“What the fuck, Valentina? For someone who always has an opinion, why are you pouting like a child back there?”
"So she sent a letter," I snap, unable to hold my tongue any longer. "Maksim ambushed us. Would have killed me and done God knows what to your sister before killing her too. You think that's fair punishment for wanting to postpone a marriage she never asked for?"
The car swerves slightly as Adriano's head whips toward me, his eyes burning with warning. "You're overstepping, Bonetti. This is family business."
"Family business?" My laugh comes out harsh. "With a priority of business over family the way you ignore just how dangerous Maksim is to her.”
"Cristian," Valentina says, but I'm too far gone now.
"Six men with automatic weapons, ready to gun us down on a publicroad. That's who you're aligning with. That's who you're giving your sister to."
Adriano's jaw clenches. "You think I don't know what Maksim is? You think Alessandro doesn't? We're trying to prevent a war that would cost hundreds of lives, including ours. Including hers."
"No, not including hers. You’re sacrificing her life." I should stop. I’m about to be dumped on the side of the road with a bullet between my eyes.
"You're a soldier, Bonetti. You follow orders. You don't question them."
"Cristian is the only one who seems to care that I'm a dead woman walking," Valentina cuts in. "The only one who sees me as more than just a bargaining chip."
Adriano's expression softens fractionally. "Val?—"
"Don't." She turns away, staring out the window. "Just don't."
"You made this bed," Adriano growls, clearly annoyed at being made the bad guy. "You're the one who agreed to marry Maksim."
Her voice rises. "What was the alternative? Let everyone die in a war with the Bratva? You think I didn't see how Alessandro looked at me when he proposed this solution, like I was his only hope? You think I didn't feel the weight of our entire family's survival on my shoulders?"
Adriano's eyes narrow in the rearview mirror. "We all make sacrifices?—"
"Maybe I should just get myself exiled like Luca," she interrupts with bitterness in her voice. "He gets to live his life with a woman he loves. He gets to be free of all this."
I keep my face forward, my expression neutral, but inside, I’m rooting her on, supporting her efforts to exert control over her life.
"You don't mean that," Adriano says, but there's uncertainty in his tone.
"Don't I? What exactly am I getting for my sacrifice, Adriano? Not gratitude. Not freedom. Not even basic respect. At least if I were exiled, I'd have a chance at happiness. You turned your back on Luca just like you're doing to me, all for the 'family'."
The car falls silent.
I stare straight ahead, not daring to look at either sibling.
I shouldn't be here for this conversation.
Adriano's jaw works back and forth. "It's not that simple, Val."
"No, for you, it wouldn’t be.”
His eyes flick to the mirror. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Only a man devoid of emotion would have trouble choosing his sister over the enemy.”
“That’s not fair.”
She laughs derisively. “You have no idea the meaning of unfair.”
The silence that follows is suffocating.