Until everything fell apart.
"Until he got excommunicated," I finish. "Everything went downhill from there."
"Do you know why Vito removed him from the family?" Marco asks calmly.
"Gambling debt. It was affecting his work for Giuseppe."
"That's not the only reason, Elena. He was selling Rosso information to the Costellos."
"WHAT?!" I whip toward him. "He wouldn't do that. He loved the Rossos."
"He thought your mom and Vito had an affair. Of course they didn't, but he couldn't let it go. After your mom died, he spiraled. Quickly."
"Why would he think that? Vito barely knew my mom?—"
"Bianca and Vito were childhood friends, Elena. She introduced Elio to Vito before she got married. She thought Eliowould be an asset to the Rossos. And he was. For a long time. He was smart, talented, resourceful. Could sneak anywhere without being detected." Marco smiles slightly. "Just like his beautiful daughter."
I smile despite myself at the compliment. "I didn't know my mom knew Vito that closely. They never acted like friends. Not in front of me anyway."
"In the year leading up to her death, Vito suspected something was off with Elio. He asked your mom to watch for suspicious behavior. She came back with nothing. Then she died and your dad went off the rails. The gambling got worse. His performance became erratic. He'd disappear for days." Marco pauses. "Finally we got word he was selling information to the Irish. Vito would've killed him, but he'd made a promise to your mom—before she died—that he would protect you. He didn't want to hurt you by taking away your only parent. So he gave him a final warning. Never step foot in Italian territory again."
The revelations crash over me like waves. My mom and Vito were friends. My dad betrayed the Rossos. Vito vowed to protect me.
That's why after all these years, he still invites me to family events. My mom was his family. Therefore I am too.
"I always thought Vito pitied me," I say softly. "That I was the daughter of his enemy. That my face was a representation of betrayal."
"Your face was the representation of the friend he lost. The piece of his heart that was ripped out when she was taken from him. From both of you."
The weight of everything settles over me. My father isn't the man I thought he was. He's not the grieving widower who made mistakes. He's a traitor who sold out his family. And now he's hiding while his daughter pays the price for his cowardice.
I can't keep running from this. Can't keep putting Marco and the people I love in danger because I'm trying to protect a man who wouldn't do the same for me.
"We need to find my father," I say. The words feel heavy and liberating at the same time. "I know how to reach him through the cafe. When I place a specific order, they pass messages. I don't know exactly how they communicate, but they always come back with a meeting place, date, and time."
Marco nods. Relief flickers in his eyes. "Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow," I agree.
Because it's time to stop running and start fighting back. And if my father won't face the consequences of his actions, then I'll drag him out of hiding myself.
CHAPTER 30
Marco
Elenaand I weren't followed to the backup vehicle. We wait there safely for a while before heading to Vito's penthouse.
The fear in Elena's eyes will never leave my mind. It wasn't her first time using a gun—she was our sniper when we rescued Sofia—but she's never been in the thick of it like that. Bullets raining down. Trapped with the only way out being through.
She was incredible. And she saved my ass. Twice.
When we arrive at Vito's, I walk Elena to a guest room. She's exhausted, running on pure adrenaline. I sit on the edge of the bed while she changes in the bathroom, and when she comes out, she climbs under the covers without a word.
"Try to sleep," I tell her. "You're safe here."
She nods, her eyes already closing. I should leave. Should go report to Vito immediately.
But I can't make myself walk out the door.
