Marco Vitale had been my best friend since we were fifteen. He'd grown up in the organization, same as me, but unlike me, he'd actually wanted this life. Thrived in it. He was charming where I was blunt, diplomatic where I was aggressive, and loyal to a fault. We had not gotten a chance to see or talk after my text yesterday to him.
He was also one of the few people who knew about my plan to take down my father.
"Heard you got saddled with babysitting duty." His expression was amused. "How's that working out for you?"
"Fine."
"That's it? Just fine? Come on, man. I saw her yesterday when she arrived. She's gorgeous. You're human. This has to be weird."
I should have kept my mouth shut. Should have brushed it off. Instead, I told him everything.
About discovering she was Antonio Romano's daughter. About her being here now, supposed to marry my father in three months.
Marco's expression shifted from amused to horrified to completely incredulous in the span of thirty seconds.
"You fucked your father's future wife."
"I didn't know who she was."
"That doesn't make it better!" He stood up, started pacing. "Kai. Jesus Christ. This is bad. Really bad. If Salvatore finds out—"
"He won't."
"How can you be sure? Your father has eyes everywhere. And you're telling me you're just going to pretend you've never touched her? While living in the same house? While being responsible for watching her every day?"
"I'm not pretending anything."
Marco stopped pacing. Stared at me. "What does that mean?"
"It means she's mine. That night proved it. And I'm not giving her up."
"You're insane. Getting involved with her is suicide. Your father will kill you both. And then he'll kill Lia just to make sure he's eliminated any threat to his power."
I knew that. Had known it from the second I'd realized who Aria was. But it didn't change anything.
"I can't walk away from her, Marco. I won't. She belongs with me, not him."
"Even if it costs Lia everything?"
The question hit like a physical blow.
Lia. My sister. The one person in this world I'd die for. The reason I'd been gathering evidence against our father for years instead of just putting a bullet in him.
Could I risk her for Aria?
"I'll be careful. Smart about it. My father is leaving for a month. That gives me time to figure this out."
"Figure what out? How to secretly fuck yourstepmother-to-be without getting caught? There's no good ending here, Kai. You know that."
"Then I'll make one." I met his eyes. "I'm not letting him touch her. Whatever it takes."
Marco shook his head. "You're going to get us all killed."
"Probably. But I'd rather die fighting for what I want than spend the rest of my life watching her belong to someone else."
He stared at me for a long moment, then sighed. "Fine. You're determined to be an idiot about this. The least I can do is help you be a smart idiot. But we need to be careful. No obvious moves. Nothing that tips off Luca or anyone else. You understand?"
I understood. But it didn't change what I was going to do.
