“Gio?” My brother’s name tumbled out of my mouth in shock. He sounded different: rougher and colder all the same time.
“Surprised to see me?” He chuckled. His eyes were the exact same shape and shade as mine. They followed me as I walked into the room and shrugged off my jacket.
“What are you doing here, Gio?”
Standing in the middle of the rug, I glared at him.
And he stared right back, his familiar, knowing smirk tilting up his full lips. “Anyone would think you are not happy to see me, little sister?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nat’s eyes widen.
“Brother?” she mouthed silently, and I nodded before turning my attention back to him.
“I’m not. You told me six years ago that you wanted nothing to do with us, that it was safer if we didn’t stay in touch. You said,” I paused, “you would only get in touch if something bad had happened.”
For five whole seconds, he didn’t say a word. “Something bad has happened, Sophia.”
Sighing, I shook my head. Of course something bad had happened. In his world, bad things were always happening.
“Who died?” My voice was completely blank. “Can’t be any of the family, because, well…” my eyes narrowed. “There’s only three of us left.” A sinking feeling opened in the pit of my stomach. “Is Matteo—“
My brother’s eyes narrowed into slits. “Alive and well,” he snapped. “In fact, Matteo is why I am here.” Turning his head, he stared at Nat. And the look in his eyes was clear. He didn’t want to say anything else until we were alone, and that was okay with me.
Nat had been my friend since I had arrived in this country, and she knew I was running from my past, but she didn’t know everything. It was safer that way.
For everyone.
Taking the hint, she stood, heaving Lily up as well. “I’ll give you two some time to catch up. Lily bum and I are going to have a tea party. Isn’t that right, Lily?”
“Bye, Uncle Gio.” Lily waved her little chubby hand at my brother, who remained stonily silent. Not that I was surprised. He had never been good with children.
“I’ll catch you up later,” I called after Nat before falling into the seat she had just vacated.
The sound of a door closing was loud in the sudden awkward silence.
“Has Matteo found me?” I couldn’t help it. My voice shook.
“No,” Gio said softly. “He doesn’t know about your current situation.” His eyes darted toward the door.
“Nat is just a friend, Gio.” I rolled my eyes.
“I wasn’t talking about your roommate, little sister. I was talking about the kid.”
There was so much hatred in his voice that I did a double-take.
“Her name is Lily and she is your niece,” I snapped right back. “You can’t—"
“Matteo wants to see you.”
The words died in my mouth. I opened my lips and no sound came out.
“I mean, he has agreed to see you,” Gio amended.
Shaking my head, I cleared my throat. “Not going to happen, Gio. He killed our parents.” I sucked in a breath. “Who’s to say he won’t try to kill me?”
Gio’s eyes darted away. “He won’t kill you, Sophia. Just like he won’t kill me. He’s playing the long game instead.”
My head snapped up. “What do you mean?”
