The air is cold and crisp. The city’s still buzzing and alive around us. I hear a truck nearby, its brakes groaning. Stellan keeps going past the old stones toward the far gate and the waiting car.
“Hey, hold on a second.” I’m trembling. I wish I could process what just happened in there, but it’s like my head’s trapped in a loop. “Stellan, wait.”
He turns back, frowning at me. His face is stormy and preoccupied. “What’s wrong?”
“That stuff in there about my father—” I take a deep breath, trying to steady my shaking hands. “Was that all true?”
His lips quirk slightly. “Which part?”
“You knew my father. You called him… yourmentor.”
“Yes, Bryan Santoro and I were close. He taught me everything he knew.”
“But… my dad…” I shake my head, refusing to accept it. Maybe just unable to see the truth. “He was just a guy.”
“No, Kira. Your father was a prominent member of the Corsetti Famiglia. He was a Capo under my father’s command.”
“That can’t be real.”
“He helped to raise me. I knew him better than you did.”
“But he died.”
“I’m ten years older than you, remember? I felt his death more than anyone did.”
“I just… how is this real? Why didn’t you tell me?!” The implications swirl around my head. “You knew from the start, didn’t you? That first night?”
He nods slowly. “I knew who you were.”
“That’s why you were there. You were… watching me.”
“Something like that.”
I move away from him, heart racing. Sticky sweat rolls down my underarms. Horror pools in my belly. “Is that why you helped me? Why you wouldn’t leave me alone? Why you blackmailed me? Did you want to… get revenge on my father? I don’t even know what this is anymore.”
“No, Kira. That’s not it at all.” He moves toward me, but I stumble away, nearly tripping over a headstone.
“Stay where you are. Don’t come closer. Why the hell didn’t you tell me, Stellan?”
“I didn’t want to explain that your father was one of the most successful gangsters I’ve ever met. You weren’t ready.”
“So you let that group of asshole old men do it for you? Why the hell do they hate me so much?”
“You don’t need to know.”
“What the hell did my father do, Stellan?!”
He stares at me, his face bleak. I’m panicking and I feel dizzy. I can barely breathe. I’m dimly aware of honking nearby.
“Your father made mistakes. None of them matter anymore. Please, Kira, we need to leave.”
“No.” I’m breathing too fast. My chest hurts. I keep seeing Stellan helping me that first night, taking down those assholes. He wasn’t just some innocent bystander. He was there for a reason. “Get away.”
“Kira—”
“Get. Away!”
I turn and run. I don’t know where I’m going. I sprint blindly through the graveyard, dodging headstones, nearly tripping over grave markers, until I reach another gate at the north end. Stellan calls out for me to wait, but I can’t be around him right now.
