“How long were you going to hide out there?” he asks me.
I notice Tiberi and Alessio are nearby, looking as though they’d stop everything they had been doing just to be here. I step closer to Carmine.
“I wanted to wait until you were back,” I insist. He eyes me suspiciously
“Are you going to tell us what’s going on?” Alessio asks. “We deserve to be in the loop. What happened in Greece?”
Carmine doesn’t look in his or Tiberi’s direction. “I’ll fill you in later,” he says. “Right now, Soren and I need to talk.” He shifts his weight and turns toward the hallway, but doesn’t step away yet.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. Ever since Soren has come into your life you’ve been in nothing but trouble. You’ve been nothing but trouble actually,” Tiberi notes.
I snort softly. “Believe me, he causes his own trouble.” I try to mask the anxiety creeping up my spine. It’s difficult.
Alessio rolls his eyes. “I don’t trust you.”
“You don’t have to trust him; you just need to get the fuck out of the way. I promise, I’ll tell you everything that’s happened after I talk to Soren. We need to clear a few things up,” Carmine says, his voice genuine. I can tell he does want to bring his family into the loop.
Unfortunately for them, he won’t have the chance.
“Fine. The second you’re done talking to Soren,” Alessio says in a clipped tone.
Carmine nods, not demanding that Alessio change his tone. Not insisting that he’s the one in charge. It’s a stark difference from what I’m used to. Both with my own family and Carmine’s usual demeanor.
Finally, I follow him down the hallway and into his office. The office that used to belong to his father. The man who violated him.
The memory of him spilling his guts to me on that rooftop come flooding back and my stomach clenches.
God, the rain that dripped down his face and mixed with his tears. The redness of his eyes…the plump swollen state of his lips. How much pain he had felt just telling me about it.
I feel the pain in my own chest and I don’t understand how it’s possible to feel someone else’s pain so clearly, but I do.
I close my eyes.
The door is closed behind us. I know Carmine is standing in front of me; but I don’t say anything.
“Soren.”
I don’t reply.
“Soren. Tell me what happened.”
I slowly turn around so that my back is facing him.
There’s no guards in the room. He trusts me enough to be alone with me. Totally and completely alone.
Just like his father had been when he had died.
No guards in the room. No one to save him.
Just an expected bullet to the head and chest.
“My uncle knows everything,” I tell him. “I don’t know how, so don’t ask. It doesn’t matter anyway.”
“Of course it matters. If we’ve got someone telling our business, I want to know who,” Carmine insists. “He…he knows everything? Are you sure?”
I reach down toward my gun, slowly. Just enough that it probably appears like a normal casual movement.
“He knows I’ve been protecting you,” I say, eyes still closed. I imagine his face. It’s probably twisted with uncertainty. His eyes are probably all shiny and hot with anger. Anger at me, my uncle, whoever the shithead who figured it out is. “He knows I don’t agree with his…total take over plan.”
