“Can you even fathom how much is here? Not just in this crate but ineverycrate in this warehouse?”
As he talks, it suddenly clicks in my mind. I distantly remember overhearing Guido’s stressful talks about the drugs between him and the Irish, missing shipments and stolen product. I thought he meant the Irish were stealing from him, and it makes them the perfect suspects for who was targeting Aerin in the beginning.
Now I see the truth, clear as day and as it dawns on me, Giacomo’s lips curl into a cold smile. “You’re putting it together, aren’t you?”
I remain silent.
“All of this…” Giacomo pats the crate. “It’s supposed to be in the hands of the Irish. Dad thinks the Irish stole it and the Irish think Dad was cheating them. Kept the war going for quite a while because there’s one thing my father always fails to consider and it’s a really simple, really obvious fact.” His smile widens. “The Paramatti estate doesn’twantto be led by a woman. They don’twantsome young girl at the head making decisions she’s barely capable of understanding. So when I came up with a grand plan to save the family and get things back on track, well, do you know how hard it was to find people loyal to me?”
My eyes narrow.
“Not very hard at all. Redirecting these shipments was as easy as ordering a takeaway. But here’s the thing…” He pushes off the crate and walks toward me. “You’re fucking my sister. You’ve deflowered her. Ruined her. Dad will kill her for that, do you understand? He will be so ashamed that his precious little girl lost her valuable virginity to aguardthat he will kill her to spare her the shame. Do you still want to deny it?”
My heart races painfully in my chest and every muscle coils, ready to strike. Silence no longer feels like the safest answer.
“So here’s what I propose.” He stops just in front of me, then throws his arm around my shoulder and guides me toward the crate. “I propose that if you want Aerin to survive this…then you’re going to help me. Because right now, thanks to me, itlooks like Aerin has been flirting with guards and promising them all sorts of nasty things in trade for these drugs that she was stealing and storing so that she could sell them and run away from that wedding. And now the wedding is off, thanks tome, well, she has to get rid of them, right? And she’ll be caught. And killed.”
Do something, Falco, fucking do something!
As my lips part, a curse rising in my throat, Giacomo’s arm tightens around my shoulders. “Unless you take the fall.”
Suddenly, the door in front of us crashes open and a sea of armed men pour into the warehouse, illuminated by a glare of headlights just beyond.
I flinch violently and Giacomo brings his face close to my cheek. “You’ve got ten seconds, Falco. Ten seconds before I tell my father that this is Aerin’s pile. And don’t you think I’ll have left a paper trail leading right to her?”
Guido brings up the rear, walking slowly with his face twisted in dark fury.
“Tell him it was you. Tell him you robbed him and you were trying to kill Aerin to cover it up because she found out. Tell him, and I’ll back you up and she lives. Or try and tell him the truth and see who he believes.”
In less than thirty seconds, my entire defense crumbles. It doesn’t matter what I know. It doesn’t matter what I can prove or what I’ve done to keep Aerin alive. It doesn’t even matter that I could swear down on my oath.
Guido will never believe me over his son.
And I won’t play with Aerin’s life.
I have no choice here.
If I want her to live, if I want her to have a fighting chance, then I have to take the fall.
The realization comes with a crushing weight in my gut that forces me to my knees, my silent admission of my guilt. As I sink down, Giacomo crosses back in front of me and leans over, patting my cheek.
“Good boy.” He smirks. “Pidge wasjustas obedient.”
35
AERIN
“Aerin?”
Mom’s voice trickles through to me from somewhere to my left and I open my eyes.
Where…am I?
It’s dark outside. The curtains are drawn but not all the way, and warmth envelops me with a weight that should be satisfying, but it just feels smothering. Jolting upright, sudden pain pulls through my skull like my brain is swelling and there’s not enough space for it to breathe.
“Ow.” I groan and screw up my eyes, pressing one hand to my temple.
“Easy,” Mom says. “Take it slow.”
