He's been lying for years.
"There has to be another way," Papa says. "I'll talk to them. Negotiate. Maybe if I?—"
"Negotiate?" Claudio laughs. It's an ugly sound. "You gambled away two million dollars. You put our family in debt to the most dangerous people in the city. And now you want to negotiate?"
"Claudio." My voice is quiet. Tired. "Stop."
He turns to me. His eyes are red. From anger or exhaustion, I can't tell.
"Stop? Antonella, do you understand what's happening? Do you understand what he's done?"
I understand.
I've understood for years.
Every time the bills piled up. Every time the creditors called. Every time Papa disappeared for days and came back with empty pockets and hollow promises.
I understood.
I just didn't want to believe it.
"This is the moment," Claudio says. He turns back to Papa, his voice dropping low. Dangerous. "This is the moment to think about whether it was worth it. All those nights at the tables. All those bets. All those lies."
Papa flinches.
"Because now we have to work for them. Our family. Our business. Everything Mama built. Gone. Under their control." Claudio's hands curl into fists at his sides. "And one of my sisters has to marry some freak from their family."
The word hangs in the air.
Freak.
I don't know which Sartori brother they mean. I don't know anything about them except their reputation. Dangerous. Powerful. Ruthless.
And one of them wants a wife.
"What's going on?"
Gianna's voice comes from the doorway.
I turn. She's standing there in her pajamas, hair messy from sleep, eyes wide with confusion. She looks so young. So innocent.
Nineteen years old.
Still a child in so many ways.
"Nothing." I rise from the couch, moving toward her. "Everything's okay. Go back to bed."
"I heard yelling." Her gaze moves past me to Claudio. To Papa. "Why is everyone awake? What happened?"
"Gianna—"
"Tell me." Her voice sharpens. "I'm not a child. Tell me what's going on."
I look at Claudio. He looks at Papa. Papa looks at the floor.
No one speaks.
The silence stretches. Gianna's expression shifts from confusion to fear.
