"Yes."
I watch her process this. Watch the pieces click together behind her eyes.
"He's the one who..." She trails off. "He's the one who pulled the trigger?"
"He was a contract killer back then." My voice sounds distant. Like it belongs to someone else. "Someone hired him to eliminate my family."
Marina's hand finds mine.
Her fingers are cold.
"Why now?" she asks. "Why come after you after all these years?"
"That's what we're trying to figure out."
I tell her everything.
About Giuseppe. About the lie he told me when I was eighteen. About the man I killed in that warehouse, believing I was avenging my family. About Diego Mendoza—Alejandro's cousin—and how Giuseppe used my pain to eliminate a rival.
Marina's grip tightens with every word.
"So Giuseppe knew," she says. "He knew who really killed your family, and he used you anyway."
"He was the Don. He did what he thought was necessary."
"That's not an excuse."
"No." I meet her eyes. "It's not."
I continue.
Tell her about Webb. About how the debt was manufactured. How the entire Denver operation was a trap designed to lure me here. How the cartel knew about her—knew I would come to her if things went wrong.
"They used me as bait," Marina says flatly.
"They anticipated my weakness."
"I'm not your weakness."
"You're the only thing that makes me weak."
She doesn't respond to that.
Just keeps holding my hand.
"What else?" she asks. "There's more. I can see it."
Christ.
She reads me too well.
"Vittoria has been investigating Giuseppe's old files for years," I say. "Three months ago, she accessed something. We don't know what. But the timing lines up. Alejandro only started moving against us after that. I think she found something Giuseppe buried. Something that led Alejandro to the truth about his cousin."
Marina is quiet for a long moment.
Processing.
"So the cartel isn't just after revenge for Diego," she says slowly. "They're after you specifically because you're the one who pulled the trigger."
