I cling to him as he quakes and cries.
I no longer trust my own sense of self. Where do I begin? Where does grief end?
Finally, Nino guides me to the recliner by the bed and sits me down. “I’m sorry, Cat.”
Why is he sorry? He’s just as orphaned as I am now. I attempt to say as much, but the anguish tightens my throat, and I choke on my own tears.
Nino brushes my hair from my face. I try to look at him, but saltwater blurs my vision. I can only see a blurry outline.
At some point, he leaves my side and brings back a glass of water. I spill a little as I sip.
Then the only thing I see is my father’s beautiful, broken, gray face.
He was getting better. He was going to be okay. We’d just saved his life.
I killed a man to make this happen.
I find Nino at my side again. “We were just getting him back.” I crumble, racked with fresh sobs. How did this happen?
“Cat.” Nino kneels down in front of me, his hand resting on my knee. “Look at me.” He holds my gaze until I catch my breath. “I know who did this.” His eyes are bright, his mouth a scowl. “That’s why I hadn’t woken you yet. We caught the bastard.”
I wipe my forearm across my eyes, smearing my tears. “What? Who?”
“Connor Gallagher. The Mick broke into the house in the middle of the night to murder our father and steal the Bonasera diamond.”
An ice pick stabs my chest. “What?” What’s my brother saying? “No, Nino, no?—”
“The diamond is gone, and we found him near the vault.”
“No, Nino. That’s not possible. Connor…” I trail off.
What am I even trying to say? That Connor’s in lust with me? That he’d never do something so cold and sinister and calculating? That he’d never dupe me in the name of some grand mission he and Declan concocted?
He’s already done so once. What’s to stop him from doing so again?
But Connor wouldn’t kill my father. He knows how much the man means to me. He would never…
Hewouldsteal the Bonasera diamond, though. That is absolutely the kind of thing Connor Gallagher would do.
My lungs twist in my chest.
The Bonasera diamond would explain much of his ruse. Why he posed as Dane Ryder to find a way into my family home via my pants. Why he planted cameras everywhere and put such effort into working with me despite our families being enemies.
But why kill my father?
“That…that doesn’t make sense, Nino.” I hiccup around a sob. “There’s no way he’d do this.”
“We have that Mick in custody, Cat. But his partner, another damn King, disappeared over the wall with the diamond.”
“But…the alliance…” I crumble again, terrified by so many new truths that weren’t part of my existence when I fell asleep with Connor by my side.
My heart clenches as the room spins. My stomach heaves.
“The alliance with the Gallaghers is over. This is war.” Nino rises, glaring at our father and balling his fists. His face burns red. “They’re all going to die for this!”
He smashes a vase from Father’s bedside table on the floor with an earsplitting crack before stalking from the room.
I shudder and hug myself. Whoever killed our father… I almost feel sorry for them.
