Beneath a polished exterior, tiny termites gnaw at the world’s foundation.They do their dirty business while the rest of us look the other way, pretending it isn’t happening.Right and wrong are relative concepts from their vantage point, and everything is viewed in shades of gray.
And I fucking hate it.I hate having to live in a world like that.
But I don’t have any other choice.The only thing Icancontrol is what I do when an injustice faces me.Regulate my emotions, handle the situation as best as I can.Do the maximum possible amount of good.
Right now, all I care about is getting Daniela home safely.I can work on the planet’s other cruelties once I have that squared away.
Vinnie leaves the office to refill his mug.I sit down at his desk and stare at the piles of papers scattered across it.Printouts, screenshots, scrawled notes in his messy handwriting.
Half of it looks like research on the chef’s international culinary associations, travel itineraries, personnel lists from the Agudelo estate.
I move without thinking, riffling through one of the folders.
I shouldn’t.But I can’t just sit here while the world keeps turning and Dani’s out there alone.
A ripped sheet from a yellow legal pad catches my eye.
Jacinto Agudelo, oldest child of Jacinto Sr.and Luisa Agudelo.Married to Rosa Agudelo, née de Costa, deceased.
Brothers, Carlos (deceased) and Jesus Agudelo.Sister Juanita Guzman, née Agudelo.Married to Paco Guzman.
Half-brother, Franco Agudelo, Jacinto Sr.’s son with children’s nanny, Manuelita Sanchez.
Franco Agudelo aka Francisco Sanchez aka?—
I gulp.
Aka Gordon Brown.
For a second, I can’t breathe.I just stare at it.
The paper rustles in my hands, and for the first time in a long time, I feel sick.A real, deep sickness that starts in my gut and climbs up my throat.
Her uncle.Half-uncle, but still an uncle.Still related by blood.
The man who raped her.The man who made her crawl and beg and bleed.He was family.
Family.
I don’t even hear Vinnie come back in until his voice cuts through the air behind me.“I see you’ve found my notes.”
I spin around, holding the sheet.“Is this true?”My voice cracks around the words.“Tell me this is some sick joke her father cooked up to mess with her.Tell me you made a mistake.”
Vinnie doesn’t answer right away.He takes a slow sip of coffee, sets the mug down, and walks over.His eyes are bloodshot, dark shadows under them.When he finally meets my gaze, the look on his face tells me everything.
“Yeah,” he says quietly.“It’s true.”
I stare at him.“You’ve known?”
“I wasn’t sure until last night.”He rubs at his forehead.“I needed to confirm it before I told you anything.”
My voice turns sharp.“And you didn’t think maybe Dani had the right to know?That she might want to be told the man who helped to destroy her life shares her blood?”
Vinnie’s jaw tightens.“You think she’d want that?You think it would help her now?”
“She deserves the truth.”
He exhales, long and low.“Maybe.But sometimes the truth doesn’t save people.It just breaks them faster.”
