Page 18 of Grave Secrets

“He tried to kill me,” I choke out. “I gave up. I just…”

“Ada,” Viktor says, lifting my chin. “You didn’t give up, baby. You are here in my arms. You got yourself to safety. That’s fighting back.”

“I don’t understand,” I say tearfully.

“I’m going to tell you something, and Andre might get mad, but I’m not going to keep it from you anymore,” he says. “Andre and Alan came to me after I was placed with you. They told me that Alan and his late wife were very close to your parents. Apparently, how you think they died isn’t true, and there are things about your family that no one has told you. They haven’t gotten specific, but Alan suggested that you not knowing was better and safer. Now that Chris has involved others, I’m starting to think he wasn’t in your life by accident.”

“My parents were the mafia,” I say. “I know that much.”

“That’s what I figured too,” he says. “So let’s rest and wait for them to get here. You are safe here.”

“Okay,” I sniff.

Viktor hugs me to his chest, and I relax into him. Within a few short minutes, I fall asleep.

“Hey,” I hear Viktor say softly. I don’t move when I hear someone else in the room.

“Is she okay?” Alan asks.

“No, Alan. He tried to fucking kill her. How did no one know?” Viktor asks.

“We had no idea who it was that she was dating. I had no way to connect anything back to her parents’ murder,” Alan says.

“So who is he?” Carlo asks.

“Chris Manchester is actually Christopher Vincci,” Andre says. “His father is Angelo Vincci.”

“Fuck,” Viktor sighs.

“Is that bad?” I ask, looking up at him. Viktor kisses me softly and hugs me, giving me my answer. We both sit up, and I keep the blanket in my lap. I glare at Alan and Andre, angry that they didn’t just tell me. “This is your fault. Both of you.”

“Ada,” Alan says.

“No!” I snap. “I almost fucking died because the son of the man who clearly had something to do with my parents’ dying invaded my life. I kept him from everyone because he was abusive, and I was too proud to ask for help, but none of that would’ve fucking happened if you two assholes had just fucking talked to me. If I had known from the beginning that you were so close with them, none of this would’ve happened.”

“I know,” Alan says softly. “Do you remember me?”

“No, not really,” I sigh. “I don’t remember much from being a kid. I wish I did.”

“Your parents loved you so much, Ada,” Alan says.

“Why did they die?” I ask.

“Because they refused to force you into marrying Chris,” Alan tells me. “They were about to move you across the country the next day, so they let you stay with a friend one last time. That was a really good idea, because explosives were put in the crawlspace.”

“Jesus,” I say. “So why does Chris owe someone money?”

“I don’t think his father knows,” Andre says. “I think he got into some shit with someone, and he’s trying to cover it up before his father finds out.”

“So what do we do then?” I ask.

“I’m going to suggest something that we did for Archer,” Andre says. “She is connected to Alan already, but you need to be connected to him.” He nods at Viktor. “We need far more support if we are going to go to war with Angelo, so you two need to be married. I’m talking about a full wedding, reception, and shit.”

“I’m going to assume that I no longer have a job,” I say.

“No,” Alan says. “Everyone there is at risk if you are. You can have one final group class to explain, but their care needs to be transferred out.”

“I can give them all to the new therapist, Megan,” I sigh. “They all like her.”