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“Hey!” she exclaimed softly, and with a hint of hesitation.What the hell? She was afraid of me?
We hugged and I looked over her shoulder to glare at Dante, who crossed his arms and glared back.
That feeling of dread returned like a wrecking ball. My eyes narrowed as I stepped out of Noemi’s hug.
“Come in,” I said, moving out of their way and not taking my eyes off one of the world’s best assassins as he walked into my home with the person I loved most in the world.
They took a few steps into the foyer then we all stood there. Dante glaring at me, me staring back and Noemi staring at the floor.
Fuck it. That feeling told me that the game was over. Noemi looked like she’d cried for days. No amount of makeup could hide that from me. And the fact that Dante was with her, looking pissed as hell, after he had said they were through. The man was many things, but he wasn’t a liar.
And neither was I.
“Are you okay?” I asked Noemi. The love I felt for my sister took precedence over underworld shenanigans.
“Better, but... There are some things I wanted to talk to you about.”
I nodded, wondering which one of the things on my list she had discovered.
“Okay.” I tried to play along like I knew why she was there. “I guess I’m not surprised.”
Whatever it was, I’d be as honest as I could be, but it wasn’t like they were my secrets alone to keep. Some of them could get me in hot water with the U.S. government. Others would get me in hot water with some not nice people, like Dante Calegari. Others could get me killed. It was a delicate balance. I’d have to take my cues from her and Dante and rely on my instincts for the rest.
“Come into the living room. Can I get you something to drink?” I used social niceties to give me time to think, to try to read Dante to see if I could pick up on a clue as to why the hell he was there with her.
“Do you have some iced tea?” she asked. “I need some caffeine but no coffee.”
“Sure.” I got three glasses and the pitcher of sweet tea my little sis knew would be in my refrigerator. It was my go-to drink when my nerves weren’t driving me to the amber contents of a shot glass.
I poured our drinks then pushed one glass towards each of them before taking a sip of mine and waiting. The silence killed me. And acting like a coward didn’t sit well with me. It was time to poke.
But before I could speak, Dante apparently had come to the same conclusion.
“She knows.” He ignored his glass of tea and fixed me with his steady gaze. I tried to read him.What? What the fuck did she know? About him? About me? About what I’d done in Barbados?I needed more information than he gave and the smug expression on his face as I deliberated my next move made me think he knew that and was enjoying my discomfort.
So, I played his game. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know if I can. Just ask.”
There the ball was in his court. “If I can” meant if it won’t get one of us killed. “Just ask” meant I would only answer specific questions. No fishing expeditions. Noemi wouldn’t analyze each word, but Dante sure as hell would.
Noemi hesitated until Dante put his hand on the small of her back. She looked up at him, her expression changing before she faced me again.
“I wanted to ask you about Mom and Dad. About... the night they died.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. For years, I prayed this day wouldn’t come and now it had. Something must have tipped her off if she were suddenly having doubts about what I’d told her. They were just a few white lies, to protect her. And them. But if she’d learned that I had lied to her and everything she thought she knew about that night was fabricated, then that would explain why she looked like she had sent the entire night crying.
But I wasn’t sure, so I had to remain vague. “What do you want to know?”
My sister had a backbone. She didn’t use it unless she had to, but she wasn’t pleased with my evasiveness. “You could start with the truth then move on to why you’ve lied to me about it.”
“I told you,” Dante said. “She knows.”
I thought it odd but as he continued, I began to understand.
“She knows about the coroner’s report, about the cause of the accident.”
He didn’t say anymore, and Noemi nodded.
“Okay, Noe,” I said softly. “If you’ve found out the details, then what more do you want to know?”
