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“Yeah.” That’s all Daniel managed to say.
“Then I’m gonna go. Give you three some privacy.”
“No. Come in. You should hear what I have to tell Muriella.”
Stone strode across the room and rested his rear on one of the oversized arms of my chair. I silently pleaded with Daniel to put me out of my misery. I couldn’t stand being in the dark, even if I wasn’t going to like the news. He swallowed hard, and Vivian squeezed their interlaced fingers.
“Tell me,” I said, twisting mine into knots in my lap.
“I’m going to prison—”
My heart stopped. Stone stiffened beside me.
“Not if I can help it,” Vivian said, her outburst determined.
I looked back and forth between them in confusion. “Will someone please tell me what is going on? Prison?” Panic rose.
I glanced to Stone, who looked as perplexed as I felt. I must have misheard. The two of them were sitting there as if we were discussing nothing more than what we should have for dinner.
“I confessed to killing my father.”
The onslaught of nausea was swift. I gripped the arm of the chair unoccupied by Stone and willed it away. “Why—why would you do that? You didn’t kill him.”
Surprise registered on his face, but he quickly smoothed it back to impassive. “To keep the man you met last night from going to prison for his murder.”
I stared at him. The Daniel I knew was protective of the people he cared about to a fault. How could there be this other person in his life who was obviously very important to him, but that he’d kept from me? I sat on the edge of the seat as a tumultuous mix of emotions swirled inside of me.
Stone shoved his hand between his legs as if trying not to touch me. Discreetly, I scooted away. I couldn’t handle that. Not now.
The weight of Daniel’s admission gripped my heart and squeezed until all I could focus on was the anger that was taking hold of me.
“If he did it, he should be the one to serve the time. Not you.” I folded my arms over my chest.
“He’s…” Daniel hesitated as if searching for the right words. “Donato is the reason I’m where I am today. I owe him.”
“Hemadeyou confess?” My jaw worked as an overwhelming hatred for this man I didn’t know consumed me.
“No. No. He was furious when he bailed me out.”
“You went to jail?!” I clutched my throat as bile rose, burning my esophagus. How could this happen without me knowing? Everything I thought I knew was being swept away like it was nothing.
“Why didn’t you call me? I could’ve gotten you out,” Stone said, his jaw clenched.
Daniel recoiled as if surprised by the support. “I didn’t want to get out. If Donato had left well enough alone, I’d still be there.”
Vivian elbowed him in the side. “You’d rather be there than here?”
He kissed the top of her head. “Of course not. It’s not that simple.”
“So what happens now?” I crossed one leg over the other and wiggled my foot at a rapid pace. We had a routine. A safe one. If he was in prison, where did that leave Vivian and me? What if those people came back in retaliation? What if my past resurfaced?
“I won’t let Donato go down for this.” Daniel’s jaw worked into a stubborn set.
“Never mind your family.” I turned away in disgust, unable to look at him. He couldn’t be this bound to someone I didn’t know. When he’d been forced to choose between us and that man, he’d chosen him.
“He’s my family too,” Daniel confessed, his tone soft.
“Then why don’t we know him?” I challenged.
