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“Why do you look like that?” I realize Antonio’s been staring at me while I’ve been debating over confessing.
“It’s just my face.”
“Your face looks so strained it’s like you’re trying to shit out the entire Packers offensive line.” He points at me. “Spill.”
I clearly need to work on my poker face. On the other hand, it’s never been a problem before. Only when it comes to Carina does my mask slip. She’s also been under my skin, my little brat turning me upside down and inside out.
I take a deep breath. “It’s not the entire Falco clan. There’s only one bad apple in the bunch.”
“And how would you know that?” Antonio leans back, his gaze fastened on me.
“I have some inside information that–”
“From where?”
“A source.”
His eyes narrow. “Go on.”
“Carson Falco is trying to branch out from his family and work on new endeavors. Everyone we fired from the Larone trafficking systems–the ones we left alive–they work for him now. It’s been going on for a few months, but he’s already buying and selling women, probably turning a decent profit.”
“Carson Falco. The kid who came in here and said all the right things? The one Carina chose for a date?”
I nod. “It’s him.”
Antonio stares for a long time, no doubt going over the myriad of troubles that will arise from wiping out Falco’s operation.
“But there’s another wrinkle.” I have to take my licks. There’s no way around it.
“What wrinkle?”
I clear my throat. Generally, I’m not the type of man to be afraid. I logically plan out all the eventualities, which has kept Antonio alive and atop a thriving empire. I’m the reasonable one. I know that. But this thing with Carina, it defies all logic. It defies everything I’ve ever believed about myself. I think that’s how I know it’s right–Carina is the piece of me I never knew was missing. She gives me a spark of wildfire that seems to burn right through me, all the way to the center of my heart where she lives.
“Carina has gotten involved in trying to shut down the trafficking operation, and Falco made her from surveillance footage. That’s the reason she chose him for a date–he blackmailed her into it, and I have zero doubts he’d try to blackmail her into a marriage.” My teeth grind at the thought of it. “I would never let that happen.”
Antonio blinks slowly. “What do you mean ‘Carina has gotten involved’?” His voice is low, deadly.
I retell her clandestine operation with her friends from school, including their ongoing desire to stop Falco at all costs. When I’m done, Butcher has moved around behind me. The huge killer is practically breathing down my neck.
Antonio flips a quarter over his knuckles. Back and forth. Back and forth. His brows are wrinkled in thought. When he finally looks up at me, I can’t read what’s in his eyes.
“And how do you happen to know all this about Carina, Gilly? My second in command. The man I trust above all others? How exactly do you know what Carina has been up to right down to the fucking second?”
I’m sitting here looking into the barrel of a proverbial gun. If I tell the truth, it might go off. But there’s nothing for it. I love Carina. No bullet will ever change that fact.
“I know because she spent the night with me last night.”
Antonio’s mouth drops open.
“I know because I love her, Antonio. I’ve loved her ever since she came back from school. She’s it for me. I know this might get me killed. Hell, for all I know, Butcher is pointing a knife at my neck right now.” My hackles rise as I say the words. “But that doesn’t matter because I love her. I love Carina, and I want to make her my wife. I know I should’ve told you, should’ve come to you first. But this thing between Carina and me … it’s not something I can describe. It’s not something I planned.” I shrug. “But it’s also not something I can deny. I want Carina for myself. Forever.”
Antonio slowly rises, thunderclouds gathering across his brow.
I take a deep, calming breath and send out a silent message to Carina. It contains an apology for leaving her so suddenly, and more than that, it contains all my love.
20
CARINA
“You guys still here?” They really aren’t going to give up on this one. I towel dry my hair as I walk toward my closet to find something to wear. I wonder when Gilly is going to tell my brother about Falco. I should have told him to wait for me so we could go to Antonio together. It’s my mess, and I’ve pulled everyone else into it.
“We left and came back,” Bianca says. I can tell she wants to say more but is holding herself back.
