AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sofia stiffens, the knife slamming through the garlic a little harder. “Alright, so we have confirmation. Do you think they’re the ones after Brielle?”
“I know they are. They said that they wanted her. When I told them that they would only be able to get to her over my dead body, they didn’t seem too upset by that.”
She sets the knife to the side and wipes her hand on the towel that’s draped over her shoulder. “They were part of the cartel a long time ago. Something happened before their supposed death. I haven’t found out what yet. I’m still looking through my father’s files. If he gave the order to kill them, then it had to be for a good reason.”
“What if there was no order to kill them? If you can’t find it in those meticulous records your father kept, then it could have been something they set up themselves.”
Her eyes widen slightly and she nods. “You could be right about that. Papa kept notes on everything that happened every day. I’ve gone through most of them since his death and I haven’t found much about Brielle’s parents.”
“Keep digging. If they cornered me, they’re going to be looking for a way to get her next.”
“You need to talk to the rest of the family about this too.”
I nod and run my hand through my hair. “I don’t want Brielle to know what is going on yet. Even the thought of her parents still being alive nearly broke her. I don’t want her to go through that again when there’s a chance we can make this all blow over.”
“For what it’s worth, I think that woman is stronger than you give her credit for.”
“I know she is, but all the stress isn’t good for the baby either. Please, just call the meeting for midnight. She should be asleep and Matteo already knows what’s going on. He’ll be able to watch over her while we talk.”
“Alright. Midnight. Got it.”
As I get up and start helping her with dinner, I can’t help but think that everything is going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better.
* * *
Damien sipson his drink and shakes his head. “I haven’t heard anything about these people before you started looking out for Brielle. If they were up to something with someone outside of the cartel, it wasn’t the famiglia.”
I run my hand down my face as I lean back in my seat. “They had to be up to something. Sofia’s father had his suspicions about them, but he didn’t give the order to kill them.”
“Alright,” Gio says, gesturing at Javier Alvarez’s journal. “So, this tells us nothing about them, but have you tried talking to Brielle? She might remember something about that time that she thought was unimportant before.”
“I’m not going to be talking to her about it. She doesn’t need more stress right now. She needs to focus on getting better after the beating that she took.”
Aria sighs and shakes her head. “You might think that you’re protecting her, but what if you end up losing her after this?”
I shrug. “As long as she is safe, then I quite frankly don’t give a shit. I would rather her be safe and hate me.”
“So, your solution is to keep everything a secret and make yourself miserable in the end,” Aria says as she glares at me. “Do you like sabotaging your own life?”
“Fuck off. This isn’t up for discussion. If you want to help, keep Brielle busy and out of my business. If you don’t want to help, then keep your mouth shut.”
If looks could kill, Aria would have killed me by now. She looks like she is ready to lunge across the room at me as Tyson leans over and whispers something to her.
Sofia paces from one side of the room to the other, whispering something in Spanish to herself. Damien looks at her, concern clear on his face. I know he would be feeling better if the defectors were part of the famiglia instead of the cartel.
He does everything he can to protect her from herself.
I like to think that’s what I’m doing with Brielle, though I know Aria is right about sabotaging myself. If I keep another secret from Brielle, she is going to be pissed. I doubt that she will ever forgive me for not telling her that her parents are alive, but it’s better this way.
That’s what I tell myself as the family starts trying to plan a way to deal with Brielle’s parents.
The main problem is that I don’t know what they want beyond her. I won’t be able to keep Brielle trapped in the house. She’ll know that something is up if I start making excuses for why she can’t go out.
I’m going to have to rely on Matteo to keep her safe when I can’t.
“What are you doing?” Damien asks as I stand up and pull out my phone. “I thought that we were staying here until we figured out how we are going to flush these people out.”
“I have to call Brennan and tell him what’s going on.” I take a deep breath as I scroll through my phone, looking for his contact information. He’s going to be pissed when I tell him how bad things have gotten.
