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“We have solved one issue,” my brother says, “but there’s still another. The Espositos. While your story is convincing, Julian, I’m not sure Anna-Vittoria will be so easily appeased.”
“Might be able to help you out there,” Leo tells him, standing up tall. All at once, he’s a lion again.
“What do you mean?” I ask suspiciously, looking up at him.
But Sandro nods thoughtfully. “Come and talk to me in the study. The rest of you—you are dismissed tonight.”
The men file out, Vito in particular looking disappointed that the show is over. Sandro refuses point-blank to let me get wheeled in my hospital bed into the study. Instead, I’m returned to my room like a child. Thirty minutes pass while I fret, and then I send for Pedretti, who tells me that Leo is still talking with Sandro, and Sandro gave orders for them not to be disturbed.
That sounds ominous.
“What’s going on with the Espositos?” I ask Pedretti.
“You know as much as I know. How about you get some rest and I’ll send Leo up when your brother’s done with him.”
I like Pedretti. He’s always been good to me. “I’m sorry I threatened to pull out your voice box.”
He gives a crooked smile, pausing in the doorway. “Already forgotten,” he says. “Get some sleep, Julian.”
I rest some more, but the moment I sense a change in the air pressure, I open my eyes just as Leo’s tall figure steps into the room. He seems tense as he shuts the door behind him.
“Hey,” he says. “How are you feeling?”
“Forget about that. Come here and tell me what Sandro wanted.”
“He gave me some options.” Leo hesitates for a moment, as if torn between divulging the details or keeping them to himself, but then he crosses the floor to me and sits down next to the bed. I pat the bed, motioning for him to come onto it, but he shakes his head.
“Well?” I ask impatiently. “What did Sandro say?”
CHAPTER55
JULIAN
Leo worries me,the way he watches me so closely. “Well,” he begins, “your brother laid my choices out pretty clear. One option is for me to leave Los Angeles. Just walk away from everything. Another is for me to swear loyalty to him—to Don Castellani—and serve in his Family.YourFamily.”
I swallow hard, a cold knot forming in my chest at the thought of Leo leaving—or theveryunlikely option of him joining the Castellanis. Leo is proud. Honorable. It’s one thing to leave the Bernardis, quite another to sign up with their greatest enemy.
But I need to know where he stands.
“Have you made your decision?” I ask, trying to keep my voice steady.
“Not yet.”
“Leo,” I plead, “you have to understand, I didn’t mean tohurtyou by springing it on you like that, your father’s involvement. I didn’t tell you because I needed that natural reaction from you. I knew the inner circle—but more importantly,Sandro—would never believe you’d accept my vendetta unless they saw and heard it from your own mouth…and found it convincing.”
I’ve never worried about that kind of thing before. Never cared about how my words landed with others, how they might affect people. But with Leo...
I watch his face for any hint of understanding or forgiveness, the little mole above his expressive eyebrows dancing as his face moves.
When he finally speaks, his voice is raw with emotion. “You know, when we first met at The Cellar, I was masked, pretending to be someone I wasn’t to gain your trust,” he begins. “And you were playing me, too. We started out in lies and betrayals.”
I’m not sure I like the sound of that. “Leo,” I say, reaching out to put my hand on his. “If you hadn’t worn a mask that night, it wouldn’t have made any difference. I still wouldn’t have recognized you. You know that.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about,” he sighs.
“Are you wondering how I knew about Roxanne Rochford overhearing that conversation between your father and Rizzo? Because youhadto assume there were bugs in her room. Right?”
Leo gives a little snort. “Uh, yeah,” he says. “I assumed. Especially after you pointed out those cameras in the damn trees. But no. That’s not what I meant. What I mean is…” I steel myself. “What I mean is, we are who we are, but we need to be able to trust each other if this is going to work.”
