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“Antonio,” Emilia seethes. “You took him someplace. Where?”
“He was becoming a problem. I dealt with it. I suggest you get over your feelings, grieve your brother, and move on.”
Mom crumbles to the floor, sobbing so loudly my heart begins to break.
“So, he’s dead?” Emilia asks.
“Yes.” That one simple word makes all my sisters start to cry. Whereas I can only stare at Franco in shock. He couldn’t really kill Antonio. My brother is his nephew. His blood. You can’t hurt your own kin. Antonio cannot be dead.
Emilia wipes away her tears and slams her fists into Franco’s chest, making him step back. “No. You tell me where he is! Tell me where he is!”
Franco shoves her back. I run forward and catch Emilia before she can fall. She gives me a grateful nod. Franco huffs and walks past us, heading into the living room.
“We need to find out where Antonio is,” Emilia whispers to me. “He can’t be dead.”
“What …” I hate to ask it. “What if he is?”
Emilia shoots me a sharp look. “No. Don’t give up hope.”
“I won’t. But I don’t think Franco will tell us anything.”
“I know. Unless …” She eyes me over. I frown. “Unless you’re somebody he tends to ignore.”
“Oh no.” I step away from her. “I can’tspyon Franco.”
“You have to. It’s our only way. Francesca, I know you don’t like it, but you do tend to be ignored. It’s not fair. It’s not right. But use it to your advantage. Listen in to Franco’s conversations. See if he tells anyone anything about Antonio’s whereabouts. Please.” She grips my hand. “You’re the only one who can do this.”
“What about our sisters?” I nod at them. They’re still huddled together, crying. “Why can’t they do it?”
“They’re too young. You have to do it.”
She’s … right. I was ready to say goodbye to my family, but now, I have to be the one to save them.
“All right,” I finally say. “I’ll try.”
“Thank you.” She hugs me fiercely, and it reminds me of how good Emilia is at comforting people, how warm her hugs can be.
Emilia goes to our sisters and mom and leads them upstairs. She makes a big show of making a lot of noise so Franco knows she’s gone. That just leaves me.
I edge closer to the living room and listen in, but Franco’s just watching TV. I don’t know how he can be so callous as to hurt my brother, then come home and watch TV like nothing happened.
I stand there for so long that I’m about to give up when I hear Franco speak. “Is it done?” he asks. I jerk up. Looking around the archway into the living room, I see him talking on his phone. He doesn’t even look over at me. “Is the little shit dead?” He must be talking about Antonio.
Franco is quiet as whoever is on the other line speaks. “No. You need to make that happen.” He propels himself to standing. “What! He can’t have escaped. You need to go and get him back.Now. He needs to be dealt with immediately.” Franco pauses. “If you find him, bring him back to the docks. Understood? And then kill him.” Franco hangs up, tossing his phone onto the ground as he groans. “Why can’t anyone do anything right?”
He starts to turn in my direction, but I back up before he can see me. The only problem is I end up bumping into the side table in the foyer. Oh no.
Franco comes storming into the foyer and freezes when he sees me. “Francesca? I didn’t realize you’d returned from LA.”
“I … I came with Emilia,” I whisper. “I just came down to get some water. So …” I try walking past him, but he stops me.
“Were you listening in on my conversation?”
“What conversation?” I ask as fast as I can.
Franco huffs, a smirk on his face. “I don’t think you’re as sweet and innocent as you’d have everyone else believe. I’m watching you, Francesca.”
“No one ever does.” I walk around him and head to the kitchen, where I stop and prop myself on the counter, catching my breath. That was a close call. Franco knows I was listening, which means Emilia and I only have a small window to find Antonio. I don’t have a specific place where he was last seen, but I know it was down by the docks. If Antonio is on the run, then we can start looking there.
