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He pauses and I process. “What had been done…you mean, the burns?”
“Yes. Then the man who saved me, he’s really the one who raised me and trained me. More my father than James White ever was. When I got to college, I trained with others. Gailo, Melody, Robbie.”
“Melody, your sister?”
He sighs and I know the answer. More lies, I have to look away. “Idothink of her as a sister, I promise you. Is she my biological sister? No. But there was never, ever anything romantic between us, please, believe me.”
“Believe you!?” My voice is pinched. My body is starting to shake.
“Okay, poor choice of words. But I’m telling you everything now, everything that I can.” He drops the ice pack and turns it over in his hands. He considers what to say next. Which probably means it’s just more lies. “We’re all tragedies. Bystanders left to die. Innocents. Back then, anyway. Ghosts left behind by the syndicates.” I look up at him. “Your uncle, the Italians, the Russians, Irish, all of them.”
“So you are a…a spy?”
“I wouldn’t say spy, but in the sense that you’re asking, yes is the simple answer.” He grabs a water bottle from the few Gailo set on the nightstand. “Not a cop, though. Not any federal organization. They’re all spineless, powerless, and almost as corrupt as the syndicates themselves.” He takes a swig.
“He’s going to kill you. All of you.” I whisper.
Mark tries to grab my hand but I pull away. “He won’t. He thinks I’m being held hostage by the Italians right now.”
Wait, what? Luna’s famiglia?“The Italians?”
He inhales a deep breath before continuing. “Yes. Then your uncle will have to retaliate. Hopefully, there will be war.” He sees the terror cross over my face. He hardens as he explains. “We are out for justice, Ellie. They will all fall eventually,familia, famiglia,all the mobs. All the deranged sadistic fucks who run this country. We will take all of them out, one by one.”
“What do you mean…t-take them out.” I gulp.
He reaches out to me and again I pull away. This time, he grabs my knees and holds them. “I will explain, our mission, our history. My history, starting with the fire. But first, I want the doc to check your head.”
He gets up and lets Dr. Phillips in. Mark hovers in the corner, watching as I’m examined. I have trouble answering questions about my symptoms, but not because of my body.
It’s more my mind that’s struggling. And maybe my heart.
Finally, I am seeing the real Mark.Marco?All of him. He’s doing it…opening up to me.
But just to tell me that everything he’s ever told me was a lie. Was anything between us true or real?
And…is my husband planning to murder my family?
CHAPTER 34
Eleanna
“So, no falling asleep for a few more hours.” Mark says as Dr.Phillips leaves.
“Pff, as if I could fall asleep right now.”
“Come, let’s go to the living room. I’ll get you some tea.” He reaches for me.
I evade his hands. “No! I’ll walk myself.”
He scowls and balls his fists, moving closer. But at the last moment he sighs, relaxes his shoulders and moves out of my way. I storm past him, head high, and take a seat on one of the wingback chairs across from the sofa. I don’t want him cozying up next to me on the couch. I need space. I need to think. I replay what he’s told me so far, but it’s a jumbled mess.
I remember one thing clearly. He’s out to take down my family. Which means he’s going to die. I’m not sure at this moment which thought scares me more.
“Here. It’s chamomile.” He hands a steaming mug to me.
“I’m kind of surprised you even know where the tea is in the house.” I sound angry. I am angry. I watch him sit down on the couch across from me. He bends over with his elbows on his knees and steeples his fingers. He sighs.
“It was a coffee shop.” He looks up, and locks eyes with me. “My Papá ran a coffee shop. The whole family did. My mamá andabuelahelped. We basically lived there as kids. Me and my younger brother and sister.” He pauses and gulps, looking away, like he’s swallowing down a storm of feelings. “He laundered money, for yourabuelo. For years. He was a loyal, perfectsoldado.And one month he messed something up, missed thousands of dollars. A lot of money had been going missing at the time. This was right before yourtíotook over. Someone in the operation had to be made into an example. You don’t steal fromla familia.”He stops to just breathe. I realize I need to breathe too. My heartbeat is hammering in my skull.
