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“Don’t go anywhere near him.”
“Don’t tell me what to do!” She turns her back to me, but I reach around her to try to snatch the bag away.
“Give it to me, Gia!”
“No! You’re not making the right choice!” She continues trying to squirm away, and even though I’ve got a few inches on her and a bigger frame, she puts up a good fight to keep the bag away.
“This is our best chance to figure out what he’s hiding!
He definitely had something to do with Lily, and this is our proof! If you give it to him, he’s going to tell everyone anyway!” I finally get my hands on the bag, and now we’re both gripping it, wrestling for possession. I get an elbow to the ribs and she gets a hip check, but neither one of us relents.
“I don’t care!” she exclaims, grunting as she tries and fails to rip the bag out of my grip. “Everyone finding out that you killed Stan is one of my worst fears! That gets people talking, and it’s one step closer to everyone discovering thatI’mthe one who killed Stan and made you take the fall for it!”
“Wait, what?” comes a shocked voice.
Gia and I freeze, our limbs tangled together and bodies bent in awkward positions. We drop the bag we were fighting over and straighten up, exchanging panicked glances.
Maybe she just walked in; maybe she didn’t hear anything.
“Did Gia just sayshekilled Stan Roven and made Siena take the fall?”
Fuck.
Fourteen
Gia hasn’t moved; she’s still staring at me with that horrified deer-in-headlights look, and her desperation, her need for me to help, is what finally gets me moving.
I turn to face Zia Stella, who’s standing in the doorway with her hand over her heart like it needs the extra support.
“Gia didn’t mean that,” I say, grasping at any semi-plausible lie. “She’s playing thewhat ifgame and being a bit too dramatic.”
Gia nods, but her face isn’t selling the story.
“No, Siena. No more lies. I know what I heard,”
Zia Stella insists, turning to Gia. It takes an incredible amount of effort to not step in front of her.
“Gia, tell me the truth right now,” Zia Stella demands, using her stern, authoritative voice. “Were you the one who killed Stan?”
Gia’s lip wobbles, and I feel helpless, so fucking helpless. Everything I’ve done, everything I’ve worked for to protect Gia, comes crumbling down with a single hesitant nod.
Zia Stella blows out a breath, putting her hand to her forehead as she tries to process everything this means, what it implies.“Fuck.”
“It’s not her fault,” I cut in, my brain racing to figure out how to make this all better. “Nothing has to change.
No one has to know—”
“That’senough,Siena!” Zia Stella snaps, and I take a step back, stunned. We’ve never heard Zia Stella swear before, or yell at us, and here she is doing both only seconds apart. “Gia, it wasyouwho killed Stan, and you let Siena take the fall for it? You let her remain locked away for all that time and never once thought about coming clean? You bothliedto authorities. Tampered with a murder investigation. Committedperjury.”
Zia Stella’s expression changes from shock to horror as she realizes the gravity of the situation. Her phone rings, but she makes no move to answer it.
This is the worst-case scenario. It was supposed to be over, and Gia and I would’ve taken this secret to our graves. But now our carefully constructed world is crumbling, and I don’t know how to stop it, how to keep Gia safe, how to keep the world from finding out the truth.
Tears stream down Gia’s face. “I didn’t mean to, Zia Stella.” She grabs Zia Stella’s arm, but our aunt rips it away from her, like she can’t stand being touched by her. The rejection hits Gia hard, and she wraps her arms around herself to clutch at her sides like she’s trying to hold herself upright.
Everything coming out now ismuch worsethan if it had come out right away. It was all settled and on its way to being pushed behind us. I was the murderer, and Gia was my innocent little sister. But now how will the narrative be spun? Me a liar and Gia a manipulative murderer?
Will another investigation be opened? Will we be taken away and separated? Will we face another trial? Will we be charged?
