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“How much do you need?” I ask, my tone laced with resignation.
It takes him a moment to respond. “He doesn’t want money.”
I lift my gaze to him, and the tightness in my chest increases when I realize the real problem. Whatever Luca wants, my father actually has. But he doesn’t want to give it up.
“Give it to him,” I implore. “I don’t care what it is. Give it to him!”
Sighing, he looks up at me. “You will care,” he says regretfully. “What he wants is your sister.”
* * *
It’s the following day, and I’m standing in the corner of the office, anxiously chewing on my thumbnail, my leg shaking almost uncontrollably while my sister processes what she’s just been asked to do.
My father and I both stare at Alma as she sits with her hands delicately clasped on her lap. Her large eyes are wide and she’s completely still, like a deer caught in the headlights. So the deer stays put in the face of danger, not because it’s brave, but because it’s unsure of which way to run.
“This isn’t an obligation, Alma,” I say, moving to her. I crouch in front of her and reach up to stroke her cheek. “You don’t have to say yes.”
Daddy clenches his teeth so hard, I can hear them practically grinding to a pulp, but he says nothing.
“Why me?” Alma asks. “Why does he want to marry me and not you?”
The question is innocent and full of fear.
I give her a small smile because it’s all I can muster. “I guess he thinks you’re the pretty one.”
“But I’m not made for that type of life, Cari. What do I know about being the wife of a gangster? I can’t even lie without feeling awful for weeks on end!” She begins to frantically twist the material of her powder-blue shirt between her slim fingers. “What if he’s not nice to me?”
I tuck a loose strand of her shoulder-length hair behind her ear. It’s silk between my fingers, the way mine used to be before I lightened it.
“Luca was nice to you when we were kids,” I remind her. “You had a crush on him.”
The side of her mouth quirks up. “I did.”
“And later, you still thought he was handsome,” I say.
Though I could see the interest in her eyes whenever Luca came around, she doesn’t acknowledge it. She may have liked his bad-boy vibe, but it scared her too. Especially as he got older and took on jobs for his brother. Even worse, when he began to run his own operations. He may still have been nice to Alma, but his surliness always came through. That blue gaze that might as well have been black with how dark it could get when he’d look at you.
Or maybe that was just me.
Alma turns to our dad. “There’s no other way?”
“I have nothing to offer him but my blood. People like him want their favors repaid when they want them repaid,” he tells her, and her pale skin takes on a greenish hue.
“Daddy!” I push through gritted teeth. “You’re not helping yourself.”
It pisses me off that he worked all night to convince me to at least give Alma the choice. Literally fell to his knees in front of me and wrapped his arms around my waist, refusing to let me go until I gave him this.
Now he’s the one fucking it all up.
Alma lets out a sob. I take her hand, my heart breaking for the decision she shouldn’t have to make. No child should ever have to decide whether they should give up their life for their parent. Especially not someone as sweet and timid as Alma.
I wish it had been me. I’m harder to break. While I have always been there to shield Alma from Daddy’s bad decisions, there’s been no one to protectme. Not after Mom died.
Then again, it’s possible that’s exactly why Luca chose my sister. She’ll go quietly. Like a little lamb to the slaughter, accepting her fate.
“Don’t do it,” I suddenly blurt out. “He’ll break you.”
“Carina!” my father yells. “Let her decide.”
