Page 2 of Sins and Secrets

Nurses pass me as I look at paperwork sitting in the file holder beside the door.

Arturo Carbone.

My pulse is pounding when I open the door and walk into the room.

As I stare at my father lying in the bed, looking fragile and like a shell of himself, I want to scream.

He’s covered in bandages with wires and tubes running back and forth from his body to the machines.

Seeing him like this makes me want to throw up.

We should have left the mafia a long time ago. We should have packed our bags and run the moment I was old enough to help support us. I should have made Papa see things my way.

“Papa, please come back to me, okay?” I whisper. “I need you to get well fast so I can get you out of this.” My voice chokes as I hold back tears.

There are too many machines connected to him. Everything around him is either beeping, filling him with fluids, or monitoring something.

It’s overwhelming. This is the worst that I’ve ever seen him.

“I was wondering how long it would be before you got here,” a deep voice says from behind me.

I wipe the tears away quickly before turning to face Alessio. He stands in the doorway, arms crossed, brow furrowed. My gaze drops to the way his tailored suit hugs his body, highlighting every firm line.

I always found his dark hair, blue eyes, and well-groomed beard attractive.

Even when I want to kill him for the trouble he has put my father through.

“What happened to him?” I ask as I head to the door. I glance over my shoulder at Papa again before leaving the room. “The nurses won’t tell me anything.”

The corner of his mouth tips up but there is still a haunting look lingering in his eyes. “Why do you assume that I would be able to tell you anything?”

My blood is boiling. “This is all your fault,” I say pointing to Papa’s room, “so stop playing these fucking games. Just tell me what happened to Papa.”

He arches an eyebrow. “Careful, Billie. You may be Arturo’s daughter, but you are still a subordinate. I will tolerate the tone only this once given the circumstances, but you will not make a habit of speaking to me this way.”

Argh, I could kill him right now.

But if I did that, I would have a mafia after me. Getting Papa out of this life is going to be hard enough as it is. I don’t need to add a mob boss murder to the list of reasons people are going to want me dead.

It almost kills me, but I have to play by his rules. For now.

“I’m sorry. I’m just worried about Papa. He’s too old to be getting attacked.”

Alessio frowns and stands taller, his shoulders stiff as he glares down at me. “Your father knew what he was getting into.”

“It’s nothing to be too worried about. A job went wrong. The men who attacked him are now dead.”

I cross my arms, trying to hold myself together.

“But what’s happening to him now? You have to know something! You’re a powerful man. There is no way that my papa is your consigliere and you know nothing about his condition. Please?”

Alessio studies me for a minute, his gaze traveling up and down my body. Heat floods to my core and my cheeks warm as I try not to look at him.

Why can’t you just get rid of this damn crush? He’s nineteen years older than you. He’s Papa’s best friend.

Papa, who is fighting for his life.

I feel sick. I shouldn’t be thinking about what Alessio has always done to me when Papa is in the hospital.

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