Page 36 of Sins and Secrets

My gut says yes, but there have been so few of those people in my life that I doubt my feelings.

If you can trust Arturo, you can trust Billie.

At least, I want to be able to trust Billie. It will be nice to have someone to talk to that I don’t need to worry about.

The part that concerns me is that she’s always been a bit of a mystery to me. Add that to the fact that she was in Paolo’s club for an auction, and it makes me a little suspicious.

I could only tell her a little about things that are going on until I know if I can trust her.

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” Billie says, a sweet smile on her face as she leans against the steps and looks up at the sky. “It’s a beautiful evening.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to talk about it,” I say, sighing as I run my hand through my hair. “I don’t know if I can trust you.”

“Blunt.” Her tone is teasing as she glances over at me. “It’s alright. I know that telling you that you can trust me isn’t going to help you figure it out, but for what it’s worth, I dislike Paolo far more than I dislike you.”

I laugh, feeling a little more at ease with her. “I guess that’s fair. I know what I’m like. I’m not going to make an apology for it either. It’s kept me alive for this long.”

“I suppose that’s the best that anyone can hope for.” She crosses one long leg over the other, her skin glowing golden beneath the setting sun.

“The problems with Paolo run deeper than most,” I say, taking a flying leap and making the choice to trust her.

“More so than him trying to destroy you and the people who follow you?” Billie looks over at me, and for a moment, I picture a different life.

One where I’m sitting on the porch and we’re talking about something trivial instead of the man I’m going to kill.

It’s the life I’ve always wanted for myself. Sitting on my porch and talking to someone else about my day. The mafia left far behind me.

That’s another world, though.

“He’s starting to move into Herrera’s territory in Tennessee. Which means that he’s now got at least two states full of gangs and low-level criminals flocking to him to try and climb their way up the ladder.”

Billie nods like she understands where this is going. “Papa told me a couple weeks ago that Paolo was going to become a problem. He’s always said that Paolo was nothing but trouble, though. Even when I was little, he told me to stay away from him at meetings.”

“Yeah, Arturo always had a better feel for people.” I cross my arms and lean back slightly. “It’s hard. He was my brother’s best friend. Enzo made me promise before he died to make sure that Paolo didn’t get himself into a lot of trouble. I feel like I’ve failed him, but I don’t know what else I can do.”

She shrugs. “I don’t know if there is anything that you can do at this point. Some people don’t want to be saved and you have to accept that about them.”

“You seem to know a lot for someone as young as you are.”

Billie rolls her eyes. “Please, I’m barely younger than you.”

“Twenty-four is a lot younger than forty-three.” Even as I say it, I know it’s the harsh reminder that I need to stay away from her.

I allowed myself to lose control the other day in my office, but it can’t happen again. Billie is too young to get caught up in this shit.

Sometimes I wonder why Arturo never sent her away like so many other parents have done. Yes, things were different while my father and brother were alive, but once I took over, he wouldn’t have been met with a fight if he said he wanted to keep her safe.

Now, she was in too deep. Though she is too young to be caught up in this lifestyle, she is.

Blood in, death out.

That has been the policy of the Marchetti mafia for longer than I’ve been alive.

“Nineteen years,” Bille says, scoffing playfully. “That’s nothing. Although, I think I see a few gray hairs starting to form.”

I shake my head, the corner of my mouth twitching. “You’re a brat.”

“Why did you bid on me?” she asks, her tone a little softer.

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