He’s part brother, part father, part boss. He’s been in control of the De Luca family since our parents died at Caterina’s engagement party six years ago.

But, even prior to that, Marco was always the one in charge of Dino and me.

He’s never been just a brother.

Or maybe he’s just the ultimate mob boss.

I’m inclined to think that.

He was never a kid; Marco walked out of the hospital in a full three-piece suit, cell phone glued to his ear, making deals with shipping magnates the world over. It doesn’t make sense to me to picture Marco as irresponsible or childish.

Or dead.

I don’t know how to live in a world without Marco in it.

“Think about it, Sal,” she whispers, glancing up at me.

Gia may be significantly shorter than I am, but she makes up for it in attitude. The ten-inch height difference doesn’t seem to matter at all, and sometimes, I feel like she’s actually the one towering over me.

It makes me feel challenged. Like I have to be worthy of her.

Until recently, I loved that feeling.

“Yeah, I’ve thought about it. He can’t be dead.”

She tucks her head on my shoulder, clearly playing up the vision that we’re just two lovers out for a late-night stroll.

Inside my chest, my heart burns.

“There’s no way that he could have dropped off the face of the earth otherwise. You and I would have heard about it.”

“You’re assuming we would have,” I say quietly.

“We would have. There is nothing that sneaks by both of us.”

“You didn’t know about Luna,” I venture.

Her head pops up off my shoulder, fast enough that I need to dodge it in order to keep my nose from breaking. “I knew one of you had a child. I just didn’t know who.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Did you think it was me?”

She puts her head back on my shoulder and motions us to walk forward. “I didn’t know who it was,” she says, slightly defensive.

Interesting.

“Who did you think it was?”

“Dino,” she says.

“Why?”

“He’s shady as hell.”

I don’t want to laugh at that. Dino is shady as hell, always has been. It’s not funny now, knowing what I know about how he sold us out, how he got Marco kidnapped, or…

I refuse to think of anything else.

“Why didn’t you think it was me?”