Page 36 of Unlawful Lies

“Edward Balestra is not a problem,” I hurry to say.

Louisa turns to me with sorrow in her blue eyes. “There’s so much more going on than you understand, sweet pea, and it wasn’t my place to tell you, but…” she trails off.

“Out with it.”

She sharpens at my tone. “I was cleaning in your father’s office the other day. Tidying up before, you know?—”

“You don’t need to say it,” I interrupt.

“Before his passing. He wasn’t the most orderly man, your father, and he left multiple ledgers out on the table in plain view of anyone to see. You might have even caught a glimpse if you had gone inside. Which you would never do.”

She’s nervous. Writing her skirts and the apron she always wears when she’s preparing dinner. Avoiding looking at my gaze. The heaviness in my gut returns with a vengeance and makes my mouth water in the worst kind of way. Goose bumps rise along my forearms. “What are you trying to say? Please.”

This isn’t easy for either one of us.

“Your Edward has a serious gambling problem.” The words leave Louisa in a rush, and like she’s trying to temper them, she reaches for me. Gripping my elbows in her warm hands. “Your father covered it up. One of the people Edward owed money to was Arden.”

I stiffen. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, the ledger is still in the negative. Balestra had not yet paid off your father before his death. I wasn’t supposed to look at the ledger, but I did. I’m so sorry, but you need to know.”

Edward…gambled? He owed my father?

Why would Daddy lend the money to the son of his rival? Was it a way to pull the rug out from under Gio’s feet?

My head goes light and spins around in dizzying circles. None of it makes any sense, though. The two of them hated each other. The families were always at odds, which was why Dad sent me to undermine Edward, knowing I’d be the perfect weapon to get close to him.

“Sweet pea, why don’t you sit? You’re worrying me again.”

Louisa gently guides me to the couch, and I let her.

“How much?” How serious is the gambling problem?

“Enough.” Louisa is decisive. “I know the two of you are getting close, and I hate drawing conclusions with thin threads, but that young man is trouble. He may have had something to do with your father’s passing, and this proves the connection between them.”

Edward also brought the body here.

I thought he was trying to do something kind, to handle things before anyone else got unnecessarily involved, but this is different. This is worse.

The lines I thought were blurred go gray and black, and all kinds of shades I can’t distinguish. Is Edward the one trying to frame me?

Louisa drops down next to me and draws me to her bosom. The dam breaks, though, and it’s impossible to keep myself contained any longer. The first sob is the first of many, and once the tears begin, the flow refuses to stop.

I let Edward in the house.

I let him inside my body, and I slept with him of my own free will. I wanted to do it. What if it was his plan to seduce me all along? To kill my father to erase his debts, to take advantage of me, and wrangle our businesses together through force and lies?

“I don’t know what to tell you to make it any better.”

Louisa is there, and she’s real. She’d never lie to me this way. So I let her hold me, and when I squeeze my burning eyes shut, I can almost pretend I’m a kid with a scraped knee rather than a woman with a shattered heart.

Nicola

Getting involved with Edward is the worst decision I’ve ever made.

Worse, because I went into it with a clear head and an end goal, and somewhere in the past two weeks, I lost both.

Dire consequences and all that. Betrayal cuts deeply, worse than a physical knife to the stomach, with my own hand wrapped around the handle.

---