Page 77 of The Price of Power

That’s what it was.

Guilt over knowing that what I had to do might be necessary and justified, but it would also cause someone I loved so much pain.

Chapter Twenty-Five

OLIVIA

Theo went to the Feds? That asshole is a dead man.

Halfway to the ground floor, I froze on the stairs. I’d been on my way down to have breakfast, hoping to catch Gabriel before he left for the day. Waking up after such a wonderful night, I couldn’t wait to see him again.

But that was before I heard his voice bubbling over with pure rage.

I covered my mouth with my hands as I scooted back against the wall, pressing my spine flat and praying that no one looked up the staircase and spotted me.

I wasn’t afraid Gabriel would be angry at me for eavesdropping. I was scared he’d stop talking.

Because the longer the conversation went on, the clearer it became that I needed to hear every single word.

Apparently, my idiot brother had done the one thing I’d begged him not to do. He’d gone to the authorities.

And now he was going to die.

A slow, icy chill crept up my spine as I listened to Gabriel’s man on the phone explain Theo’s plan to save himself with the help of the FBI and the Witness Relocation Program. It didn’t surprise me that Theo thought he could escape his problems, but it stung to realize that he wasn’t looking to save anyone else.

It sounded like he was the only one who had come to New York. There was no mention of our mom and dad or how they would escape the D’Angelo’s wrath. Just like there was no talk of what would happen to me if Gabriel was arrested.

I didn’t think he was knowingly sacrificing us as part of some massive black-hearted scheme. My brother simply wasn’t that smart.

But he was selfish. I doubt it ever occurred to him to think of what might happen to anyone else.

But I wasn’t like him.

And so I strained to listen as the man on the phone gave the address...not that I had any idea what to do with the information.

Since coming to live with Gabriel, I hadn’t left the house once without him. I didn’t have much cash, just a few bills in my wallet from the morning of our meeting. But even if I pulled every last penny of my savings out of the bank, I still wouldn’t be able to get Theo somewhere safe.

Money could buy train or plane tickets, but those things weren’t anonymous. Theo would have to show ID at the airport or border. The minute that happened, he’d be back on everyone’s radar.

My mind spun.

Damn it, I didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t a criminal mastermind.

But I had been living with one for a while now, I reminded myself as I crept back up the stairs to the bedroom. Every day and night for weeks, I’d been surrounded by some of the most notorious criminals in the country.

Surely, some of their expertise must have rubbed off on me.

I closed the bedroom door and paced the floor, praying that Gabriel didn’t come back upstairs. I knew that if he did, all it would take was one look in those dark eyes, and I’d crack, begging for Theo’s life—the one thing I knew he couldn’t give me.

And once Theo was gone, everything would be over between us. Even though I understood Gabriel’s reasoning, there was no coming back from something like that.

I could care so deeply for the man that it made my heart hurt. I could even love him. But if he killed my brother, I couldn’t stay with him.

I knew that now.

Which made it even more important to find another way.

And even though it took me a whole damn day of trudging back and forth and wringing my hands, I eventually came up with a plan.

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