Page 50 of Twilight Mask

“You don’t know what you’re saying. I wouldn’t ask you to lie to your family.”

“And you don’t get to make that kind of decision for me.” I put my hand on his chest. On Jackal’s chest. On Marco’s chest. The same man, but different. “If I want this, I can have it.”

He looks pained, but he doesn’t let me go. I lean closer, up onto my toes, my mouth moving toward his. I keep thinking, if we kiss, and it’s like it was the first time, we can figure out anything. Nothing else will matter, but please, God, let this kiss be as good as it was, and I can make this work.

But the door opens before I find him.

“Marco? I thought I heard you—” A woman’s voice. I look over and jerk back away from him, startled to find an attractive girl standing in his doorway. Her hair’s disheveled as if she had been sleeping on it, and she’s wearing a pair of black tights and a slouchy tank top. She’s got dark hair and tan skin with a round face and big lips. Frankly, she’s gorgeous, and I recognize her immediately.

Everyone in my family knows who Valentina Santoro is.

The daughter of our mortal enemy.

Luciano’s own flesh and blood.

And there she is, standing in Marco’s doorway, looking like she slept over.

“Val, this isn’t a good time,” Marco says, sounding pained. “Listen, Laura, this is?—”

“I know who she is.” I step away from them, my heart racing so much I think I might fall over. “I shouldn’t have come here. This was a bad idea.”

“Is that Laura Bianco?” The woman sounds completely shocked, probably as surprised as I am. “Marco, what the hell?”

“I’ll explain later,” he says sharply. “Just go back inside. Please, Val, give me a second.”

“You’re seeing a Bianco?” She laughs sharply. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

“Valentina—”

“Yeah, I heard you. Go ahead and finish up your little scene or whatever. We’ll talk.” She turns around and disappears into the apartment, slamming the door behind her.

Marco looks like he’s in pain as he turns to me. “Hold on a second.”

“You’re with Valentina Santoro.” The words come out like vomit. My throat feels like it’s closing.

“No, we’re not together. We’re just friends.”

“Just friends? She’s in your apartment and it’s early in the morning. She slept over last night. And she’s freaking Valentina Santoro. I can’t, I don’t—” I back away from him, shaking my head.

“Laura, please, just stay and talk. Come inside and we’ll discuss this. Valentina’s a good friend, but she’s only a friend. I trust her.”

“You trust her.” I let out a frazzled laugh. I’m not sure what I can believe anymore. Jackal is a Santoro Capo, he’s Marco Vitale, he’s a liar and a fake, he’s a stranger in a mask. He’s got the daughter of my family’s mortal enemy in his place sleeping in his bed. A sick, ugly jealousy rushes through me. “I have to go.”

“Laura—”

I turn and walk away. He calls after me but I block him out. Jackal is a liar; Jackal is a stranger. I don’t even know that man back there, except I do know him, I know him better than I’ve known anyone in a very long time and he knows me too. I let him into my life, let him into my world, let him become a part of me, and now I realize how big of a mistake I made, as I rush down the stairs and hurry to my car, not sure why everything’s so blurry until I wipe the tears away with my sleeve.

Chapter 23

Marco

My office feels stifling, but I can’t peel myself from my monitors. I have a job—just a simple hack-and-blackmail gig from one of the big motorcycle gangs in the area—except I can’t concentrate on it.

All I do anymore is refresh Laura’s camera feeds.

But nothing ever comes up.

She unplugged them. They’re simply not connected to the network anymore. And the only reason I know is that I still have my backdoor into her system.

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