Page 36 of A Seed Of Peril

“Come on, talk to us. Katrina can’t hear anything, and in all seriousness, it’s pretty clearsomething’swrong.”

Closing my eyes for a moment, I fought away tears, swallowing. Playing with my hands, I watched the scenery from my window as it passed by in a blur.

“They’re lying, and it hurts. I just… I just don’t understand.”

“Who’s lying?” Angelo wondered.

“Sonny and Lucas, and maybe even Dominic. There was a man watching us at the park. I know it. Isawhim. Dominic told me they told him there wasn’t anyone there.” I shook my head. “Something’s not right.” I looked again at Anthony. “Am I crazy?”

Shaking his head, Anthony said, “No. When Dominic briefed us, he told us the same thing—you weren’t under any sort of threat. Don’t worry.”

I looked out at the traffic, letting out a breath. “I guess.” What was the point? If my instinct was correct and everyone was lying, I would have never known. I couldn’t force the truth out of them. They knew all the tricks. It was useless. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” I expressed. It was true; I was done beating this dead horse. Besides, all I had to do was wait for the truth. It always revealed itself somehow.

“Katrina has no idea?—”

I cut Anthony off, hurriedly shaking my head and putting my finger to my lips, harshly whispering, “No! It's a surprise.”

Anthony pinched his finger and thumb together and gestured that his lips were zipped. Relief rolled off my shoulders after I looked at her in the backseat to see her engrossed in the movie.

The silence was comfortable as I glanced at the GPS. It showed we had less than twenty minutes until we arrived at the hotel, our exit coming up shortly. My stomach was in knots but not necessarily because I was nervous. I took a couple days to figure out what I would say to Bianca. Today would’ve been as good a day as any to have my talk with her. Along with explaining to her that she needed to be patient and let Dominic come to her, not the other way around, I wanted to dig a little deeper inside her mind. Understand her side better and hear her reasoning for not standing up to Lorenzo, or at least standing up to him better than she might’ve tried when the shit began hitting the fan.

I looked down at my belly, placing my hand on it and running my hand down its middle. My son moved. I softly smiled. As a mother myself now, I couldn’t imagine throwing my son to the wolves and forcing him to fend for himself against any kind of threat. Then again, I had never found myself where Bianca used to be. Sure, my grandparents were assholes, but as soon as I had the opportunity, I fled. Unlike me, back then, Bianca had the means to flee. The Rosinis weren’t hurting for money. She must’ve had family somewhere who would’ve taken her and Dominic in.

“There’s the smoke again,” Anthony joked.

A weak, hushed laugh left me. “It’s nothing, I promise.” I watched Anthony merge into the lane for our exit. “What about you?” I changed the subject. “Read any good books lately?”

“1984.”

I looked at him, raising my brow a little. “George Orwell?” He nodded. “You believe in conspiracy theories?” I looked back out at the window, moving my hand as I spoke. “I didn’t think you were one of those tin foil hat people.”

“Not necessarily, but I keep an open mind. You never know.”

A dry laugh escaping me, I said, “Uh-huh.”

Angelo chimed in, “You’d be amazed at the lies you’ve been force-fed; you just need to wake up to it.”

He came to a stop at a red light, and I rolled my eyes. “You sound just like Dino.”

“We think alike.”

Anthony got ahead of the traffic, cruising along.

“Don’t have to believe it. Just read it,” Angelo continued. “Trust me, it’ll make you think, if nothing else.”

Entertaining the idea, I said, “Okay, fair enough. I’ll read it.” Smiling, I held back my amusement. “I don’t wanna talk about conspiracy theories. Tell me stories. Talk about your lives. Something.” Anything.

Anthony cleared his throat. “Dominic didn’t tell you about us?”

“He did, but he didn’t go real deep into your lives—just the surface. Then again, I didn’t know whether it’d be okay to ask either. I didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes.”

“You wouldn’t be,” Angelo assured me. “We already knowyouin and out.”

I made a face of acquiescence.Not as thorough as Dominic, but fair point.

“Okay then,” I said. “Spill it, both of you.”

We reached another red light.

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