“How the fuck am I supposed to explain this to Don Vicari?!”

“I don’t – oh,” Caterina said, her eyes widening as she realized just how much shit we were in.

First problem:

I’d just killed a man.

Self-defense or murder, it didn’t matter –

I now had a dead body on my hands.

The bigger problem:

Don Vicari could never know about Paolo’s death.

Because if he found outwhereit happened, he’d know I was fucking someone other than his daughter.

Then he’d want to knowwhyit happened.

I mean, it wasn’t like I was just going to kill a guy randomly in a hotel room.

If Vicari got Paolo’s phone, he would find the texts and phone calls leading to Alessandra –

And Cat.

I turned around in horror. “Did you rent the room under your own name?”

“Y-yes?” she whimpered, likeWhy is that so horrible?

FUCK!

I grimaced. “If you paid under your real name, that means we can’t just leave the body and run for it.”

“Because the cops would find out,” she murmured.

“I’m more worried about Don Vicari finding out.”

She struggled to think of a solution. “What if – what if I paid for another two weeks and left the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the door?”

“It wouldn’t matter. Somebody would eventually smell him and come looking.”

“…oh my God… I’m so sorry, Val…”

I laughed darkly. “Babe, it’s notyourfault – it’sminefor trusting that fucking piece of shit.”

“But I trusted him, too.”

“Yeah, but Iknewhe was a piece of shit, and I didn’t keep my eye on him. This is all my fault, not yours.”

I had to figure out what to do – and quick.

More than anything, I wanted to call my brothers –

But then I’d have to explain what I’d been doing with Cat.

I couldn’t risk telling them.

Not Dario…