Page 142 of The Devil's Deal

“Long story for another day. Just promise me you won’t say anything to her. Please, Chiara.”

I consider it, but how can I lie to my cousin?

Yet, at the same time, who am I to take away her chance at escaping the constant threat of arranged marriage? Maybe this is what she really wants, even though she’s not getting the entire story. I have to know how she feels about Dante.

“I won’t say anything right now. Not if I see she cares for you like you clearly do her. But if she’s afraid, if she wants to leave, I’m telling her everything.”

He inhales deeply. “Okay. I’ll go get her.”

“Wait,” I say. “Don’t take too long to tell her. Look at what happened with Dom and me. The truth always finds a way to slither out from the dirt and bite you when you least expect it. I don’t know how long all this with my uncles will play out, but she has a right to know that you’re going to kill her father. That you’re not who you say you are.”

“You were always such a pain in the ass.”

“I was so not!”

I hear the opening of a door as he chuckles.

“For what it’s worth,” he continues. “Dom is a fucking mess. And he’s never a mess.”

I remain silent as he goes on.

“I remember him crying one night after we ran, after we ended up in one of those dirty shelters.”

They were in shelters? Oh my God.

“I’m sure he didn’t want me to hear, but I did, and it was your name he spoke as he cried. It was like he was mourning you too. You were the one person outside of all of us he could count on, and he thought your friendship was over.”

My jaw stiffens, an ache building behind my throat. “Why didn’t he try to contact me? To ask me about those texts?”

“I know. You’re right. But he was a kid who was thrust into having to be a man. It was an awful time for us. Being on our own, losing our parents and our brother…it fucked us up. He’d believe anything at that time. Then the years just flew by. I’m asking you to be a little sympathetic. Not a lot.” He laughs. “A little, all right?”

“Shut up, Dante.” My mouth curls into a warm smile, my fingers wiping away stray tears lingering within my eyelashes.

“I missed you, dumbass,” he throws in.

“Whatever, dweeb.”

His laugh bellows through the line. “Raquel, Chiara’s on the phone.”

“Really?” She sounds excited. “It’s safe to talk to her?”

“Yeah, but make it fast, baby. Just in case.”

“Okay,” she replies to him. “Chiara? Is that really you?”

I breathe in a sigh of relief. “It’s me. Oh my God, I missed you! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I swear! I’m sure you have a million questions. But I met this guy, and he agreed to marry me to help me avoid marrying Carlito, and he needed a wife for business purposes. So here we are.” She finally takes a breath. “It all happened so fast, and then I couldn’t call you in case my family or Carlito could track us.”

“Yeah, he told me the happy news. Is he treating you okay?”

That’s all that matters to me. She can tell me the rest another time, when this is all over.

“He’s wonderful. At first, I was nervous.” Her voice drops to a whisper. “He’s so hot, and he was technically my husband. I couldn’t stop myself from resisting him anymore.”

“You didn’t!” I feign a gasp.

It feels like we’re normal, gossiping about men like women do, but our situations are anything but normal.

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