Page 99 of The Devil's Secret

“Damn.” Chiara considers it contemplatively. “I like it.”

“So, you gonna play us something?” I ask, giving her my hand as she rises.

“As long as my fingers still work.”

“I’m sure you’re even better than I can imagine.”

I lead her to the music room, with the rest following behind us. “Our mother loved to play too,” I explain. “I had purchased it in honor of her.”

“My God, could you be a little less perfect?” she teases just as we enter the room, biting into the edge of her bottom lip while facing me.

“I do kill people.”

“I’m willing to overlook that.” She shrugs with a smile twining up her lips, and it hits my heart like an avalanche of emotions.

“Damn, woman…” My palm rests over the side of her neck. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Enzo.” With a soft sigh, she moves to sit on the bench, opening the grand piano. She hesitates at first, her fingers trembling for a moment before they hit the keys, and then, she plays.

And once she does, once that music washes over us, the magnitude of her talent is more than I can even comprehend.

Moving back, I stand beside my brothers, who look just as taken aback as I do.

“She’s fucking amazing,” Dante whispers.

“I know.”

She plays like she’s never forgotten a beat, the music permeating the very essence of who she is, her eyelids swinging to a close, her head, her body swaying to the melody I’ve never heard before. I could watch her play every damn day, even if it’s the same song every time.

“Sir,” one of my men calls from behind. “I’m sorry to interrupt but I thought you’d want to see this.”

“What is it?” I ask Stan.

“We found Matteo on one of our security cams,” Stan tosses calmly. “Plus some traffic cams we hacked, and we think we can track him to wherever he went.”

“Show me,” Dom throws tensely. “I wanna see him.”

Stan quickly removes his cell and fires up the video, pressing play. Thankfully, we installed our own cameras around the perimeter of the warehouse.

We see Agnelo still in Matteo’s grip as he drags him into a white van. Before he enters the driver’s seat, his hand on the door handle, he stops, his eyes transfixed to the exact same spot the camera’s hiding, as though staring right at us.

“Fuck,” Dom roars in a whisper. “We’re gonna go after him.”

It must be hard to know Matteo never died. Knowing Dom, he’s holding himself responsible. But how the hell could he have known?

Hitting pause, we meet the eyes of our brother, a man who’s now a stranger. I hope we get the chance to see him, to know him, to finally be a family like my parents would’ve wanted.

But what if he wants nothing to do with us? What if we found him, only to lose him for good?

* * *